The project of the new Museum of University of Navarra was presented in Madrid at the headquarters of the ISEM, with the presence of Rafael Moneo (Tudela, Navarra, 1937). The works for construction of the Museum began immediately, the first half of November and is expected to open in autumn 2013.

The project started in 2008 when the University of Navarra receives the grant from the contemporary art collection of Maria Josefa Huarte Beaumont. The Museum will house this collection not only of art but also the Photographic Collection, the University has since 1990 (legacy of Jose Ortiz-Echagüe), which has expanded over the years with new donations and acquisitions. The photography collection at the University of Navarra is one of the most extensive collections and interest of our country, with over 10,000 photographs and 100,000 negatives.

The museum consists of 11,000 square meters, of which 2,700 will be exhibition halls. The other major area of the site forms the auditorium, with capacity for 700 spectators and a good level of stage equipment. The realization of the museum, 11,000 square meters, representing a total investment of 25 M €.

It is not the first time Moneo works in Navarra. The Royal Archive project, the reform of the bullring, the Plaza de los Fueros, are some of his previous projects. To explain the origin of the project, Moneo says his known connection with the whole family Huarte, who comes from afar. "I knew very closely Felix Huarte, very important in the history of construction in Spain since the years of the Republic. He liked to show off the quality of concrete. His four children (Jesus, John, Maria Josefa and Philip) continued with business as well as making their own art collections. But maybe her's collection, Maria Josefa, is the most special. "

Read more
Read less

José Rafael Moneo Vallés (born May 9. Tudela, Navarra,1937) is a Spanish architect. He was won the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1996. He studied at the ETSAM, Technical University of Madrid (UPM) from which he received his architectural degree in 1961. From 1958 to 1961 he worked with the architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza in Madrid and from 1961-62 in Hellebaeck, Denmark with Jørn Utzon. In 1963 he was awarded a fellowship at the Spanish Academy in Rome. Upon his return to Spain in 1965, he opened his office in Madrid and began teaching at the Escuela Técnica Superior of Madrid.

In 1970 he won a teaching chair in architectural theory at the Escuela Técnica Superior of Barcelona. From 1980 to 1985 he was chaired professor of composition at the Escuela Técnica Superior of Madrid. He has taught architecture at various locations around the world and from 1985 to 1990 was the chairman of Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he is the first Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture. In 1991 he was named Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design where he continues to lecture as Professor Emeritus. He became Academic Numerary in the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid in May 1997.

Spanish constructions of his design include the renovation of the Villahermosa Palace (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) in Madrid, the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, an expansion of the Madrid Atocha railway station, the Diestre Factory in Zaragoza, Pilar and Joan Miró Foundation in Majorca the headquarters of the Bankinter (again, in Madrid), Town Hall in Logroño. He also designed the annex to the Murcia Town Hall, which was completed in 1998. His latest works are the enlargement of the Prado Museum, the extension of the Bank of Spain, an almost totally mimetic reproduction of the existing building and the extension of the Madrid Atocha railway station 2011.

Some of Moneo's prominent works in the US include the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, the Davis Art Museum at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and the Audrey Jones Beck Building (an expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston). Moneo also designed the Chace Center, a new building for the Rhode Island School of Design. Moneo's most recent work is the Northwest Corner Building (formerly the Interdepartmental Science Building) at Columbia University in New York City, which first opened in December 2010.

Moneo is in possession of prestigious international awards including the Prize of architecture Arnold W. Brunner Memorial (1993) of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Schock Prize in Visual Arts (1993) in Stockholm, the Pritzker Prize (1996), the Antonio Feltrinelli (1998) of the National Academy of Lincei in Rome and Mies van der Rohe (2001) of Barcelona.

Biography Dates

  1937 Born in Tudela, Navarra Spain
  1958-61 Worked at the office of Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza
  1961 Obtained degree from the Escuela Técnica Superior, Madrid
  1962 Worked at the office of Jǿrn Utzon, Denmark
  1963 Spent two years at the Spanish Academy, Rome
  1967 Diestre Factory, Zaragoza, Spain
  1976 Bankinter (Bank) in Madrid
  1981 City Hall of Logrono, Spain
  1985-90 Dean at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design
  1986 National Museum of Roman Art, Mérida, Spain
  1987 L’Illa Diagonal, Barcelona, Spain, in collaboration with Manuel Solà-Morales
  1990 Kursaal Auditorium and Congress Center, San Sebastián, Spain
  1991 Murcia City Hall Extension, Spain
San Pablo Airport, Seville, Spain
  1992 Madrid Atocha railway station
The Pilar and Joan Miro Foundation, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  1996 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Souks, Beirut, Lebanon
  1998 Moderna Museet and Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design, Stockholm, Sweden
  2000 Audrey Jones Beck Building, Houston, Texas
  2001 Iesu Church, San Sebastián, Spain
  2002 Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California
  2003 RIBA Royal Gold Medal
  2005 Northwest Corner Building, Columbia University, New York, USA, in collaboration with Moneo-Brock Studio
  2007 Museo del Prado extension, Madrid, Spain
Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University, USA
  2009 New Library of the University of Deusto, Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain
  2012 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture
Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts
  2015
2017
Museum University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
Praemium Imperiale
Read more
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...