Antón García-Abril

Kohn Shnier Architects Lecture

This Tuesday, October 23, the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design welcomes celebrated European architect Antón García-Abril to present the inaugural Kohn Shnier Architects Lecture at 230 College Street. 

Date: Tuesday, October 23
Time: 6:30 – 8:00 PM
Location: 230 College Street, Room 103

García-Abril is founder of the acclaimed firm ENSAMBLE STUDIO, and a recently appointed Professor of Architecture at the M.I.T School of Architecture + Planning. Known for its groundbreaking projects such as the Hemeroscopium House in Madrid and the SGAE Central Office in Santiago de Compostela, ENSAMBLE STUDIO's work is conceptually and structurally experimental. García-Abril received the Architectural Record Design Vanguard Prize in 2005. In 2009, he was awarded the Rice Design Alliance Prize, which is given to exceptionally gifted architects in the early phase of their professional career. ENSAMBLE STUDIO’s approach to design has also been recognized by influential peers: in 2010, it was selected by SANAA to participate in the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

Other innovative buildings by ENSAMBLE STUDIO include The Music Studies Center in Santiago de Compostela, the Martemar House in Malaga, and The Truffle in Costa da Morte. But García-Abril’s work also extends beyond individual projects to broader issues of urban design. In 2009, he founded the Positive City Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to build a better future for cities by providing “real solutions to social, economic, and environmental problems” through research, education, and the creation of stronger urban networks. He is also the architecture critic for El Cultural, a publication of El Mundo.

From 2004 to 2012, García-Abril was an associate professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He has been a visiting professor at a number of institutions, including Harvard GSD and Cornell University. He travels worldwide, lecturing and teaching at different universities, including the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart, AA London, Instituto Cervantes Chicago, Bienne Forum de l'architecture, and Bauhaus University Weimar.

The goal of the Kohn Shnier Architects Lecture is to feature early-to-mid-career architects who have made significant contributions to the combined professional, educational, experimental, and community-based arenas in which they practice. The first architect to be featured as part of the inaugural Kohn Shnier Architects Lecture, García-Abril exemplifies the emphasis on engagement and creative excellence that Associate Professor John Shnier has brought to the Daniels Faculty.