The Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association (ASCER) has announced the six highly distinguished architects and interior designers who will serve on the jury for the 19th annual Tile of Spain Awards.
This year’s jury is presided by prestigious Tokyo based architect Kengo Kuma founder of KKAA Studio. Judging alongside Kuma is his right-hand man, Javier Villar Ruiz, head of design at KKAA Studio, Jonathan Arnabat, a founding partner of Arquitectura-G, architect Izaskun Chinchilla, Daria de Seta, of studio Garcés-de Seta-Bonet, and the founder and creative director of Lázaro Rosa Violán Studio, interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán.
About the Jury
Kengo Kuma (KKAA)
After graduating with a degree in architecture from the University of Tokyo, Kengo Kuma completed a two-year postgraduate program as a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, before returning to Tokyo to complete his Ph.D.
In 1990, he founded his studio, Kengo Kuma & Associates, in Tokyo, Japan. This was followed by the inauguration of Kuma & Associates Europe, in 2008 which is now involved in projects in over twenty different countries. Kengo Kuma & Associates employs over 150 architects in Tokyo and Paris, who design unique projects worldwide. Kuma has received coveted awards and distinctions, such as the Architectural Institute of Japan Award, the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (Finland), and the International Stone Architecture Award. Kengo Kuma was also made an Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 2009.
Javier Villar Ruiz (KKAA)
Before moving to Tokyo in 2004 to begin his career, Javier Villar studied architecture at the Barcelona School of Architecture. As a partner and the head of design at KKAA, he has taken part in international projects in Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. The projects that he has headed include the creation of cultural pavilions at the École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne’s Place Cosandey and, from 2012, he led the award-winning project Under One Roof through to its construction and completion in 2017. He is currently involved in projects like Muskkat Museum (the Philippines), Susa International Train Station (Italy), renovations to Shipyard 1862 in Shanghai (China), and the city of Busan’s Marina Complex (South Korea).
KKAA – Kengo Kuma & Associates aims to design architecture that blends naturally with culture and the surrounding environment, designing buildings on a human scale. The office is constantly looking for new materials to replace cement and steel, seeking a new approach to architecture in a post-industrial society
At the last edition of the Tile of Spain Awards, the Camper Paseo de Gracia project by Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) was awarded a special mention in the Interior Design category.
Some of the studio’s flagship projects include Victoria & Albert Dundee Museum, Hiroshige Ando Museum, China Academy of Arts and Japan’s Olympic Stadium.
Jonathan Arnabat (Arquitectura-G)
Arquitectura-G is an architects’ studio headquartered in Barcelona, Spain and was founded in 2006 by Jonathan Arnabat, Jordi Ayala-Bril, Igor Urdampilleta and Aitor Fuentes after meeting Universitat Internacional de Catalonia’s School of Architecture, where they attended one of the first courses given by ASCER’s network of Ceramic Studies Departments. Now they are lecturers attached to construction and project departments. Their work, which ranges from pop-up installations to urban planning projects, has been featured in the national and international media. The team has received different awards and distinctions, including the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for Emerging Architecture in 2015, the 2014 AJAC Award in the Built Architecture category and the 2013 ASCER Tile of Spain Award for Interior Design.
Izaskun Chinchilla
Izaskun Chinchilla studied architecture at Madrid Polytechnic University’s School of Architecture. She graduated in 2001 and was awarded a prize for the best academic record of her year and a distinction for her final degree project. Since then, she has directed her own architect’s studio and currently is a lecturer at the Madrid School of Architecture and the Instituto Empresa in Madrid, Spain.
Izaskun Chinchilla participates in numerous forums on architecture, in particular forums on the role of women in architecture. She has been awarded numerous prizes for her work for projects like the Organic Growth Pavilion (New York, 2015), the Formica stand at the 2007 edition of the SICI kitchen show or the VIP area for ARCOMadrid2016. Mention must also be made of exhibitions, such as “Casa: Árbol, Chocolate, Chimenea” at Espacio para Arquitectura Liga (Mexico Federal District, 2012) and “Unit 22 Zoetropes” at Roca Gallery (London, 2012). Her biggest architectural project so far is the renovation of Garcimuñoz Castle in Cuenca.
Daria de Seta (Garcés–de Seta-Bonet)
With a Ph.D. in architecture and a career spanning over 20 years, Daria de Seta is a founding partner of Garcés-de Seta-Bonet architects’ studio, created in 2011.
Over the last few years, de Seta headed several projects such as extensions to the Picasso Museum or a studio for artist Arranz Bravo in Barcelona, in addition to the Strasbourg Palace of Justice in France. Daria de Seta has always combined her work on architectural projects with theoretical and critical activities. Her work as a curator of architectural and photographic exhibitions, her collaboration with several architectural magazines and her publications in general bear witness to her teaching activities and practical research. She has also collaborated with Goppion Technical Museum Laboratory in Milan (Italy), a manufacturer of display cases for the protection of works of art.
Garcés-de Seta-Bonet, integrates and continues the work of de Jordi Garcés (the Picasso Museum, Vall d’Hebron Olympic Pavilion, Hotel Plaza in Barcelona, Navarre Art Museum, Tenerife Museum of Science and the Cosmos, among others), and it is currently embarking on a new stage of tenders and international projects.
The winners of the international tender for Le site du Prioré in Pully, Lausanne, the Strasbourg Palace of Justice, Siracusa Ferry Terminal and a residential complex in Tours, the studio has achieved critical acclaim in recent years. The project for three underground stations on line 9 in Barcelona was exhibited at the Venice Biennial in 2014 and later it was singled out for the 2016 FAD Award and the 2017 ASCER Tile of Spain Award for Interior Design. The project for the studio for artist Arranz Bravo received an honorary mention from the jury and the Opinion Award at the 2014 FAD Awards.
Lázaro Rosa-Violán
Lázaro Rosa-Violán is the founder and creative director of Barcelona based. Studio, Lázaro Rosa Violán, one of the most highly acclaimed studios in Spain. It features professionals of all disciplines and nationalities, including architects; interior, industrial and graphic designers; and even engineers.
In 2013, Rosa-Violán was named one of the best interior designers in Europe for the 5th consecutive year by Architectural Digest España. He has also earned recognition as one of the world’s top 100 interior designers by Architectural Digest France.
His studio has grown spectacularly, carrying out projects of all kinds at a national and international level in over 40 countries including deluxe hotels, boutique hotels, big resorts, restaurants of all kinds, and even retail facilities.
About the Tile of Spain Awards
The Tile of Spain Awards, which are divided into three categories, have a total prize of €39,000 ($44,082). The two main categories are Architecture and Interior Design, each with a prize of €17,000 ($19,214). The jury can also award special mentions in either of these categories. The third category is for Final Degree Projects, aimed at students of architecture, with a prize of €5,000 ($5,625). In all three categories, the entrants and their projects can be Spanish or foreign, and the only requirements is for the projects to include Spanish ceramic tiles in the formal part.
The 19th edition of the Tile of Spain Awards is now open and entries can be submitted at www.tileofspainawards.com now through October 23rd in any of its three categories.
This edition of the awards has been sponsored by ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones and Endesa.