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b720 Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos


Biography

Spanish architect and town planner, Fermín Vázquez Huarte-Mendicoa (1961) studied at ETSAM (Superior Technical School of Architecture, Madrid) and subsequently the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB).
He gained recognition with b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos founded in 1997 with Ana Bassat (720 is the number assigned to the discipline of architecture in the Dewey Decimal Classification system).
The studio now has thirty professionals including architects and partners, and offices in Barcelona and Madrid.

With its decisively contemporary architectural designs, Fermín Vázquez’s body of work reflects a commitment to the responsible use of natural resources. His austere style is respectfully coherent with, and blends seamlessly into, the landscape.
B720’s methodological approach deliberately avoids adopting a particular style or formalistic concept of architecture. Each of the Studio’s projects “searches for a specific solution, with clients and companies as essential reference points. Our response to the program, context, budget and time constraints is necessarily unique”.

Renowned for collaborations on projects with leading contemporary figures, particularly in Barcelona, such as the Agbar Tower (2005) with Jean Nouvel, Cittadella della Giustizia (winner of the RIBA award 2010) with David Chipperfield, Fira Towers in the new exhibition center, Barcelona (2010) with Toyo Ito, he is also responsible for important architectural and urban planning projects in Spain, such as the Plaza del Torico, Teruel (2008) and Lleida-Alguaire Airport (2010).
The new Città della Giustizia (Courts of Justice) and Hospitalet de Llobregat complex (created with David Chipperfield Architects, 2009) centralizes the majority of Barcelona’s Law Courts, previously scattered over 17 buildings.
On an area of over 230,000 sq.m.on the border between the two cities and with excellent accessibility, the project resolves obvious functional and logistical issues that the previous location created for both users and employees. At the same time the project also balances the relationship between different work areas, public spaces and landscape.

Its extremely clear floor plan, with several independent buildings (eight towers overlooking a public square), is far from the traditional concept of a citadel, yet the Chipperfield-b720 project still emphasizes the institutional aspect and symbolic role of the complex in the skyline. The load-bearing facades in reinforced concrete play an important role with a grid of almost decorative, tall, narrow windows that fragment the monolithic structure.
Notable projects over recent years include the Lycée Francais, Barcelona (2017), a renovation of two twentieth century villas, one of which has been kept whilst the other was replaced by a new building featuring colored facades with vertical slats. The result is a new complex that creates a dialog between the school of the past and that of the future.

The Itaim Tower, San Paolo, Brazil (2017) is an 80m skyscraper with 123 small apartments (30 sq.m. each). The project includes a terrace for each unit and seeks to maximize the two directions each apartment overlooks, all in a very restrictive plot.
An attractive, continuous urban building, the new Encants market in Barcelona (2018) features a multi-level raised area with a mirrored roof at varying angles over the commercial area, reflecting the light, ambiance and landscape.
Recently winning first prize for their proposed design of the new VP Plaza España Hotel, Madrid, on an area of over 17,000 square meters provided an invaluable opportunity for an exceptional urban, public and commercial development, due to its privileged position in the historic center of the Spanish capital.

While evoking historical references of traditional urban city center design, b720 proposed an iconic, contemporary design for the building, innovative yet integrated into its historic surroundings.
In parallel with his professional activities, Fermín Vázquez lectures at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Barcelona (Spain) and École d’Architecture et de Paysage, Bordeaux (France) and is also currently a lecturer at the Università Europea, Madrid (UEM).
 
b720 Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos selected works and projects
 
- VP Plaza España Hotel, Madrid (Spagna), 2019-in corso
- Germina Badalona, Barcellona (Spagna), 2018
- Enchanting Traces Aedes Exhibition, Berlino (Germania), 2018
- Liceo francese, Barcellona (Spagna), 2017
- New Encants Market, Barcellona (Spagna), 2018
- Itaim Tower, San Paolo (Brasile), 2017
- Padiglione spagnolo Expo, Milano (Italia), 2015
- Ibermutuamur Healthcare Center, Oviedo (Spagna), 2013
- Mercat dels Encants, Barcellona (Spagna), 2013
- Gran Casino Costa Brava, Lloret de Mar, Girona (Spagna), 2010
- Aeroporto di Lleida-Alguaire, Lleida (Spagna), 2010
- Porta Fira Towers (con Toyo Ito & Ass.), Hospitalet de Llobregat (Spagna), 2009
- Città della Giustizia di Barcellona e l’Hospitalet de Llobregat (con David Chipperfield Architects), Barcellona (Spagna), 2009
- Riqualificazione di Plaza del Torico, Teruel (Spagna), 2008
- Hotel e centro conferenze La Mola, Terrassa, Barcellona (Spagna), 2008
- Campus audiovisual, Bacellona (Spagna), 2008
- Uffici Indra, Barcellona (Spagna), 2006
- Agbar Tower (con Jean Nouvel), Barcellona (Spagna), 2005
 
Official website
 
www.b720.com


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