Personal Statement

Iñaki Alday, founder and principal with Margarita Jover of 'aldayjover arquitectura y paisaje', has begun his appointment in August 1, 2011, as the Elwood R. Quesada Professor of Architecture and Chair of the Department of Architecture. Previously, Iñaki Alday has been associate professor in the School of Architecture of Valles (Barcelona, Polytechnic University of Catalonia) as well as lecturer and visiting professor in several other universities. Both the academic appointment and the current practice of the office face the demand of a new attitude in front of the professional and academic challenges of the contemporary transformation. The role of Architecture and Architects, the interdisciplinary work and integration of scales, the new nontraditional programs as infrastructures and energy or the social and environmental ethics are some of the challenges to face with a global vision. With aldayjover aldayjover arquitectura y paisaje, Iñaki Alday and Margarita Jover are authors of outstanding landscape works as the Water Park (Zaragoza, 2008) and the Recovering of the Gallego River waterfronts (Zuera, 2001), urban public space works as the Integration of the new Tramway (Zaragoza, 2011) and architecture as The Mill Cultural Centre (Utebo, 2004) or the District Heating and Colling (Zaragoza, 2008). Now, they are beginning the construction works of the Aranzadi Park and the Meander Centre (Pamplona), the 2nd Phase of the Urban Integration of Zaragoza Tramway and the pedestrian transformation of the historic city centre of Ibiza. In Barcelona they have just win the competition for the Sagrera Parc together with RCR arquitectes y WEST8, a green space of 40 Ha (100 Acres) and 4 km long (2,5 miles) over the tracks of the railway. Among others, the office has been awarded with the European Urban Public Space Prize (2002), the FAD Prize of City and Landscape (2009) or the Garcia Mercadal Prize (2001 and 2005), has been finalist of the European Landscape Biennale (2008), Iber-american Architecture Biennale (2004) and the Spanish Architecture Biennale (2005 and 2009), as well as nominated for the Mies van der Rohe European Prize (2009).