Sept. 12, 2014
The School of Architecture and Planning (CUArch) announces its 2014 Walton Critic, architect Eliana Bórmida. She will deliver a lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m., on Architecture and Nature in the Edward M. Crough Center for Architectural Studies' Koubek Auditorium.
Bórmida is principal of Bórmida & Yanzón Architects - an international, award-winning office operating from Mendoza, Argentina. The firm's portfolio features projects related to nature, wine, lodging, and agro-industrial architecture.
"Balancing contemporary demands and consciousness with the values of local tradition, their buildings are beautiful, simple, tectonic, and sophisticated," says Julio Bermudez, director of the Sacred Space and Cultural Studies concentration in CUArch.
Bórmida & Yanzón's work has been covered in The New York Times and recognized through many awards including the 2012 Konex Award, the 2011 ParexKlaukol Prize, and "Best of Wine Tourism" global awards for five years straight (2009 through 2013).
Bórmida was a professor at the Universidad de Mendoza for 30 years, where she taught history of architecture and urbanism.
During her time at CUArch, Bórmida will direct a three-week-long design studio centered in the intersection of nature, everyday life, and spirituality. As the 2014 Walton Critic, she will participate in the life of the school through guest talks, reviews, and spontaneous meetings with students and faculty.
Subsequent to the Sept. 24 lecture, the Embassy of Argentina in Washington D.C. and CUArch will host "Place, Wine, and Architecture. The Work of Bórmida & Yanzón Architects." The lecture will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. at the embassy, 1600 New Hampshire Ave N.W. The embassy lecture will be followed by a wine tasting including wines from the wineries designed by Bórmida. R.s.v.p. is required (contact Bermudez, below).
Bórmida's residency at CUArch is made possible in part by the Clarence Walton Fund for Catholic Architecture. Past Walton Critics include architects Antoine Predock (2009), Craig Hartman (2010), Juhani Pallasmaa (2011), Alberto Campo Baeza (2012), and Claudio Silvestrin (2013).
For more information on either lecture (or to R.s.v.p. for the embassy lecture), the Walton Critics, or the sacred space concentration, contact Julio Bermudez at Bermudez@cua.edu .