Carme Pinós Desplat

Carme Pinós (Barcelona, 1954) graduated in Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape Architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) in 1979. From 1982 to 1991 she shared a studio with Enric Miralles with which she gained international recognition through projects such as the Igualada Cementery Park and the Olympic Archery Range Facilities in Barcelona. She then went on to establish her own firm, Estudio Carme Pinós. Since then, she has worked on numerous projects ranging from urban refurbishments and public works to furniture design. Her sharp approach to design, anchored by a constant focus on experimentation and research, has made her work garner worldwide recognition at the same time that Barcelona architecture has cemented its own identity and reputation throughout Europe and South and North America.

Among her most significant works we can find the refurbishment and extension of Son Brull Hotel in Mallorca, the MPavilion 2018 in Melbourne, Australia; the architectural ensemble composed by La Gardunya Square, Massana School of Art and Design, a housing block and the extension of the popular La Boqueria Market in the historical district of Barcelona (Spain), the cultural and exhibition center CaixaForum Zaragoza (Spain), the Departments Building at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria), the Cube and Cube 2 Towers Offices in Guadalajara (Mexico), the Footbridge in Petrer, Juan Aparicio waterfront in Torrevieja and the Morella Home-School.

She has received numerous awards and recognition, as the recent Oris Prize 2023, the Gold Medal for Architecture 2022 awarded by the Spanish architectural chamber, the Arnold W. Brunner Award 2022, the Essentially Mallorca Prize 2022 or thehighest recognition awarded to architects by the Government of Spain–the Spanish National Prize of Architecture 2021. Also noteworthy are the Prix des Femmes Architectes – ARVHA 2017, and the ArpaFIL Award 2017 of the Guadalajara International Book Fair. In 2016 she was awarded the Richard J. Neutra Medal for Professional Excellence by the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, in recognition of her career. She received the 2016 Berkeley-Rupp Architecture Professorship and Prize valuing her contribution to promoting the advancement of women in the field of architecture and her commitment to the community. In 2015 she was honoured with the Creu de Sant Jordi Medal, one of the highest civil distinctions awarded by the Catalan government to individuals and organisations for their cultural and social services. In 2013, she was appointed as an RIBA International Fellow by the Royal Institute of British Architects for her outstanding contribution to architecture, and in 2011, she became an AIA Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects. Additionally, she has been recognized with the National Prize for Architecture and Public Space by the Generalitat de Catalunya for her professional trajectory in 2008, as well as the First Prize at the IX Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, and the ArqCatMón Prize from the Official College of Architects of Catalonia, both in the same year. The National Architecture Prize from the Council of Superior Architects of Spain in 1995; the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize in 1992; and the FAD Architecture Prize for Newly Constructed Public-Use Buildings in 1991.

Her work has been widely exhibited in several galleries, museums and universities. The Centre Pompidou in Paris acquired the scale models of the Caixaforum Zaragoza in Spain, the Hotel Pizota in Mexico, and the Maison de l’Algérie of Paris and a model of the Cube Tower Office belongs to the collection of the MOMA New York. In 2018, her work was exposed at the Biennale Architecttura di Venezia. In February of 2021, a monographic exhibition named Carme Pinós – Escenarios para la vida –Scenes for Life– was promoted by the ICO Foundation of Madrid, presenting 88 main projects. In October 2021 the exhibition Carme Pinós – Contexto y Conceptos –Contexts and Concepts– formed part of the Basque Country International Architecture Biennial MUGAK 2021.