Philosopher Emanuele Coccia centers his residency at The Mondrian Initiative around dialogues on the concept of Metropolitan Nature. Together with Béatrice Grenier, Director of Curatorial Affairs at Fondation Cartier, Paris, he welcomes a range of heavily influential thinkers over the course of 2024. One of his first guests was Andrés Jaque, architect, researcher and curator, living and working between New York and Madrid.
Jaque received his PhD in Architecture from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and is currently Dean and Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). Jaque is founder of the New York and Madrid based architecture practice Office for Political Innovation (OFFPOLINN). With his architecture agency, he undertakes both commercial commissions such as residential housing, contemporary art fairs, and the redevelopment of public spaces, as well as conceptual projects ranging from video’s, performances, and multimedia installations. Established in 2003, OFFPOLINN works at the intersection of research, architectural design, and activism.
Notable recent projects include the Ocean Space for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Contemporary Art Collection (TBA21), Venice; the Babin Yar Museum of Memory and Oblivion, Kiev; and the Colegio Reggio, Madrid (2022), which in 2023 won the 65th FAD Award for Architecture, the most important design award in Spain and Portugal.
Video: Fried-Jan van den Eerenbeemt