I’m an Architect graduated from the Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira (UNET) in Venezuela. I worked independently in different real estate, housing and cultural development projects in my native country. In 2015, I moved to Mexico, to work with BAAQ’, an emerging architecture firm, where I had the opportunity to work with world-renowned Architects such as Tadao Ando (Pritzker, 1995) and Alvaro Siza (Pritzker, 1992) in different projects in Oaxaca for Casa Wabi’s foundation. I had also worked in new real estate developments and restoration projects in Mexico City and recently started with my own firm.
I grew up in a creative environment, both of my parents are engineers and my father also a poet. They encourage me to explore different types of art. Therefore, architecture appears to me as the middle point between science and art.
With my firm I develop research, art direction and architecture projects in Mexico, Venezuela, Italy and Colombia.
Design is the purest form that human beings have to express themselves. Also, I believe as Philip Johnson said design, architecture design in particular, is the purest form to contain, cuddles, exalt or stimulate persons.
I have dabbled in different types of design from sculpture and painting all through architecture. I appreciate all scales of design as a way to get involved in the everyday life of people. However, my favorite is architecture design. For me it’s the art where we inhabit and have the possibility of improving the life quality of their occupants.
As Vitruvius established, I believe good design is grounded in three principles: beauty, functionality and durability. But in the contemporary world I think one more principle should be added: sustainability, as a form of committing ourselves to the future of our planet.
I don’t identify my work with a specific style, I believe architecture should respond to the site where it’s placed. Therefore, my designs are related to the immediate context of the building, I like to understand the idiosyncrasy of the place and response to the people, the materiality and bioclimatic factors.
The most important thing is to know the site: the people, the social dynamics that take place there, live the space and the neighborhood in order to understand the future inhabitants of the building. For this reason, the first thing I do when I start a new project is to live in the space, its surroundings, the natural landscape in order to understand the future inhabitants of the building. Once I figure out the site I work with paper and watercolors, the hand drawing allows me to activate my mind and explore different ideas.
Sure.
I came from a small town in Venezuela, Socopó. There I learn a lot of things: to care about the environment, to value our origins and to work hard. Being a place with so much traditions, it has had a great impact on me.
Architecture it’s a collective process, the award is a recognition for all the people involved in this project: my team work, collaborators, the local community and the actual inhabitants of the building. We are honored to have been awarded in 2020 MUSE Design Awards.
Mar Mediterráneo 34 is my first solo project, as a young architect I consider the MUSE Design Awards it’s the perfect platform to present my project with a worldwide audience. I knew about them through photographer Joao Morgado, dear collaborator.
There were two big challenges in the project. First recover the historical building, almost in ruins, in order to give it a second life that allows a new generation to inhabit it. And second, understand and connect with the nearby residents. I want the community to acknowledge the heritage that exists in their area as a form to give value to the Magic Barrio de Tacuba.
Receiving this award is a great opportunity to promote my work to a wider audience. But more important is the recognition for the site and the community. I hope this honor will bring acknowledgement to the immense cultural heritage of el Barrio de Tacuba.
Architecture, industrial design and photography.
Currently in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile it’s an interesting architecture scene, because regulations give flexibility to design. Also, the design industry has a large legacy of great architecture like the work of Luis Barragan, Carlos Ruiz Villanueva and Oscar Niemeyer has been recovered and is a reference in contemporary architecture.
I believe technology, social networks and the over linked world will be the decisive factor in this industry. On one hand, in the possibility of collaborating with people anywhere in the world and on the other hand in the huge commitment we will have to absorb for the future generations. Technology, communication and sustainability will mark the future of design.
Work hard, persevere and establish connections through your work.
Explore the more artistic way of your practice, get back to the basics to pencil and paper. Then learn and take advantage of the design technologies.
When I design, my creative process is linked to the music. I enjoy listening to music, dancing and drawing as a form to unleash my creativity.
In my personal life my parents are a great inspiration, they are something out of the ordinary: engineers and my father, also a poet, motivate me to explore my artistic side.
In the architecture realm, are profoundly inspired by the work, writings and sensibility of Peter Zumthor.
Finally, the music of Florence Welch, the vocalist of Florence and the machine, energize and inspire me to live my life with intensity.
I believe you have to find a way of living life in a unique and original way. Take all the opportunities to make wonderful things, explore, travel, create, imagine something better. All with lots of passion.
Inca’s work with internationally renowned architects allows her to express herself through great designs and the improvement in quality of life of the occupants.