RAFAEL VIÑOLY
(1944 – 2023)
The extraordinary Uruguay-born architect whose function-driven, context-inspired buildings made their marks on six continents.
ARCHITECTURAL LEGACY
Rafael Viñoly (1944 – 2023)
FAIA JIA SCA IntFRIBA
Founder, Rafael Viñoly Architects
Rafael Viñoly has been hailed as "the extraordinary Uruguay-born architect whose function-driven, context-inspired buildings made their marks on six continents" (Architectural Digest). In over a half-century of built work, he realized over 600 commissions across most building typologies in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. His enormous body of built work is characterized by the holistic attention to proportion and a sustained structural originality that transcended passing architectural fads.
He laid out his conception of the architectural profession in this text from 1995, which has since been a touchstone for the firm.
"To create the synthesis that is a successful building, the architect needs to be in charge of the complexity of all the technical and cultural aspects of a project. The capacity to lead that process is what requires the special kind of creativity which is unique to the field.
Architecture is not simply an artistic endeavor, or a mere technical or organizational challenge, it is a social practice with a significant impact on the collective environment well beyond the effects of its initial viewing. It is that responsibility towards the environment that defines the realm of competence of the profession.
Each project is unique in and of itself because the forces that make it happen are always specific to it: client, site, financial constraints, technological environment, cultural aspirations, etc. It should be self-evident then that, if properly considered, those conditions should produce a unique result, unprecedented by nature, and therefore unencumbered by stylistic agendas.
The authorship value that presupposes a recognizable aesthetic in a body of work should be found, in ours, in the consistency with which each project responds to those conditions, rather than in the mere repetition of some visual cues.
We also believe that the advancement of Architecture as a discipline has always been the result of two factors: technological innovation and the challenging of the conventional character of the brief. Both of those goals are at the center of our work. The first because the engineering of a form is an essential part of its conceptualization, and the second, because the brief always represents a reductive view of how things have been, as opposed to how things could be. This is the reason why the dialogue with the client is crucial to the level of intellectual value of the design process.
As a result, for us, architectural design is a particular form of "translation" in which the story is written as its translation is made.
SELECTED WORKS
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TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FORUM
Tokyo, Japan
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UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, MATHEMATICAL INSTITUTE
Oxford, UK
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432 PARK AVENUE
New York, New York USA
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NEW STANFORD HOSPITAL
Stanford, CA, USA
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KIMMEL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ABU DHABI
Abu Dhabi, UAE
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20 FENCHURCH STREET
London, UK
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WORLD CULTURAL CENTER, WORLD TRADE CENTER COMPETITION
New York, New York, USA
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CARRASCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Montevideo, Uruguay
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THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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EDWARD M. KENNEDY INSTITUTE FOR THE UNITED STATES SENATE
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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LAGUNA GARZÓN BRIDGE
Maldonado, Uruguay
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HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE, JANELIA RESEARCH CAMPUS
Ashburn, Virginia, USA
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FIRST SITE:NEWSITE, VISUAL ARTS FACILITY
Colchester, UK
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UNIVERSIDAD DE BUENOS AIRES, FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS EXACTAS Y NATURALES
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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EDIFICIO PLAZA ALEMANIA
Montevideo, Uruguay
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UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE, CENTER FOR CARE AND DISCOVERY
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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COLECCIÓN DE ARTE AMALIA LACROZE DE FORTABAT
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STADIUM
Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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BARD COLLEGE, REEM AND KAYDEN CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND COMPUTATION
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, USA
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WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY AND RESEARCH CENTRE, ATLAS BUILDING
Wageningen, The Netherlands
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BOSTON CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTER
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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CURVE THEATRE
Leicester, UK
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NEMA CHICAGO
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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VAN ANDEL INSTITUTE
Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
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UCSF, DOLBY REGENERATION MEDICINE BUILDING
San Francisco, California, USA
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SAMSUNG JONGNO TOWER
Seoul, South Korea
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UCLA NANOSYSTEMS INSTITUTE
Los Angeles, California, USA
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ARGENTINE COLOR TELEVISION PRODUCTION CENTER
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, CARL ICAHN LABORATORY
Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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BROWN UNIVERSITY, WATSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
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PHARMACEUTICAL CORPORATION OFFICE BUILDING
East Hanover, New Jersey, USA
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61 NINTH AVENUE
New York, New York, USA
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CITY FOOTBALL ACADEMY
Manchester, UK
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RITZ CARLTON NEW YORK, NOMAD
New York, New York, USA
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PENN STATE, MILLENNIUM SCIENCE COMPLEX
University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
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CCNY, SPITZER SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
New York, New York, USA
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BATTERSEA POWER STATION MASTER PLAN
London, UK
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BROOKLYN COLLEGE, WEST QUAD CENTER
Brooklyn, New York, USA
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DUKE UNIVERSITY, NASHER MUSEUM OF ART
Durham, North Carolina, USA
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EDIFICIO ACQUA
Punta del Este, Uruguay
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MAHLER 4 OFFICE TOWER
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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PENN MEDICINE COMPLEX
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY RIVER CAMPUS
New York, New York, USA
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ROSARIO CENTRAL STADIUM RENOVATION
Santa Fe, Argentina
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BRONX COUNTY HALL OF JUSTICE
Bronx, New York, USA
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JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER
New York, New York, USA
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NIH, NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER
Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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MARBLE ARCH PLACE
London, UK
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, DARLA MOORE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Columbia, South Carolina, USA
These selected works represent a small portion of Rafael Viñoly's extensive architectural contributions across the globe.