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Alejandro Zaera-Polo
Alejandro Zaera Polo is a Spanish architect, theorist and founder of Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML). He was formerly dean of the Princeton University School of Architecture and of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. Prior to founding AZPML, he was co-founder of the London-based Foreign Office Architects, which operated between 1993 and 2011.
Alejandro Zaera-Polo was born in Madrid, Spain on 17 October 1963. He graduated with honors from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, and subsequently obtained a Master in Architecture (MARCH II) at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University in 1991, with distinction.
He worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam between 1991 and 1993. In 1993, he co-founded Foreign Office Architects with his then-wife Farshid Moussavi. The company produced acclaimed architectural projects in Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, and Spain. Following the end of the couple's marriage, the winding up of the studio's activities was announced in December 2009.
In June 2011, after the dissolution of FOA, he established Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture (AZPA), later renamed Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML).
He has also been an advisor to the Quality Commission for Architecture in Barcelona and a contributor to the Urban Age Think Tank of the London School of Economics. He has published as a critic in professional magazines worldwide. El Croquis, Quaderns, A+U, Arch+, Harvard Design Magazine, Log, and other magazines have published his writings.
He was the inaugural co-director of the Seoul Architecture Biennale in 2017.
Alejandro Zaera-Polo has maintained a parallel academic career. He was the Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University (2012–2014), the Dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, and the inaugural beneficiary of the Norman Foster Visiting Professorship at Yale University. Prior to that, he was a Unit Master at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and has been a Visiting Critic at University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University in New York, the School of Architecture in Madrid, and the Yokohama School of Architecture.
While serving as Dean at Princeton University, Princeton architecture was featured at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014. Zaera-Polo abruptly left his role as Dean, after he was accused by the Princeton University President of "plagiarizing parts of a text he produced for the “Elements of Architecture” exhibition curated by Rem Koolhaas at the 2014 Venice Biennale". Architect Rem Koolhaas emailed the Biennale's director to deny any wrongdoing by Zaera-Polo. Zaera-Polo also denied the accusations and as a result, Zaera-Polo filed a lawsuit against the university in 2016.
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Alejandro Zaera-Polo
Alejandro Zaera Polo is a Spanish architect, theorist and founder of Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML). He was formerly dean of the Princeton University School of Architecture and of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam. Prior to founding AZPML, he was co-founder of the London-based Foreign Office Architects, which operated between 1993 and 2011.
Alejandro Zaera-Polo was born in Madrid, Spain on 17 October 1963. He graduated with honors from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, and subsequently obtained a Master in Architecture (MARCH II) at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University in 1991, with distinction.
He worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam between 1991 and 1993. In 1993, he co-founded Foreign Office Architects with his then-wife Farshid Moussavi. The company produced acclaimed architectural projects in Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, and Spain. Following the end of the couple's marriage, the winding up of the studio's activities was announced in December 2009.
In June 2011, after the dissolution of FOA, he established Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture (AZPA), later renamed Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML).
He has also been an advisor to the Quality Commission for Architecture in Barcelona and a contributor to the Urban Age Think Tank of the London School of Economics. He has published as a critic in professional magazines worldwide. El Croquis, Quaderns, A+U, Arch+, Harvard Design Magazine, Log, and other magazines have published his writings.
He was the inaugural co-director of the Seoul Architecture Biennale in 2017.
Alejandro Zaera-Polo has maintained a parallel academic career. He was the Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University (2012–2014), the Dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, and the inaugural beneficiary of the Norman Foster Visiting Professorship at Yale University. Prior to that, he was a Unit Master at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and has been a Visiting Critic at University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University in New York, the School of Architecture in Madrid, and the Yokohama School of Architecture.
While serving as Dean at Princeton University, Princeton architecture was featured at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014. Zaera-Polo abruptly left his role as Dean, after he was accused by the Princeton University President of "plagiarizing parts of a text he produced for the “Elements of Architecture” exhibition curated by Rem Koolhaas at the 2014 Venice Biennale". Architect Rem Koolhaas emailed the Biennale's director to deny any wrongdoing by Zaera-Polo. Zaera-Polo also denied the accusations and as a result, Zaera-Polo filed a lawsuit against the university in 2016.
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