Rafael Viñoly

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Rafael Viñoly (born 1944) is an architect.

Biography

He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, (a film and theater director) and Maria Beceiro (a mathematics teacher).

He was educated at the University of Buenos Aires, receiving a Diploma in Architecture in 1968 and a Master of Architecture from the School of Architecture and Urbanism in 1969.

In 1964, he formed the Estudio de Arquitectura with six associates. This practice would eventually become one of the largest architectural practices in South America, completing many significant commissions in a very short time.

In 1978 Viñoly and his family relocated to the United States. For a brief period he served as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, settling permanently in New York City in 1979.

He founded the firm Rafael Viñoly Architects PC in 1983. His first major New York project was the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which was completed in 1988. In 1989, he won an international competition to design the Tokyo International Forum. Completed in 1996, many people consider this building to be the most important cultural complex in Japan. His firm's design was one of the finalists in the World Trade Center design competition ultimately won by Daniel Libeskind.

Rafael Viñoly is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a member of the Japan Institute of Architects as well as the Sociedad Central de Arquitectos.

Buildings

Completed

• Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan, 1996

• Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics in the Carl Icahn Laboratory, Princeton University, 2000
• The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2001

This building, home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, is inspired by winter-garden structures of the 19th century and the former Crystal Palace in London. Its basic design consists of two theaters (Verizon Hall and the Perelman Theater) within a public open space known as Commonwealth Plaza

• Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002

This laboratory building is defined by three cascading glass terraces which define the primary research spaces, which are filled with natural light and incorporate extremely flexible laboratory casework.

• Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 2002

The design seeks to maximize interaction among research groups, mainly by organizing circulation in a triple height atrium that runs nearly the entire length of the block-long site and bathes the interior in natural light. The rather simple rectilinear red brick façade is characterized by design elements including windows that overhang the street front and lend the facility a distinctive, even iconic look.

• Information Sciences and Technology Building, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, 2003

Inspired by the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, the IST Building straddles a main thoroughfare through the town (North Atherton Street/Business Route 322) and houses the university's School of Information Sciences and Technology as well as the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

• David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2003

Defined by a suspended roof structure inspired by Pittsburgh's many bridges, this 1.5 million-square-foot convention center has been called the world's largest "green" building, and is certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council.

• University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, Illinois, 2004

This building incorporates a six-story glass-enclosed Winter Garden supported by steel columns that draw their inspiration from the University's Gothic Revival architecture.

• Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston, Massachusetts, 2004

The largest building in New England, this 1.7 million square foot convention facility includes a 515,000 sf contiguous exhibition hall, 72 meeting rooms, and a 50,000 square foot ballroom.

• Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, New York, 2004
• Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 2005

This museum, designed as a series of pavilions joined by an atrium, opened on October 2, 2005 to critical acclaim.

• Mahler 4 Viñoly Toren Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2005
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia, 2006

In Progress

• Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, 2006
• California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 2006
• firstsite:newsite Colchester Visual Arts Facility, Colchester, UK, 2007
• Leicester Theatre and Performing Arts Centre, Leicester, UK, 2008
• University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Center for Advanced Medicine, 2008
• New Terminal at Carrasco International Airport, Uruguay, 2009
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, 2011 (expansion)
• Brooklyn Children's Museum, Brooklyn, New York, 2008 (expansion)
• City College of New York School of Architecture, Urban Design, and Landscape Architecture, City College of New York, 2008
• 20 Fenchurch Street, City of London, UK, 2011
• Vdara Condo Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2009
• Kravis Center Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA, 2009

Unbuilt/Cancelled

• World Trade Center Redevelopment, New York, NY, 2002
• Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, 2002. Plans for the museum's replacement fell through after numerous financial burdens.
• John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, 2013

This project has stopped due to the cancellation of federal funding for a plaza connecting the center to the city center, which is an integral component of the master plan and expansion.

External links

• Rafael Viñoly Architects PC
• Tokyo International Forum at Greatbuildings.com
• Grand gestures catapault Rafael Vinoly to architectural stardom
• Land Securities Appoints Architect for City Site
• Penn Medicine Breaks Ground on its Largest Capital Project Ever
• DCist: Kennedy Center's Plaza Project Doomed?

References

1. Rafael Viñoly, Rafael Viñoly, ISBN 1-56898-373-5

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