Josep Acebillo

Josep Acebillo
Born 1946
Huesca, Spain
Nationality Spanish
Alma mater Polytechnic University of Catalonia
Occupation Architect
Awards Honorific Medal of the City of Barcelona (1999)
RIBA Gold Medal (1999)
Practice ASoffice - Architectural Systems Office
Projects 1992 Summer Olympics
2004 Universal Forum of Cultures
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Josep Acebillo (born in Huesca, Spain, in 1946) is a Spanish architect.

Professor at the Academy of Architecture Università della Svizzera Italiana (Mendrisio, Switzerland).

Member of the Board of Directors and Professor of Barcelona Institute of Architecture (Barcelona, Spain).

Principal architect of Architectural Systems Office (Lugano, Switzerland).

Biography

Josep Acebillo obtained his architecture degree in the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (ETSAB-1974).

From 1974 to 1979, he works independently or in collaboration with the MBM studio (Martorell, Bohigas and MacKay). During this period he has been awarded the following awards: First Price of the National Competition of School Prototypes in Spain (1979), First Price for the redaction of the Master Plan of the Vall de Bohí in Lleida-Spain (1980), First Price for the redaction of the Master Plan for the Towns of Sitges and St. Pere de Ribes-Barcelona (1980) and the Second National Price of Urbanism in Spain (1982).

From 1981 to 1987 he is director of Urban Projects Barcelona City Council, task involving the design and construction of 140 urban spaces, infrastructures, monuments and facilities buildings promoted by the Minucipality. The Public Urban Spaces of Barcelona constructed during this period were awarded for the quality with the Prince of Wales Prize in Urban Design of the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1990).

From 1988 to 1994 Acebillo is the director of IMPUSA, Institute for Urban Development (Olympic Holding) of the city of Barcelona, in charge of leading the projects and building the main infrastructures for the 1992 Summer Olympics games. He is the recipient of the Honorific Medal of the City of Barcelona in 1992 for his contribution to the urban transformation.

From 1993 to 2011 he was the CEO (chief executive officer) of the Metropolitan Agency Barcelona Regional, a “think tank” to spearhead the development of strategic urban projects and infrastructures of the city. His efforts are awarded with the Special European Price of Urbanism 1997/1998 of the European Commission for the project Infrastructure and General Metropolitan Systems.

Later on 1998 he is appointed “Commissioner of Infrastructures and Urban Planning” of Barcelona.

In 1999 he becomes Chief Architect of the city of Barcelona. During the same year he is named honorific member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).[1] In 1999 Barcelona is also the recipient of the RIBA awards with the Royal Gold Medal [2] for Architecture due to the contribution of: Narcís Serra i Serra, Pasqual Maragall i Mira, Joan Clos i Matheu, Josep Acebillo and Oriol Bohigas.

From 2003 to 2006, he was the coordinator of the Barcelona Urban Strategy Advisory Council composed by Richard Rogers, Dominique Perrault, Oriol Bohigas, Ramon Folch, Antoni Marí, Manuel de Solà-Morales and Joan Trullén, to advise the municipality on global strategies.

In 2009 he founded BcNSus, an economic interest group based in Barcelona, led by key players from public and private entities, with the aim of participating in projects abroad. He was CEO of BcNSuS until 2011.

Under the urban leadership of Acebillo, Barcelona has received worldwide recognition for the positioning of the city in the international architecture plane. Following this recognition, Josep Acebillo is frequently called to assess other cities such as London, Ostend, Kazan, etc... and guide their urban transformation endeavours. In 2003, in the case of London, he was appointed member of the International Design Committee (London Development Agency) to assess the city development.

Josep Acebillo has always been very active in teaching, first at the Ilaud (International Architecture and Urban Design Laboratory) of Urbino,[3][4] then as visiting professor in several architecture schools, among them the School of Architecture of the Yale University, the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the architecture school of NUS (National University of Singapore). Since 2001 Acebillo teaches Culture of the Territory in the Architecture Academy of Mendrisio (Università della Svizzera italiana), in which he has been the Dean of the Faculty during two consecutive mandates, from 2003 to 2007. In 2004 he founded the Institute for the Contemporary Urban Project (i.CUP) and in the same year is named Director for Architecture and Infrastructure of the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures in Barcelona.

Since 2007 opens up a professional studio Architectural Systems Office in collaboration with architect Stanislava Boskovic Sigon. He continues teaching in the Architecture Academy of Mendrisio.

Academic experience

Awards

References

  1. ↑ http://www.architecture.com/Files/RIBATrust/Awards/RIBAInternationalFellows/2009/Existing%20International%20Fellows.pdf
  2. ↑ "1999 - The City of Barcelona". Architecture.com. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  3. ↑ "ILAUD - Urbino 1977". Ilaud.eu. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  4. ↑ "ILAUD - Urbino 1978". Ilaud.eu. Retrieved 2012-02-07.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑

External links