About
DONIS is an international studio of architecture, urbanism, research, industrial design, and art. The studio has won several international prizes, including the Dubai Frame, selected as the first-prize winner from 926 proposals in an international competition regulated by UNESCO-UIA; the first prize for the National Palace of Justice in Paris; and the winning design for a new landmark for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the City of London. DONIS designs, develops, and builds projects across a wide range of scales and programs, consistently pursuing innovative, sustainable, and socially engaged architecture. DONIS was founded by Fernando Donis, Mexican Dutch architect who received his Master’s degree from the Architectural Association in London through the Design Research Laboratory (DRL), where he studied under Patrik Schumacher and Brett Steele. He also received a PhD in Architecture from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), through the doctoral research program The City as a Project, led by with Pier Vittorio Aureli. His doctoral research, FRAME, is a five-chapter study of the archetype of the frame and its role in the architectural and urban history and culture of Mexico. Following his studies at the Architectural Association, Fernando Donis worked closely with Rem Koolhaas as an Associate at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) for nine years, from 2001 to 2009. During this period, he was the main designer of the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, among numerous other architectural projects and masterplans. He also collaborated with AMO, OMA’s research and design branch, contributing to research projects concerning the European Union. Fernando Donis has taught at the Berlage Institute and the Academy of Architecture in Rotterdam, as well as at Universidad Iberoamericana and Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico, integrating architectural research, design, and urbanism across multiple scales. His work and career have received international recognition. In 2011, CNN Expansión selected him as one of the 30 most promising and influential people in Mexico. In 2015, Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs selected him as one of the country’s most creative Mexicans living abroad.
Frame PhD
Ubicación – TU Delft – México
Año – 2009–2014
Programa – Investigación sobre el arquetipo del Marco en México
Formato – Libro
Esta investigación doctoral en TU Delft, desarrollada dentro del programa The City as a Project bajo la dirección de Pier Vittorio Aureli, estudia el MARCO como un arquetipo arquitectónico y urbano en la cultura mexicana. La tesis se estructura en cinco capítulos: Teotihuacan, entendida como una ciudad de marcos a través de la Calzada de los Muertos, la Ciudadela y su repetitiva vivienda de patios; los códices mesoamericanos, cuyos sistemas pictográficos estructuran rituales, agricultura, producción y vida cotidiana; los murales de Diego Rivera, que revelan retículas compositivas ocultas que enmarcan la colonización, la cultura y la identidad mexicana; los marcos públicos de la Ciudad de México, incluyendo el Parque México, el campus universitario de la UNAM, el Mercado de La Merced, la Plaza de las Tres Culturas en Tlatelolco y el Conjunto Urbano Presidente Alemán (CUPA); y, finalmente, un estudio comparativo entre los marcos tectónicos de Luis Barragán y Mies van der Rohe.
La investigación explora el potencial del MARCO como una herramienta para reinventar la arquitectura y la ciudad. Los marcos se entienden como los dispositivos arquitectónicos más fundamentales para mediar la relación entre el interior y el exterior, lo privado y lo público, así como entre la vida individual y la colectiva. Al enmarcar la ciudad mediante espacios públicos, parques y naturaleza, tanto a escala urbana como arquitectónica, la tesis propone un nuevo modelo de vida urbana que fomenta el bienestar, la conciencia cultural y la sostenibilidad planetaria.
