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.
Xpuha Ecoresort
Riviera Maya, Mexico · 2024–Ongoing
Located on a 5-hectare site facing one of the most exclusive beaches of the Riviera Maya, XPUHA is envisioned as a five-star eco-resort aspiring to become the Yucatán Peninsula's most sustainable and extraordinary hospitality destination, offering a singular experience rooted in nature, culture, art, and architecture.
The project is conceived as a collection of unique hotel rooms, branded residences, and exceptional wellness amenities, each offering a distinct spatial experience while remaining deeply connected to—and respectful of—the dense surrounding jungle. With very low density and exceptional attention to detail, every building is carefully positioned to preserve the existing landscape. World-class amenities, from wellness facilities and restaurants to a museum and beach club, are embedded within an immersive artistic landscape of architecture, pavilions, and sculptures distributed throughout the site.
The project draws inspiration from Edward James, whose extraordinary relationship between surrealism, architecture, and the natural landscape provides a conceptual precedent. At XPUHA, nature, architecture, pavilions, and art merge into a continuous and immersive journey—an experience intended to feel less like a conventional resort and more like entering another world.
A museum, beach club, restaurants, gym, and spa form an integrated hospitality experience for the hotel guests and branded residences, while the entire development is guided by rigorous principles of environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
Constructed with low-carbon concrete, green roofs, and warm timber interiors, the architecture is conceived to almost disappear into the jungle, revealing itself gradually like a mirage—pavilion after pavilion. Guests return to XPUHA to discover new layers of an experience in which Maya culture, nature, art, architecture, gastronomy, wellness, and hospitality are woven together, from the masterplan to the smallest detail.
The ambition is not simply to create a resort, but to create an unprecedented immersion in the Yucatán landscape—a place where architecture becomes a framework for discovering nature, culture, and oneself.
