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.
Balandra Waves
Ubicación – La Paz, Baja California, México
Año – 2022
Programa – Desarrollo de usos mixtos: departamentos, comercio, oficinas, museo, plaza
M² – 26,183.70 m²
Quien haya visitado La Paz, Baja California Sur, probablemente haya visitado la playa de Balandra. Para nosotros, es una de las playas más hermosas del planeta: un paisaje donde las mareas cambiantes redibujan continuamente la bahía, generando patrones siempre distintos de arena blanca y curvas fluidas, casi imposibles de replicar o describir en toda su belleza natural. El paisaje nunca es el mismo. Las mareas, las estaciones, el clima, la luz solar e incluso el paso de los minutos lo transforman en un espectáculo en constante evolución de ondas de arena, posibilidades infinitas y movimiento continuo.
Cuando se nos presentó la oportunidad de diseñar un conjunto de usos mixtos sobre el Malecón de La Paz, inmediatamente supimos que el proyecto debía, de alguna manera, capturar y reinterpretar esta belleza dinámica: la arena blanca en constante transformación y sus curvas de extraordinario potencial arquitectónico. Todo el proyecto, desde la fachada y la geometría arquitectónica hasta los patrones de los azulejos y el mobiliario, incorpora el lenguaje de Balandra en diferentes escalas y grados de abstracción.
El proyecto integra diversas tipologías residenciales que responden a distintas necesidades del mercado, junto con programas comerciales y culturales, incluyendo un museo dedicado a la extraordinaria riqueza natural de Baja California Sur, así como a sus antiguas pinturas rupestres, localizadas entre las icónicas formaciones rocosas y montañas de la península.
Balandra Waves traduce un paisaje efímero en un lenguaje arquitectónico permanente, transformando el movimiento continuo de la arena, el agua, la luz y las mareas en una identidad contemporánea para el Malecón y la ciudad de La Paz.
