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.
Castelar 75
Mexico City, Mexico
Castelar 75 is a sustainable office building that rethinks the relationship between solar shading and the abstraction of nature. Its marble louvers replicate the oblique geometry of the trees in Lincoln Park opposite the site, transforming a passive environmental strategy into an architectural expression.
The result is a dynamic building whose branching façade provides natural shading while establishing a strong visual identity in one of Mexico City's most prominent locations, Polanco.
Selected by Arquine as one of the most important buildings in Mexico in 2021–2022, and awarded the Firenze–Reforma Prize for Corporate Architecture in 2023, Castelar 75 is also home to DONIS Studio's Mexico City office.
Walking along Castelar Avenue, between the building and Lincoln Park, visitors experience a continuous sense of movement—a dialogue between mass and frame, light and shadow, nature and architecture. As daylight changes throughout the day, the façade reveals shifting visual patterns that reinforce this dynamic relationship.
In the context of the climate crisis, Castelar 75 demonstrates how environmental performance and architectural identity can become one. Its LEED Gold-certified design significantly reduces solar heat gain and cooling demand, while its façade derives its formal language from the fractal principles found in nature, creating a distinctive corporate identity rooted in environmental intelligence rather than ornament.
