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 City
2023 · First Prize, International Competition — Redesign the World, Dezeen
Frame City is a new model for the sustainable city of the 21st century. The project won the international competition Redesign the World, organized by Dezeen, the world's leading architecture and design platform.
Fernando Donis' proposal creates new habitable topographies in which humanity and nature coexist.
Donis' Frame City concept aims to undo the damage to nature and people's wellbeing caused by a century of rapid urbanisation.
Each high-density city, which is designed to house a million people, is formed of mountain-like terraced structures made from cross-laminated timber, which would be built to frame natural landscapes.
Roads and private vehicles would be abandoned in favour of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, with careful city planning to ensure that necessary services and amenities are within a 15-minute walk or cycle of people's homes.
Donis imagines that each city would be designed to integrate with and complement its natural surroundings, creating a diverse network of different urban settlements, which would lead to rich cultural exchanges and tourism.
"Donis' proposal for a new topography that is inhabitable for people while providing for nature is powerful, compelling and unlike any other entry we received," said the Redesign the World judges. "There have been many attempts to bring more greenery to our cities to fuse nature and architecture, but Frame City approaches the challenge in a really innovative and memorable way."
