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.
Newton 127
Ubicación – Polanco, Ciudad de México
Año – 2016
Programa – Edificio residencial
M² – 6 departamentos de 220 m² + estacionamiento y comercio
Newton 127 es un edificio residencial que reinterpreta el principio de diseño MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) mediante una arquitectura de concreto aparente basada en una innovadora retícula oblicua. Familiar y, al mismo tiempo, inesperado, el proyecto explora cómo sutiles transformaciones geométricas pueden generar un nuevo lenguaje arquitectónico, permaneciendo profundamente arraigado en la memoria colectiva de la ciudad.
El proyecto marca un momento decisivo en la evolución de DONIS Studio, al representar el inicio de nuestra investigación sobre la función de la oblicuidad y su aplicación en la arquitectura y el urbanismo. Asimismo, revisita uno de los dispositivos más fundamentales de la disciplina —la retícula— previamente explorado en nuestra investigación doctoral a través de las estructuras compositivas ocultas de los murales de Diego Rivera. Aquí, la retícula se transforma en una expresión arquitectónica refinada, de apariencia mínima pero rica en complejidad espacial, originalidad y elegancia.
Un basamento retranqueado de acero negro oculta los accesos peatonales y vehiculares, permitiendo que el volumen reticulado de marcos oblicuos parezca flotar sobre la calle Newton, en el barrio de Polanco, en la Ciudad de México.
Al igual que el concepto de quiet luxury en la moda —definido no por logotipos ostentosos, sino por una calidad excepcional, precisión y una elegancia atemporal—, Newton 127 expresa su identidad a través de la proporción, la materialidad y el cuidado constructivo, más que mediante el exceso formal.
