Jose Rafael Moneo

Jose Rafael Moneo was born in Tudela, Navarra (Spain) in May of 1937. He obtained his architectural degree in 1961 from the Madrid University School of Architecture.
Moneo taught at the Madrid University School of Architecture (1966-70). In 1970 he won a chaired professorship in architectural theory at the School of Architecture in Barcelona where he taught until 1980. In 1980 he became a chaired professor of composition at the School of Architecture in Madrid until 1985. In 1976 Rafael Moneo was invited to the U.S. as Visiting Fellow by the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies of New York City (1976-77) and by the Cooper Union, School of Architecture (NYC 1976-77). During the late seventies and early eighties he was a Visiting Professor at the schools of architecture of Princeton and Harvard Universities in the U.S., and later at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1985, Rafael Moneo was named Chairman of the Architecture Department of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a position he held until 1990. He remains active as Professor at this university and was granted the honorary Sert Professorship in 1991.

Works now under construction presently being completed by Rafael Moneo include the Barcelona Concert Hall (1990), the Museums of Modern Art and Architecture in Stockhom, Sweden (1994), Don Benito Cultural Center in Badajoz (1995), the Town Hall of Murcia (1995), and the "Kursaal" Concert Hall and Cultural Center in San Sebastián (1995). Among the projects in the studio of Rafael Moneo currently in the design phase are: the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Texas (commissioned 1992), the Potsdammer Platz Hotel & Office Building in Berlin (commissioned 1993). During 1992 Rafael Moneo was awarded the Gold Medal for Achievement in the Fine Arts by the Spanish Government, and was honored as Doctorate Honoris Causa by Leuven University in February of 1993. In May 1993 Rafael Moneo received the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in June 1993, the Prince of Viana Prize by the Government of the Province of Navarra (Spain). In November 1993 he was awarded in 1993 Schock Prize in the Visual Arts by the Schock Foundation and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. In April 1994 he received a "Laurea ad Honorem" from the School of Architecture of Venice. Rafael Moneo is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Accademia di San Luca di Roma, an Honorary Fellow of the America Institute of Architects and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects.

September 26, 2000