Founders of Barcelona architecture firm to virtually visit Stuckeman School

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture will host Ricardo Flores and Eva Prats, co-founding principals of the architecture firm Flores & Prats, for a virtual lecture at 6 p.m. on Feb. 15 as part of the school’s Lecture and Exhibit Series. Founded in Barcelona in 1998, Flores & Prats is dedicated to the confrontation of theory and academic practice with design and construction activity. At their firm, the pair has rehabilitated old structures for new occupations, designed public spaces with community participation and designed social housing, keeping in mind its capacity to create community. The lecture, titled “The Right to Inherit,” will explore the intersection of prestige, heritage and timelessness with architecture. The work of Flores & Prats has earned numerous accolades including the Grand Award in Architecture from the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2009, City of Barcelona Award in 2017, City of Palma Award in 2018, Architectural Digest Architects of the Year Award in 2018 and the Architectural Record New into Old Award in 2019. The duo has been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award on several occasions and their work has been exhibited in the last four editions of La Biennale di Venezia. In 2014, the Mexican Editorial Arquine published "Thought by Hand: The Architecture of Flores & Prats," and in 2017, the new journal "Archives" dedicated its first issue to the studio's work. In 2020, Arquine and the Barcelona City Council published the book “Sala Beckett / Internacional Drama Center” and in 2022, the journal “Universum” dedicated its first issue to the studio's way of working. Flores is currently an associate professor of design at the School of Architecture of Barcelona. He also collaborated with Spanish architect Enric Mirrales at Mirrales’s practice in the 1990s. Flores studied architecture at the Universidad de Buenos Aires where he earned his master's in urban design. He also holds a doctorate in architecture from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Prats is an associate professor of design at Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB-UPC) and a guest professor at Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio. In 1994, she won first prize at the EUROPAN III International Housing Competition. She, too, collaborated with Miralles at his practice in the 1980s and 1990s. Prats studied architecture at the School of Architecture of Barcelona and holds a doctorate in architecture from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. The lecture, which is co-hosted by the Department of Architecture, will be presented via Zoom (passcode: 031071). For more news from the Stuckeman School, follow us on Twitter @StuckemanNews.