"Process"

Mauricio Rocha, a founding principal of Taller de Arquitectura in Mexico City, Mexico, will discuss his work and design philosophy in a lecture titled “Process" at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 1 in Ken Shollmier Hall, Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus.

“Process" is perhaps the word having the most importance to his work. The results obtained from each project developed within the workshop come from an extensive process of exploration and discovery revealing a working method that is rich, complex and varied. With the serendipitous occurrences of the building process, the revealing of the vacant site just before beginning to construct, the understanding of the client’s needs and desires, the local materials, the movement of the winds and changing light — there are no final answers, simply journeys. 

He will also present a lecture at 6 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. Ninth St., in Little Rock, as part of the Art of Architecture lecture series. The lecture follows a 5:30 p.m. reception. That series is sponsored by the Arkansas Arts Center, the Fay Jones School of Architecture, the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and Friends of Architecture.

Rocha graduated with Honors of the Max Cetto Studio at the Faculty of Architecture of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) 1985-1990. He was a studio professor at the Max Cetto studio (UNAM) from 1992-98, at Anahuac University in 2004 and at the Iberoamericana University in 2004.

He was recipient of the Young Creators scholarship given by the National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA) in 1991-92. In 1987, he was awarded first prize in the Alternative Spaces Biennial hosted by the Plastic Arts Salon. In 2002, he received the national Covarrubias Prize granted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) for best museography with the exhibit “Introduction to Anthropology" at the Anthropology and History Museum. Other awards include the silver medal at the VII Mexican Architecture Biennial for the “Institute for the Visually-Impaired" in Mexico City in 2002 and the gold medal and grand prize in the VIII Mexican Architecture Biennial for the “San Pablo Oztotepec market" in Milpalta in Mexico City in 2004. In 2009, he won first place in the Cemex Prize for the School of Plastic Arts Oaxaca, Mexico and second place in the category of Sustainability and International Institution for the same project. He currently acts as juror of art and culture for the FONCA (National Fund for Culture and the Arts) Commission of Arts.

As architect, Mauricio Rocha Iturbide works in both the public and private spheres. He alternates his architectural practice with ephemeral architectural interventions in art exhibitions as well as with museography.

His primary exhibitions include the Galería de Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City in 1996; Intervention in a Water Tank – Isabel II canal – ARCO 1997; Lines of Loss in Artists Space, New York City, 1998; Intervention in Ex Teresa, Mexico City, 1999; Intervention in MAM, Mexico City, 2003; First Beijing International Architecture Biennial, Beijing, China 2004; Mexican architecture exhibition at the Center For Architecture, New York, 2004; and the Sao Paulo Architecture Biennial in 2005. Last year, Rocha participated in the Venice Biennial as well as the contemporary architecture exhibit in Turin.

Rocha has lectured in the United States, Cuba, China, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, as well as in many cities within Mexico. His work has been published in Praxis, The Architectural Review, Arquine, Obras, Enlace and Poliéster of Mexico City, and in10x10: 100 Architects, 10 Critics (Phaidon) in 2005 and in Domus Italia in 2008.