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02/16/2021

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez

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Héctor Ruiz Velázquez portrait. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez portrait. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Ruiz-Maasburg penthouse. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Ruiz-Maasburg penthouse. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Origami House for Whirpool. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Origami House for Whirpool. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic Blue Moon Lounge Bar at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic Blue Moon Lounge Bar at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Lladró Lifestyle Flagship Stores Worldwide.  Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Lladró Lifestyle Flagship Stores Worldwide. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Ceramic House for “Tiles From Spain”. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Ceramic House for “Tiles From Spain”. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

“Ford Vignale Experience” project for Ford at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

“Ford Vignale Experience” project for Ford at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic´s Smart Home at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic´s Smart Home at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic's stand at the Interzum Fair in Cologne (Germany). Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic's stand at the Interzum Fair in Cologne (Germany). Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Habitat Valencia Fair, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Habitat Valencia Fair, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Neolith Urban Boutique (NUB) at the Milan Design Week. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Neolith Urban Boutique (NUB) at the Milan Design Week. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Lladró Boutiques Worldwide. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Lladró Boutiques Worldwide. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

New image of the Johnny Rockets restaurant in Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

New image of the Johnny Rockets restaurant in Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

The bar-restaurant Glenfiddich Ritz Carlton

The bar-restaurant Glenfiddich Ritz Carlton

Habitat Valencia Fair, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Habitat Valencia Fair, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Ford Vignale Space at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Ford Vignale Space at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Torres Blanca Building in Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Torres Blanca Building in Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic´s Yellow House at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Alvic´s Yellow House at Casa Decor Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

First Alvic Showroom Boutique Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

First Alvic Showroom Boutique Madrid, Spain. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

PI-DUBAI restaurant. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

PI-DUBAI restaurant. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Living Lounging for Whirlpool. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Living Lounging for Whirlpool. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Techlam Levantina Ceramic House at the Cersaie Fair in Bologna, Italy. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Techlam Levantina Ceramic House at the Cersaie Fair in Bologna, Italy. Photo courtesy of Héctor Ruiz Velázquez.

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez was born in Puerto Rico and, after a solid university education in architecture in the U.S. and work experiences with renowned Spanish architects such as Rafael Moneo and Alberto Campo Baeza, he founded "RUIZ VELAZQUEZ Architecture & Design" in Madrid. A multidisciplinary studio specialized in the development of projects from architecture, design, communication and branding. For the past few years, the studio has had its own office in Dubai.

In the last 15 years, "RUIZ VELAZQUEZ Architecture & Design" has stood out internationally for its specialization in commercial and business sectors, with projects in the areas of retail, franchises, hotels, restaurants, fairs and other events. The close relationship with the brands, their business expectations and the different target markets of each project have allowed the studio to acquire a very broad multi-sectorial knowledge and experience, which considers the consumer from an extensive spectrum of possibilities, and not only from consumption, but also from the social, anthropological and cultural sphere.

The studio enjoys international recognition and has received numerous awards and nominations by the design, architecture and lifestylepress . Its CEO, Héctor Ruiz Velázquez, has participated in conferences and has collaborated with universities, specialized events and artistic and cultural centers around the world.

We spoke with him about his career, his architectural vision and design, as well as his upcoming projects.

Interiors from Spain: With Caribbean roots and after a solid academic training in architecture in the U.S., you landed almost 30 years ago in Europe. What prompted you to embark on this fascinating adventure?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
The land in the middle of the sea gives a particular character to the culture of the islanders. And, like many of its inhabitants, I have origins in the Europe that discovered the world. I suppose that all that heritage shapes my restlessness to get to know new horizons and, above all, to connect with the old continent. The American university was the decisive step; the opportunity arose to further my studies at Andrea Palladio's academy, in one of the cradles of art and design, the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza (Italy), and it didn't take long for me to decide to leave.

On that study trip I was amazed and, upon my return to America, I immediately applied for an exchange program to go back to Europe, initially for a year, to learn more about their way of thinking and working with architecture. I decided to choose Spain because I fell in love with the news that I received from the country through the CROQUIS magazine, I followed closely the novelties and trends that were being developed, and so I studied my 4th year of my degree at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

At the end of my studies I returned to the United States to finish my degree, a period in which the great architectural theorist, Kenneth Frampton, was Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Columbia University in New York, and it was precisely he who encouraged me to return. At that time, he was supporting some Spanish architects with his writings and, after correcting my final project, he recommended me, because of my innovative way of working, to start my professional career in Spain, where I would find the necessary harmony to develop my architecture.

Interiors from Spain: In Spain, before starting your solo project, you worked with Rafael Moneo and, later, in Alberto Campo Baeza's studio. What did these two experiences with two of the most renowned Spanish architects give you?  

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
Thanks to my mentor Kenneth Frampton and his recommendation letters, I quickly got offers from several prestigious architectural firms in Spain. I didn't think twice and left to join Rafael Moneo and Alberto Campo Baeza's architectural firm.

All the steps, stages, experiences that arose during my training have their importance and have contributed to a great degree to my way of understanding architecture. And, without a doubt, taking my first steps alongside great masters such as Rafael Moneo, the first Spanish architect to be awarded a Pritzker Prize, or Alberto Campo Baeza, was undoubtedly a privilege and an enormous enrichment. Rafael Moneo, who had already been my professor in the United States, taught me especially not to be afraid of eclecticism, to seek and select the best from all sources, and above all, he transmitted to me his great ability to contextualize architecture.

Alberto Campo Baeza is a human being as exceptional as his architecture. With him I learned to work with light and space, and to see architecture as something mystical, beautiful, as a magical inspiration, enchanting, serene, intimate and full of surprises.

Thanks to Alberto I started collaborating with some of his former students in Madrid, who were already working on very important urban projects such as the Green Corridor. And so I ended up partnering with architect Javier Garcia, and started a career of my own in the country.

Interiors from Spain: By the way, what is architecture for you? How has it evolved since your beginnings? Where do you think it is heading in the coming decades?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez
: For me, architecture is passion, a place where thought flies in search of new horizons. Architecture has the capacity to create spaces in which to live, it shapes the foundations of our societies, and designs the habitats that contain humanity. I think it's a really exciting profession that carries a lot of responsibility, beyond functionality and aesthetics. 

I believe that in the coming decades, honesty will be the basis of our society and architecture will have to contribute to it. Spaces that are more humane, respectful of the environment, orchestrated so that technology allows us to enjoy the resources instead of just exploiting them.

We have been growing and developing in a very polarized way, and now our pending duty is to learn about the success stories that other cultures and traditions have developed in a contemporary way. We should mix even more, not only in terms of styles, but also in terms of fundamentals, in order to find solutions to global problems.

In the coming years, our profession will have a great responsibility to change; among other things, we will have to look at the spaces that sometimes seem not to be there and go unnoticed, even though they form the whole surrounding and psychological context of our lives. I am referring to abandoned public spaces in cities or, at home, to unusable corners or corridors.

Interiors from Spain: Tell us about your style, your way of designing... What features define your interior design and architectural projects?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
I think they define themselves as timeless, innovative, especially human. My sense of architecture is very spatial, I move on all kinds of axes, I like to broaden perspectives so that they have more power to modify habitability and also functionality. I like to work always thinking about people, from the point of view of the inhabitant, the client and the end user. I like to shape from this fascinating discipline, everything or almost everything that has been proposed to me. It is more than a profession; it is a passion and a challenge of constant evolution.

All the training I have received and my professional and personal journey have in my activity as an architect a stamp, a value and a unique way of doing things. I experiment with my ideas from experience and I like to shape the space down to the last detail.

I love this discipline in all its expressions, each project is a new approach; it is difficult to create a style, I would call it vocation. What I do have are my signs of identity. Functionality and people are always at the center of my work; my understanding of light and space, and my emphasis on experimenting with new materials. All this identifies my work.

Every challenge, every client, every place, and every moment I live are an integral part of the outcome of my projects, and each one is unique. Perhaps they all share a three-dimensional communication game that is always present in my works.

Interiors from Spain: When describing your studio you point out that it works from "co-creation" and "expansive design thinking", what is it that you want to convey?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
Co-creation and expansive design thinking is a great tool for generating innovation.

To achieve spatial success, we always work on each project in close collaboration with the client, the studio's creative team and the users of the space. An approach that starts with active listening. We analyze and break down present and future problems without any limitations, giving ideas in an empathetic way of everything that comes to mind to have an understanding of the composition of place, an analysis of the situation, to be aware of where we are and what we need.

Possibly this is the feature that most imprints character and identity to our work, because it always leads us to provide personalized experiences according to each project, to influx more vision and profitability to the spaces we make.

Interiors from Spain: Your creative activity ranges from architecture, interior design and branding projects to product design. In which area do you feel most comfortable? What is the common link that unites so many disciplines?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
Everything is cause and effect, you start working in the space in a global way and you get closer to the detail of everything it contains. And since we work with a system open to all disciplines, we are in constant collaboration with different professionals: graphic designers, industrial designers, painters, psychologists... The result is very enriching and opens up new fields of work with synergies between all these disciplines.

For me, architecture and interior design are two inseparable activities in order to reach the result of an integral and logical atmosphere; in my case, I speak from the conciliation existing between interior and exterior, between individual and collective, between public and private... I identify the role of architecture with the role of the human skin in the organism, that area of contact with the exterior that at the same time is one of the pillars of the body's structure.

Our experience has led us to face projects in a global way without thinking in a separation between architecture, interior design, industrial design or branding. Thinking of architecture as something that transcends the mere function of an aesthetic and utilitarian container makes all this activity become the projection of a work full of codes capable of stimulating not only outwardly but also inwardly, breaking the boundaries that separate such disciplines.

Interiors from Spain: And of your recent work, which projects have you been most satisfied with? Why? 

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
It may sound cliché, but for me each project is unique and unrepeatable. If I had to name some projects, it would be those with which I have felt and transmitted emotion, such as my own house, the houses of the future for Whirlpool International or the ceramic apartment I made for "Tiles From Spain"

My house, the RUIZ MAASBURG PENTHOUSE, was a huge challenge where all kinds of emotions came together, my career, my love for my family, my first fatherhood. I created a space that can almost be extracted from the building and the place where it is located, like an island within the city. It is also a space full of curves that distribute rooms without cutting, without framing, but flowing from many angles of vision, with light as an essential element.

I am also very proud of all the experimental projects we have done under the umbrella of Casa Decor, with great clients such as FORD, WHIRLPOOL, ALVIC,GLENFIDDICH, ASCER (ceramic house), ICEX, Cadillac, etc. They have been very enriching and free-style experiences.

Among them, I would highlight FORD's project, with its new Vignale experience. The resources and technical needs of vehicle marketing, all these ingredients, have turned this latest creation into a new commercial paradigm where users and products can come together and live totally innovative brand experiences, without limits of space or creativity; it is a commercial performance space where I have spatially broken many barriers. It has been a very radical project that has been particularly successful, it was winner of the honorary design award in 2018, awarded at the Reina Sofia museum by Casa Decor.

Another more recent and for me very important project is last year's space for the ALVIC brand, The BLUE MOON (Casa Decor 2020 best original project award). An innovative, eclectic and imaginative scenario of real art, much more than functionality and aesthetics; it is an imaginary space of visual games based on the kaleidoscope and the Japanese art of cut paper, kirigami, which recreates with panels and cut surfaces a distorted reality that connects the visitor with the first matter.

Interiors from Spain: The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly transformed the way we relate to each other and our relationship with the spaces in which we move and inhabit. Which of the changes you perceive will remain in our home, office or leisure spaces in the coming years?  

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
This situation has made it clear how limiting and harmful most of the spaces we inhabit in today's big cities are. The human being needs more integral architectural responses that welcome them in all the fullness of their being, both corporeal and spiritual, and this is something that our homes in our industrialized western world lack.

We have found ourselves prisoners in our own homes having been confined; we have felt darkness and lockdown. This happens because our habitats are not designed to be lived in but to keep us as if it were a car in a garage, it is something organizational, mechanical, without feelings, not human at all. 

We are experiencing the need to change, to give our homes an essence of their own, with codes that contain knowledge and allude to feelings and emotions; to pay attention to ergonomics in our habitat and provide it with expansive and creative functions full of sensations that refer to the visual, olfactory, auditory and tactile. They must be timeless, three-dimensional, multi-sensory spaces.

Technology has proven to be very necessary at this time and has been integrated into the home in a leading role. We need more connected habitats, but a balance must be found, it is necessary to create networks of communication and silence, rather than connected islands. It is true that connectivity is a way of undoing the limits that constitute the perimeter of a home to allow us to communicate, but at the same time it is a double-edged sword and can become a new prison for the activity it encloses. The new house is a fully domotized and connected home, as well as a space of freedom and self-connection.

What we are learning by leaps and bounds is to look to the future, but without ceasing to look to the past, we must follow our natural essence, because we inhabit a living planet, with a subtle biological balance of which we are part. It is very important to be very grateful for the resources it offers us, and that this is reflected in the forms and materialization of the spaces, thus enhancing our health and well-being, as well as ecology.

Interiors from Spain: Years ago you participated with ICEX in the exhibition "Spainalight" in Tokyo. How has your international experience been? Any suggestions?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
It was a great pleasure and honor to represent our country in Spainalight at the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo on the occasion of Tokyo Designer's Week 2011, surrounded by great friends and talents of Spanish design.

I had the opportunity to travel with ICEX to several countries, proudly representing the talent and the Spanish product, that experience offered me an inexplicable satisfaction. I hope that we will not stop having these initiatives that help us to promote our industry and economy abroad.

A good example of this was the project I designed for ICEX under the slogan INTERIOR FROM SPAIN at Casa Decor Miami. For this project we transformed part of the Woman's Club building into a boutique hotel 100% made in Spain called SENS HOTEL AND SPA MIAMI. We were fortunate to be able to showcase 700 Spanish products from the furniture, lighting, home textiles, household goods, accessories, coatings, kitchen and bathroom sectors. This was undoubtedly a great platform for many industrialists to enter the American market.

Interiors from Spain: And, continuing with your experience abroad, tell us about your latest projects outside Spain. In which countries are you currently working?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
We are currently working in the United States (Los Angeles, New York and Miami), the Caribbean (Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), South America (Cartagena de Indias), Europe (United Kingdom, Germany and Italy) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi).

These are enriching experiences for the studio team, but I cannot deny that, in addition to architecture, it is also about strategy and management. With difficulties due to the time difference, organization at such a long distance, as well as the technical management of the works. Each country has its own idiosyncrasies and bureaucracies, as well as styles and cultures that have nothing to do with each other; no matter how much globalization we are experiencing, there are local issues in architecture that greatly determine our work, while at the same time enriching it.

Interiors from Spain: Your studio also has an office in Dubai. When did you open it? Is the UAE and its neighboring countries, one of the world's great laboratories where the new architectural and interior design trends that will dominate in the coming decades are being tested and applied? 

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
Thanks to ICEX, I started to make commercial trips to the area: Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. That is how we started our trajectory in that area and began to participate in several projects as consultants.

But I came to the decision to open our office there by another route, and it was from the academic world and Germany. My contact with research, the innovative and exciting projects I experienced at the university level, convinced me to explore and work in Dubai, as a capital of influence, as well as the neighboring countries.

The Emirates at that time, more than 10 years ago, was a new and rapidly growing market. Meanwhile, Europe, and Spain in particular, was entering a deep crisis, and that led us to decide to explore new destinations, and the UAE offered us interesting opportunities.   

My foray into the UAE market is proving to be a totally different experience to those I have had so far. I like to put myself in their shoes and understand their style and their fascination with ours. While it is true that the way of understanding architecture in Europe has a very different historical and commercial background, in the Middle East, in recent times, they only look to the future. I am fortunate to have an internationally known brand and when I am hired, many times, the client is just looking for this, my way of understanding architecture from space and culture.

Interiors from Spain: We have just started 2021. How does it look for the studio? Can you tell us about any new projects you are working on?

Héctor Ruiz Velázquez:
The year 2021 looks to be complicated by the new reality we are living in, but at the same time exciting. I believe that for architects it is a very interesting time to be able to help and make changes in our urban and architectural environment, and especially in our lifestyles. So far, we are very busy with several national and international projects with very different profiles, for example, commercial projects, creating new brands in Europe, America and the Middle East, and private homes in Spain and the Caribbean, restoration and creative directions, and product design for several companies.

This month we start with new and ambitious projects for Starlite in Spain; we have been in charge of the creative direction for 8 years now, which we are expanding to Mexico, Miami and Russia for the next few years. It is an interesting project that includes architecture, art, music, gastronomy... Starlite is a luxury event with the Spanish ensign for the whole world.

We are working in the "Flagship Stores" of several brands such as Lladró, Boglioli, Neolith, Alvic and Salt Grind in different parts of the world: London, Milan, Miami, Los Angeles, Barcelona, New York, New Delhi, Saudi Arabia or Dubai and in several luxury villa projects in the Dominican Republic and Spain. In DUBAI and Saudi Arabia, we are also busy creating three new commercial brands: Salt, Grind and Human Behind.

In Spain we are immersed in the launch of the new image we have prepared for the American hamburger chain Johnny Rockets, in a business headquarters building for new technology offices in@21 Barcelona, and in the new headquarters for the Alvic brand in Madrid and soon in the United States, as well as its pavilions for Germany and the United States. And in a new project challenge with the Niessen ABB brand to create the house of the future to be presented at Casa Decor 2021.

These are very different concepts and projects, with different needs but also complementary in my activity as an architect that fill us with life and passion for each of them.

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