Juan José Castellón is an Architect (ETSA Barcelona, 2003), an M.Arch. in Emergent Technologies & Design (Architectural Association London, 2011), and a Doctor of Sciences from the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich, 2018). Castellón’s research focuses on the implementation of innovative material processes and structural systems in architecture and on the integrative and ecological design of building infrastructures. Through his work at Rice University located in Houston (USA) and his collaborative practice, xmade, located in Basel (Switzerland) and Barcelona (Spain), he explores the materialization and sustainable design of contemporary structures and building envelopes. As co-founder and co-director of xmade Switzerland, he has been part of the design and development of projects by xmade in collaboration with renowned international practices such as Barozzi Veiga, Ted’A, Jose Maria Sanchez Garcia, and Alberto Campo Baeza. Some of these projects, including the Swiss Embassy Building in Seoul, the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne, the Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur, the School in Orsonnens, or the Bauhaus Museum Dessau, have been broadly published and acknowledged with international awards such as the “Korean Architecture Excellence Award”, the “Fritz-Höger-Award”, or the “RIBA Award for International Excellence”. His research output includes structural and material prototypes, installations, and peer-reviewed articles and publications. Recent projects have explored the use of ceramics and textiles in building structures—stemming from his collaboration with eminent manufacturers in Spain—in particular for rooftop structures that also mitigate the effects of sun and rain, a project that was featured in the 2021 Seoul Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, and exhibited at the collateral event “Students as Researchers: Creative Practice and University Education” organized by the New York Institute of Technology as part of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition The Laboratory of the Future, organized by La Biennale di Venezia 2023.
His work has received international awards such as the “Crossroads x Prize” by the Seoul Biennale of Architecture, the “Forge Award” (finalist) by the American Institute of Steel Construction, the “Monash Innovation Fellowship Award”, and “La Caixa Foundation Award”.
As an independent architect, Castellón has collaborated with international firms such as FOA (London), Abalos & Herreros (Madrid), SHoP Architects (New York), and Herzog & de Meuron (Basel). Before joining Rice University, he also taught at the ETH Zurich and the Barcelona Institute of Architecture.