Jose Rafael Moneo was born in Tudela in the province of Navarra (Spain) in 1937. After graduating from the Escuela Técnica Superior of Madrid in 1961, he traveled to Europe to work with Jørn Utzon and Alvar Aalto before returning to Madrid. In 1963, he was awarded a fellowship at the Spanish Academy in Rome, where he remained until 1965. Upon his return to Spain, he opened his office in Madrid and began teaching at the Escuela Técnica Superior of Madrid (1966-1970). In 1970, he won a teaching chair in architectural theory at the Escuela Técnica Superior of Barcelona, where he was a professor until 1980. From 1980 to 1985, he was chair professor of composition at the Escuela Técnica Superior of Madrid. In 1985, Rafael Moneo was appointed Chairman of the Architecture Department of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a position he held until 1990. In 1991, he was named Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he continues to teach. Rafael Moneo combines his professional activity as an architect with that as a lecturer, critic, and theoretician. His writings have been published in the foremost professional magazines and the presentation of his work through lectures and exhibitions has taken him to numerous institutions on both sides of the Atlantic.
Rafael Moneo is known for his highly contextual buildings, which include – to name a few – the extension of the Prado Museum and Atocha Railway Station in Madrid, the Pilar and Joan Miró Museum in Palma de Mallorca, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Kursaal Congress Centre and Auditorium in San Sebastián, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, the Davis Art Museum in Massachusetts and the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida, Spain.
In 1996 Rafael Moneo was awarded – among many, many others – the Pritzker Prize in Architecture. In 2003, he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects, in 2012 the Prince of Asturias Prize in the Arts as well as the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, the National Spanish Architecture Prize 2015 and in 2017 the Praemiun Imperiale of Japan. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Spain, he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a member of the Accademia di San Luca di Roma, a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, the Royal Institute of British Architects and since 2013 a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Rafael Moneo was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in his studio in Madrid in November 2017. It was first published seven years later, in November 2024.
Camera: Mathias Nyholm Schmidt
Edited by: Signe Boe Pedersen
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2024
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, and C.L. Davids Fond og Samling. This film is supported by Dreyersfond and Fritz Hansen.
