ABOUT

Camilo Rosales, AIA

Camilo Rosales, AIA is an award-winning architect based in Miami Florida and a Professor of Architecture at Florida International University (FIU).

Mr. Rosales received a Master of Architecture II from Harvard University, and a master, and a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Rosales is a registered architect in the states of New York and Florida. As a practicing professional he has received design and teaching awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and his personal work has been published in architectural journals and periodicals internationally.

  Before joining Florida International University, Mr. Rosales worked with some of the most recognized architecture firms in the United States: with I.M. Pei and Partners and HOK in New York; likewise, with an SOM/Frank O. Gehry partnership participating in the winning entry for the Redevelopment of Madison Square Garden. He also worked with Arquitectonica in Miami.

  Mr. Rosales was Director of Architecture at FIU and founder of the FIU Ecotourism Council. He has participated in a wide variety of national and international conferences related to environmental issues. He has received over one million dollars in research grants and contracts.

 Mr. Rosales’ academic work is a reflection of his practice, which seeks to harmonize nature, culture and technology.

On Architecture and Nature

 Most terrestrial life requires air and light to exist. This is secured through that separation between things that we call space. As the presence of air and light are also necessary for human existence, buildings and towns are embodied in permeable mediums.

Since architecture and urban design exist in porous ensembles, I have been intrigued by the spatial structure of natural and human-made habitats focusing on the articulation of spatial continuity. If architecture is a means for protecting human activities from the environment, it is also an instrument for enabling transactions with it. These interactions are not only due to material constructs but also by virtue of spatial configurations often involving layered and/or porous organizations.

 At close inspection the earth’s surface is a wrinkled and spatially layered continuum, the experience of the natural domain, thus, is a continuous unfolding of layered spaces greatly articulated by landforms and trees. By concentrating on the spaces between things it is possible to establish conversations among realms and possibly finding better ways for integrating humans with their environment.

Connections and interpenetrations among spaces are the natural way for extending articulated continuity. When transferring this trait to buildings, an “open cell” architecture is called for to promote environmental and social transactions. By concentrating on the openings and voids of layered and/or porous ensembles, spatial articulation, transparency and continuity can be achieved; one that could resonate with larger natural realities and the cosmos.  

Camilo Rosales