Vladimir Belogolovsky talks with Mexican-American architect Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido on his exhibition 30 Projects/30 Years/30 Stories now on view at the Museo Metropolitano in Monterrey, Mexico.30 Projects/30 Years/30 Stories, a large retrospective on the work of Mexican-American architect Francisco Gonzalez Pulido, was opened on June 18 at the Museo Metropolitano in Monterrey, Mexico. The exhibition will remain on view until September 21.
The construction of a new 150,000m2, 320m tall tower is underway in Guangzhou, China under the leadership of Mexican architect Francisco Gonzalez-Pulido: FGP Atelier. The project, titled the Guangzhou International Cultural Center (GICC), takes a holistic approach to design, combining architectural, engineering, environmental, functional, and technological principles to create a landmark for the ages.
Chicago-based FGP Atelier and Taller ADG have completed the new Diablos Rojos Baseball Stadium in Mexico City. The monumental project was made to be the country's premier baseball stadium. Working with team owner Alfredo Harp Helú, the project's roof takes the form of a devil’s tail to reference the home team’s devilish name.
After graduating from Tecnológico de Monterrey, a leading technical school in Mexico, Francisco Gonzalez Pulido worked on design-build projects for six years before leaving for the US where he earned his Master’s degree from Harvard’s GSD in 1999. The same year the architect started working with Helmut Jahn in Chicago where he stayed for 18 years – from intern to becoming the president of the company in 2012, at which point he renamed the firm into Jahn. By then he developed his own body of work there. Last year Gonzalez Pulido started FGP Atelier in his adopted home city.
Today the studio, counts a dozen of architects and is overseeing the design of a couple of high-rises in China, a baseball stadium in Mexico City, and university buildings in Monterrey, among other projects. The following interview was conducted at FGP Atelier in Chicago, during which the architect was explicit about transmitting his view: “Architecture is too rigid, too formal. It is time to break free…I want to build lighter. I want to build smarter.”
