About Alejandro Lapunzina
Biography
Born in New York in 1960, Alejandro Lapunzina grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He earned his first professional degree (Arquitecto) at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and continued his studies at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also received the AIA Medal of Excellence in the study of architecture.
He worked at Abal & Cassola Arquitectos (Buenos Aires, 1983-1986) and at Kromm, Rikimaru & Johansen (St. Louis, 1988-1989). As an independent architect he worked on projects (individually and in collaboration) in Argentina, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States. His research focuses on the work of Le Corbusier in the Americas, and other aspects related to the history, theory, and criticism of modern and contemporary architecture. He disseminates his research through books, articles, and essays (a short selection is listed below). He has also lectured and delivered papers in numerous countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia.
He previously taught at the University of Arkansas (1989-1991) and joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s School of Architecture in Fall 1991. At Illinois he has held several administrative positions, including Director of the School’s Study Abroad Program in Versailles (1994-1999 and 2002-2013), Chair of International Programs (1999-2002) and Associate Director for Graduate Studies (2000-2002). He has been Director of the Illinois Architecture Study Abroad Program at Barcelona-El Vallès since its inception in 2014. He was named Suzanne & Williams Allen Professor of Architecture in January 2020.
Education
- Master of Architecture, Washington University in St. Louis (1987/1988)
- Arquitecto (professional/licensed degree), University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina (1983)
Research and publications
Ongoing and upcoming research
Projects
Le Corbusier in the Americas
This ongoing research project consists of a comprehensive study of the famed Franco-Swiss architect on the American continent. Initiated many years ago with support of research grants from the Graham Foundation and the University of Illinois’ Research Board, the goal of this project is to publish a book that highlights the work of Le Corbusier in the Americas (several unrealized projects, two urban masterplans for capital cities, and two built masterpieces: the house of Dr. Curutchet House Argentina and Harvard University’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts in the United States.) The manuscript of the book is in an advanced stage.
The Poetics of Immensity
This recently initiated project explores poetic manifestations in the work of a selected group of architects who primarily work in two analogous landscapes: the Argentinean pampas and the prairie of the American Midwest. Its goal is to produce a series of texts that emerge from studying architectural/poetic responses to a landscape in which immensity (the endless horizon) is the dominant spatial feature. The first text was already published in an academic journal; the second text is in progress and will be presented at a conference in Granada, Spain (postponed to January 2022 due to pandemic).
The work of Clorindo Testa
Triggered by organizing the exhibition “Clorindo Testa, a centennial tribute” that was displayed at the Escuela Tecnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallês in December 2024, Alejandro Lapunzina is currently engaged in a series of thematic studies focused on the work of the famed Italo-Argentinean architect.
Selected publications
Books authored
Lapunzina, A. Acerca de la Arquitectura, Buenos Aires: Editorial Nobuko, 2023.
Lapunzina, A. The Architecture of Spain, Greenwood, CT and London, UK: Greenwood Publishers, 2005.
Lapunzina, A. Le Corbusier’s Maison Curutchet, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1997.
Other Books
Lapunzina, A. (editor) Clorindo Testa: a centennial tribute. With texts by Pere Fuertes, Francisco Rodriguez, Alejandro Lapunzina, Cherubino Gambardella, Federica Conte, Gerardo Caballero, and Mario Corea. Barcelona: Iniciativa Digital Politècnica, 2024.
Lapunzina, A. (editor) Five Brief Reflections on the work of Le Corbusier / Cinco Breves Reflexiones sobre la obra de Le Corbusier. With texts by Brigitte Bouvier, Juan Calatrava, Josefina González Cubero, Pere Fuertes, Alejandro Lapunzina, Rene Tan & Jorge Torres Cueco. Barcelona: Iniciativa Digital Politècnica, 2023.
Lapunzina, A.; Morano. H.; Moreno Sanz, J.; Deluca, V. (co-editors). On Architectural Education/ La Formación en Arquitectura, volumes 1 & 2. Barcelona: UPC Iniciativa Digital, 2022 & 2023.
Essays and Journal Publications
Lapunzina, A. “Scope and purpose of architecture: toward a transcendental dimension” (keynote conference paper presentation). Published in Varma, A., Chand Sharma, V., Tarsi, E. (editors) Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction. ICTAC 2024 (Mohali, India). Springer; Singapore, 2025; pp. 1459-1469.
Lapunzina, A. “Arquitecturas de la llanura: poéticas de la inmensidad;” Arquitectura y paisaje; transferencias históricas, retos contemporáneos, Vol. II.
Madrid: Abada Editores, 2022, pp. 1027-1037
Lapunzina, A. “Fructíferos Desencuentros,” chapter in Le Corbusier y el Sur de América, ed. Maximiano Atria. Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universitaria, 2018. p. 56-67.
Lapunzina, A. “Reflejos y Transparencias: el nuevo museo del Louvre en Lens,” Summa+ #132 (October 2013): 92-105.
Lapunzina, A. “De la pampa al altiplano, los planes reguladores de Le Corbusier en América,” in Le Corbusier en Bogotá 1947-1951: tomo 2, ed. María Cecilia O’Byrne. Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2010. p. 50-65.
Lapunzina, A. “A ras del suelo: la Maison Louis Carré de Alvar Aalto,” Summa+ #98 (December 2008): 58-65.
Lapunzina, A. “Ilots, barres, ensembles; le Plan Régulateur 1938-1940,” chapter in L’espace du jeu architectural, Mélanges offerts à Jean Castex, ed. Anne-Marie Châtelet, M. Denès, R. Rouyer and J. Sautereau. Versailles: Editions Recherches, 2007. p. 84-102.
Lapunzina, A. “De la pampa al altiplano, los planes reguladores de Le Corbusier en América,” in Le Corbusier en Bogotá 1947-1951: tomo 2, ed. María Cecilia O’Byrne. Bogotá: Ediciones Uniandes, 2010. p. 50-65.
Lapunzina, A. “A ras del suelo: la Maison Louis Carré de Alvar Aalto,” Summa+ #98 (December 2008): 58-65.
Lapunzina, A. “Ilots, barres, ensembles; le Plan Régulateur 1938-1940,” chapter in L’espace du jeu architectural, Mélanges offerts à Jean Castex, ed. Anne-Marie Châtelet, M. Denès, R. Rouyer and J. Sautereau. Versailles: Editions Recherches, 2007. p. 84-102.
Teaching and advising
Classes taught
- Arch 473 & 474 Architectural Design Studio V & VI (yearly since 2020)
- Arch 371 & 372 Architectural Design Studio III & IV (yearly since 2020)
- Arch 468 Overseas Architectural Studies (Every semester since Fall 2014)