Degree in Architecture from the Vallès Architecture School (ETSAV).
PhD in Architecture from Barcelona Tech (UPC), with the doctoral thesis "Spontaneous architectures, reflections on constants in architecture: the Cap de Creus peninsula, a topography over time."
Teaching
Professor of projects at ETSAV between 1993 and 2005.
Since then, he has worked as the Head of Architecture Studies at the URV (2005-2012) as well as the supervisor of first cycle projects for the Degree in Architecture (2012-2016), Professor/Coordinator of the classes Projects, Drawing I – II (2005-2011 and 2014-2016), Projects, and Urban Planning II (2011-2014), and Coordinator of the 3rd cycle/5th year + Final Degree Project (2017-2024).
From 2009 to 2012 he was a member of the Board of Directors and a professor at the Barcelona Institute of Architecture (BIARCH), and from 2013 to 2017 he formed part of the Board of Trustees of the Vic old town as a guest and expert architect in the field of renovation and heritage.
Since 2020, he has been an Associate Professor at the URV, as well as a Guest Professor of the International Architecture Workshop at the Polytechnic University of Milan during the 2023/2024 academic year.
Professional experience
Firmly established as a professional since 1993, Dr Gironès understands architecture as one of the essential foundations of human activity, an element of mediation that allows optimizing and reconciling the attributes of every place, all while encouraging a coexistence that interacts in harmony with the four natural elements throughout all of the different project processes.
Consequently, the word architecture as a noun does not greatly interest him, but rather the verb to inhabit because that is what gives architecture meaning. In this way, he understands human habitation as that which derives from experience, not the product of theoretical speculation or any previous strategy. Therefore, he designs it as an encounter that springs up from within to be experienced and shared, resulting in a blend between reason and emotion.
Dr Gironès has been a lecturer and/or guest lecturer at universities in Spain and abroad, including: Rosario, Santa Fe, Posadas, and Palermo (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Escola da Cidade (Sao Paulo), Mérida (Mexico), Rabat and Casablanca (Morocco), Ferrara, Trieste, Milan, and Cagliari (Italy), ETH-Zurich (Switzerland), Aarhus (Denmark), Berlin (Germany), Bratislava (Slovakia), Alicante, Valencia, Zaragoza, Navarra, Madrid, A Coruña, Granada, and Seville (Spain), and ETSAV, ETSAB, ESARQ, Ramon Llull, and the UB in Barcelona.
He has also given lectures on his work at various professional architectural associations and has been a speaker at conferences in Spain and around the world.
Awards
Since his first recognition in 1996, when he received the Young Architects of Catalonia Award, his work has been awarded with different recognitions, including the Ibero-American Biennial, the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urban Planning, and the FAD award in the fields of Architecture, Outdoor Spaces, and Ephemeral Spaces. He has also received distinguished awards at the European Landscape Biennial and the European Heritage Biennial.
In addition, he has also received the Gold Medal in the Domus International Award, the Hispalyt Award, the Alejandro de la Sota Award, the Social Housing of Catalonia Award, and the Spanish National Architecture Award in 2019 for his process and work on the Lleida Climate Museum from 2008-2018.
Moreover, he has been nominated twice for the European Mies Van der Rohe Award for Architecture, the Swiss Architecture Award, and the Borromini Prize for Young Architects in 2001.
Notably, he has also participated three times he participated in the Venice Biennale, during the 2012, 2014, and 2016 editions, and he also formed part of the Spanish Pavilion that received the Golden Lion of the Biennial Award in 2016.
Recently, within the framework of the 2023 Piranesi Prix de Rome et d’Athènes, the joint proposal he made with a research team from the Polytechnic University of Milan won First Prize ex aequo in the UNESCO competition to improve the Acropolis of Athens and its surroundings.
Publications
In 2023, his book La casa Zariquiey en Cadaqués. F. Barba Corsini, 1957. Redescubriendo una nueva condición de lugar, 2017-2021 was published by Farell Publishers.
In 2017, the magazine El Croquis dedicated a special section to him in part of its 189th issue.
He actively participates in the publication of articles in international journals such as Domus, Bauwelt, Coam, Arquitectura Viva, Arquine, Dau, Quaderns, Joelho, Rita, and others.
In 2024, the Sapienza University of Rome will publish a special edition book on his career trajectory (1993-2023), entitled Rittornare alla Terra.