描述
This issue covers almost two decades of work by the international studio Moneo Brock, founded in New York in 1993 by Belén Moneo and Jeff Brock, and headquartered in Madrid since 2002. Across 320 pages, the publication presents a selection of works between 2007 and 2026 that range from urban infrastructure and educational facilities to leisure spaces, domestic architecture and object design, with projects carried out in Spain, Mexico, the USA, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
Three critical essays frame the reading of the work. Stan Allen analyzes the studio’s commitment to public space and the collective dimension of architecture, highlighting how each building engages with the ground it stands on and the surrounding environment. Manuel Blanco traces Moneo Brock’s trajectory through the Vitruvian concepts of utilitas, firmitas, and venustas, adding a fourth condition—sustainability—as the central axis of his practice. Marisa Santamaría addresses the dimension of object design and the cultural space _2B, a natural extension of the studio that for over a decade has functioned as a laboratory for interdisciplinary exchange.
Moneo Brock’s architecture is distinguished by a sustained attention to materiality, light, and landscape. Latticework, coral stone walls, translucent glass blocks, and exposed concrete appear in his works as elements that structure space and mediate between interior and exterior, between the built environment and nature. His buildings are firmly grounded and work in harmony with the local climate, from the grazing sunlight of Mallorca to the breezes of the Caribbean tropics, resulting in an architecture that reconciles formal abstraction with sensory richness and a public vocation.
The careers of Belén Moneo and Jeff Brock—educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and professors at institutions on both sides of the Atlantic—reflect a cosmopolitan practice rooted in Spanish and Latin American architectural culture. Their work has been widely published in international media and recognized in numerous professional forums, establishing Moneo Brock as one of the most unique and consistent studios of its generation.
The Importance of the Public Sphere: Recent Works by Moneo Brock
Stan Allen
Moneo Brock: Utilitas, firmitas, venustas & sustenibilitas
Manuel Blanco
URBAN INFRASTRUCTURES
Gas station on the A1. Madrid, Spain.
‘Bosque de Acero’ Exhibition Centre. Cuenca, Spain.
Plaza de la Villa. Sencelles, Mallorca, Spain
. Plaza de España. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Plaza del Mar. Sanxenxo, Pontevedra, Spain
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY
Northwest Science Building, Columbia University. New York, USA.
Telefónica Foundation Space. Madrid, Spain.
Church in Pueblo Serena. Monterrey, Mexico.
Laboratories of the University of Rosario. Bogotá, Colombia.
LEISURE AND WELL-BEING
Tiberius Baths. Panticosa, Huesca, Spain.
Kimpton Las Mercedes Hotel. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Hotel at Trafalgar 35. Madrid, Spain.
DOMESTIC SPACES
Country house in Abantos, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain.
TEC 205 House, Monterrey, Mexico . Central Point
Caribbean House,
San Pedro Garza García, Mexico.
House in Port de la Selva, Girona, Spain.
OBJECTS AND ENCOUNTERS
Design and the joy of living. Spatial foundations for a fulfilling life.
Architecture and creation. _2B (space to be)
