Javier Fernández Contreras (1982) is an architect, associate professor and the dean of the Department of Interior Architecture at HEAD – Genève. His work explores the relationship between architecture, representation and media, with a specific focus on the role of interiors in the construction of contemporaneity.
Contreras studied Architecture at TU Delft and ETSA Madrid, where he graduated with an M.Arch degree in 2006, and completed a PhD in Architectural Theory in 2013, summa cum laude. In 2015 he was a finalist in the 10th arquia/tesis competition with his PhD thesis The Miralles Projection: Thinking and Representation in the Architecture of Enric Miralles. He has taught Architectural Design at different institutions, including ETSAM in Spain, XJTLU in China and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Contreras is the author of the books Fragmentos de Planta y Espacio (Ediciones Asimétricas, 2018), The Miralles Projection (Applied Research + Design Publishing, 2020), Manifest of Interiors: Thinking in the Expanded Media (HEAD – Publishing, 2021), and co-editor of Herbarium of Interiors (Archis-Volume, 2020), a special collaboration between HEAD – Genève, India Mahdavi, and Volume magazine. His critical essays have been published in various books and specialized journals, including Massilia Annuaire des Études Corbuséennes, Marie-José Van Hee Architecten, India Mahdavi Forever, Perspectives in Metropolitan Research, 306090, Drawing Matter, Bitácora, and RADDAR.
His work has earned him prizes in various international competitions, including the Concentrico Architecture and Design Festival 2020, Europan 11 Cerdanyola del Vallés, and Europan 10 Bottrop. With HEAD – Genève, recent distinctions include an invitation to the 2021 Seoul Architecture Biennale for the Circa Diem project (in collaboration with EPFL), the Brands and Communication Red Dot Award 2020 and the Innovation Frame Award 2020 for the Space Duality project, as well as a Design Prize Switzerland 2019 nomination for the #Looslab project. Contreras is the director of Scènes de Nuit, an ongoing research project on the relationship between night and architecture.
Index of writings:
www.jfc-index.com
