Juan Carlos Romero - online lecture

The first online lecture with Julian Weyer from Copenhagen, which recently took place as part of the series Masters of Architecture, attracted a lot of interest, so there is no reason not to continue in this format, and thus we bring the second meeting in this online format, this time with Juan Carlos Romero, a Colombian architect representing the studio Carlo Ratti Associati.


Carlo Ratti Associati is based in Turin but also has offices in Boston and London. Their project implementations scattered around the world result from a combination of classical design with the latest digital technologies. The buildings they create exemplify architecture that is said to perceive and react.
The digital revolution and the increasing digitization of the surrounding world is an undeniable reality and is increasingly influencing our daily lives. But what impact does it have on architecture? Representatives of Carlo Ratti Associati believe that by integrating architecture with digital technologies, they can create objects that can respond more effectively to the needs of their users. Furthermore, if a building is smarter and more automated, then users, with this awareness, are much more willing to adopt sustainable practices.


Carlo Ratti Associati was heard much louder during the coronavirus pandemic in connection with the CURA project, where they adapted shipping containers into modular intensive care units to alleviate overcrowded hospitals. The first prototypes have already been tested in one of the largest hotspots of the pandemic's spread in Europe, which was Milan.


Juan Carlos Romero focuses his work on interpersonal communication and the urbanized environment in which it takes place. He gained his knowledge and experience in this area through the implementation of projects of various scales and focuses, from intimate interiors to large zoning plans.

Masters of Architecture:
For more than fifteen years, an internationally acclaimed lecture series has been taking place in nearby Katowice, which started in 2004 with the aim of familiarizing immediately with significant personalities in the field of architecture not only from neighboring countries and Europe but practically from all over the world. The very active and dynamic regional association of the Polish Chamber of Architects in Katowice (abbreviated in Polish: SARP Katowice) has proven for many years that, although it does not enjoy the natural advantages of the capital of its country, it is capable of shaking up both the professional environment and, above all, the general public within not very friendly, and ultimately very similar to our Ostrava conditions, and it is not uncommon for more than five hundred interested participants from not only across Poland but also from abroad to gather at their events, and particularly at the lectures in the Masters of Architecture (MA) series. The fact that the curators of the series have a remarkably lucky hand when it comes to choosing guests is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that within today’s group of 60 lecturers, the Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura appeared as early as 2006, who became the laureate of the most significant award in the field, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, in 2011, or in 2012 hosted Alberto Veiga from the Barcelona studio Barozzi Veiga, which became the bearer of the most prestigious European award, the Mies van der Rohe Awards, in 2015.
It was only a matter of time before a close collaboration between the Architecture Cabinet and SARP Katowice was established, and when finally the Ostrava side could support the entire master's cycle with personalities and names that presented themselves in Ostrava not only through lectures but primarily through their author exhibitions. Thus, it was no coincidence that after visiting Ostrava and as part of the MA series, Rafi Segal (USA), Zvi Hecker (Israel/Germany), and last but not least, Masaharu Takasaki from Japan could present their thoughts, visions, and realizations.