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César Reyes Nájera

Postdoctoral researcher

Department

Department of Geography and Spatial Planning

Postal Address

Université du Luxembourg
Maison des Sciences Humaines
11, Porte des Sciences
L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette

Campus Office

MSH, E02 35-210

Telephone

(+352) 46 66 44 9453

Profile
CV
Teaching
Awards & Honours
Key Academic Merits
Scientific & societal impact
Publications

Postdoctoral researcher in the field of Urban Regeneration at the University of Luxembourg. His work explores urban social dynamics and degrowth strategies to critically update the notion of sustainable development.
César Reyes Nájera is an architect, co-founder and editor of www.dpr-barcelona.com, and postdoctoral researcher in the field of Urban Regeneration at the University of Luxembourg, as part of the chair of the City of Esch with Prof. Dr. Markus Miessen. He holds a PhD in Bio-climatic Construction Systems and Materials. He is currently researching urban social dynamics and degrowth strategies to critically update the notion of sustainable development. His editorial work specializes in critical books on architecture and its intersection with social sciences and politics. With a marked focus on communication through hybrid media he is constantly in the search for innovative practices, alternative narratives, new models of retribution of knowledge and activism at grassroots level in architecture. He has been co-curator and curatorial consultant for ‘Think Space’ (DAZ, Zagreb 2013), “AdhocracyATHENS” (Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens 2015), “Twelve Cautionary Urban Tales” (Matadero, Madrid 2020-21), and Archis Adviser for VOLUME Magazine since 2013. He is project manager of dpr-barcelona for Future Architecture platform (Creative Europe, EU) since 2016.

Languages: Spanish, English, Catalan, Italian

Research interests:

Urban social dynamics
De-growth architecture
Spatial practices and politics
Entropic design
Empathetic resilience
Soil communities

Last updated on: Tuesday, 02 November 2021

Education

2010: PhD in Bio-climatic Construction Systems and Materials. Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña. BarcelonaTech, Barcelona. Spain Doctoral Thesis: Study of Lime Mortar Reinforced with Maize Fibers to be applied in Low cost Housing Building Components. Grade: Excellent Cum Laude.
1996: Architect Universidad Rafael Landívar, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala.

Professional Experience

2008 – Co-founder of dpr-barcelona, an architectural research practice based in Barcelona, dealing with three main lines: publishing, criticism andcurating. Editor and researcher on technology and new media in publishing.
2016 – Project manager and Board member of dpr-barcelona for Future Architecture platform
2005-2010: Technical Office Chief. Isolux-Corsan. Infrastructure: Highways intersections, Airport facilities, Urban tunnelling. Barcelona.
2002-2005: Technical Office Assistant. UTE-Linia 9. Barcelona Underground stations Construction. Urban tunneling, Underground construction. Barcelona.

Research funding & Grants

Project: Archifutures. Financing Entity: European Comission (2016-2017). Main researcher Ethel Baraona | César Reyes Nájer. Grant reference: Creative Europe Programme: European Platforms. Specific grant agreement: 2015-2546/001-001 2016-3460/001-001
Project: The Open Bookshelf. Financing Entity: European Comission (2017-2020). Main researcher Ethel Baraona | César Reyes Nájera. Grant reference: Creative Europe Programme: European Platforms. Specific grant agreement: 2017 - 3182 / 001 - 001 2018 - 2119 / 001 - 001
Project: Future Architecture Library. Financing Entity: European Comission (2020-2021). Main researcher Ethel Baraona | César Reyes Nájera. Grant reference: Creative Europe Programme: European Platforms. Specific grant agreement: 2018 - 2119 / 001 - 001

Last updated on: 22 Oct 2021

My professional development was first focused in the construction industry and afterward in the publishing and cultural field. My experience in teaching activities have been as visiting professional including:

2012-2013: Visiting Guest Professor. Universitat Internacional de Catalunya. Barcelona Relational City Studies. Barcelona
2010-2011: Sustainable Architecture Lectures at Doctoral Program Research inBuilding Environment and Energy in Architecture. BarcelonaTech, Barcelona.
2010-2011: Construction and Sustainability. Consultant for postgraduate seminars carried by University Network for Architectural and Urban Sustainability. Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña. BarcelonaTech, Barcelona.

Last updated on: 22 Oct 2021

2021: The Weight of Bitcoin. XV Bienal Española de Arquitectura y Urbanismo.
2021 2016: Adhocracy Athens. From making things to making the commons. First ADI Culture Award. Barcelona.
2014: Radical Pedagogies. School of Architecture at Princeton University. Beatriz Colomina et al. Special Mention 14th Architecture VeniceBiennale. Contribution: Web Platform and Augmented Reality interactions.
2009: L’uomo di mais. Biomaterial 3rd. Place SAIE Awards. Bologna Italia. 2009.
2008: Sustainable Architecture. Long-listed book for Riba Book Awards 2008.
2005: Casa para un Hombre de Maíz. Finalist EcoSur Competition. Santa Clara, Cuba.

Last updated on: 22 Oct 2021

Member of Doctoral Thesis Committee

2021: Narrative cartographies: Architectures from the sensitive regime of resistence. Víctor Manuel Cano Ciborro. Doctoral Thesis Committee.
2015: Archetype deflections in the work of Mies van der Rohe. Carlos Lanuza. Doctoral Thesis Committee.
2012: Worban Resilience and (Un)Sustainability. Exploring the nexus between resilience and urban systems. Lorenzo Chelleri. Doctoral Thesis Committee.
2012: The Refurbisment of Bofarull House (1913-1933), de Josep Ma. Jujol Doctoral Thesis Committee Alternate.

Peer-review Committee

2021: Invisible Conflicts: The New Terrain of Bodies, Infrastructures and Information Temes de Disseny 37. ELISAVA School Journal. Barcelon.
2016: Autonoma International Conference on Urban Autonomy and the Collective City. Onassis Foundation Scholars, Athens.
2015: 4th Think Space Conference - New Publicness. Zagreb Society of Architects.
2014: 3rd Think Space Conference – Money. Zagreb Society of Architects.

Memberships, Associations & Boards

2020: Future Architecture Platform. Pan-European platform of architecture museums, festivals and producers promoted by MAO Slovenia.
2013- 2020: Archis Adviser. VOLUME Magazine. Independent quarterly for architecture to go beyond itself. From Issue 37. ARCHIS Fall 2013. Amsterda.
2012: University Network for Architectural and Urban Sustainability. Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña. BarcelonaTech, Barcelona.

Symposia, Conferences & Lectures

2020: Barcelona a city of differences. Department of Landscape Architecture. The University of Sheffield.
2020: Presidents are Temporary, Books are Forever. Mackintosh School of Architecture. The Glasgow School of Art.
2019: Transforming Practice: The Architect is dead – Long live the Architect. Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Institute for Art and Architecture.
2018: Cooperative City Development. Test Unit. Agile City Glasgow.
2017: Occupying the Post-Industrial City. Test Unit. Agile City Glasgow.
2016: MEDIATIONS. Art & Design Agency and Participation in Public Space. Royal College of Art. London.
2016: Design as Distributed Agency. Sheffield Design Week. Sheffield Hallam University.
2016: Political Friendship. Autonoma International Conference on Urban Autonomy and the Collective City. Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens.
2015: Making the commons in a world full of objects. California State University International Program Florence, Italy.
2015: Making Objects-Making the Commons. Adhocracy Symposium. Onassis Cultural Centre. Athens, Greece.
2014: Money. Think-Space Program. Zagreb Society of Architects. Zagreb.
2012: Transcoding Situationism. Think-Space Program. Zagreb Society of Architects. Zagreb, Croatia.
2011: Green is the New Black. Bioarchitecture beyond trends. Mediterranean Bioarchitecture Congress. BAM- Association of Architects of Catalonia. Spain.
2011: Biomimicry. Development of Composites imitating natural processes. Ecoeficency Cycle. Estacions transformadores. Barcelona. Spain.
2010: Postopolis DF. Hosted by Storefront for Art and Architecture New York, Tomo and Domus. Mexico DF. Mexico.
2008: Potential Of Maize-Lime Pozzolana Composite To Develop Low-Cost Housing Components. 10th Conference Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies. Cali, Colombia.
2005: Lime Mortar Reinforced with Maize Fibers to be applied in Low-cost Housing 3rd Ecomaterials International Conference. Santa Clara, Cuba.
2005: From South to South Latin American Networks of Ecomaterials and Sustainable Solutions for Social Housing. 11th Sustainable Development Research Conference. Helsinki, Finland.

Last updated on: 22 Oct 2021

2016-2020: The “Read, Select, Compile” system for academic journals. A digital asset generating unique cross-reference publications for academic and research purposes.
2016-2019: On the Street of Clever Bots. Artificial cognitive systems for research and design in architecture.
2012-2021: EntropicIQ. On the exchange of information and matter in cities under a thermodynamic approach.
2010-2012: Urban Relational Laboratory. On Social Infrastructure and the impact of small data in the social infrastructure of the cities.
2002-2012: Biocomposites. Research and application of biocomposites to develop construction materials for social housing in developing countries. UPC–Barcelona.

Last updated on: 22 Oct 2021