Solano Benítez at Cersaie 2016

One of the guests at Cersaie 2016 is the Paraguayan architect and professor Solano Benítez  - founder of the professional association “Gabinete de Arquitectura” -  that will bring and tell his expertise in architecture during a conference at the Architecture Gallery, Wednesday 28 September.

Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Alejandro Aravena as best participant of the Reporting From The Front 15^th Exhibit, his Gabinete de Arquitectura – including also Gloria Cabral and Solanito Benítez - stood out for a great vault realized with an innovative system of construction in clay-brick and concrete with a very low technology impact, for having combined primary materials, structural simplicity and unskilled labor in order to bring the quality of architecture to communities that were excluded from it.

Born in Asunción in 1963, Solano Benítez stood out since he was young - after graduating in architecture from the National University of Asunción in 1986 and his foundation of the “Gabinete de Arquitectura” in 1987 – in the contemporary architecture sector, receiving several awards and recognitions during his thirty-year career.

The architectural style of Solano Benítez is marked by his preference of the "ladrillo", the brick, as the main building element, typical in his country of origin; a further symptom of the architect's close bond with his homeland is the constant use of local labor. By the latter, in particular, he finds constant innovation stimulus, considering the lack of specialization in the field not an obstacle but an opportunity.

The “Gabinete de Arquitectura”, besides the Golden Lion in 2016, received several awards, including, in 1999, the “Obra de la Década 1989-1999”award as the best work of the 1989-1999 decade, by the Colegio de Arquitectos of Paraguay; in the same year, it was one of the finalists of the Mies van der Rohe award for Latin America and in 1994 it represented Paraguay at the Venice Biennale, Sao Paulo and Lisbon - Ibero-American Capital of Culture.

Among the most important works of Solano Benítez there are: the Ytú holiday complex, in Paraguay (finalist work of the Mies van der Rohe award); the Tomb Piribebuy (Paraguay) in 2000 and 2001; the Unilever headquarters, Villa Elisa (winning project of the BSI Swiss Architectural Award) between 2000 and 2001; Casa Esmeraldina, in his native city, Asunción, in 2002; Casa Fanego, in Asunción too, in 2003, with Sergio Fanego; Casa Abu & Font, in Asunción between 2005 and 2006; Casa Las Anitas, in San Pedro, 2007-2008; the Alhambra Building, in San Lorenzo, still under construction.