Addressing diverse scales, users, and themes, Rafael Viñoly has been involved in numerous architectural projects ranging from museums and educational facilities to airports and skyscrapers. Beyond the economic, geographic, technological, social, or cultural variables he has faced, the wide range of works he has left us as a legacy is the fruit of a trajectory that we propose to go through from his beginnings in the profession to his most controversial and most recent projects.
After graduating as an architect from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Buenos Aires, Viñoly was part of the architectural firm now called MSGSSV, participating in prominent Argentinian projects of the 1970s. He then decided to emigrate to the United States around 1978, where he founded his firm Rafael Viñoly Architects in 1983, his first major project being the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, followed by the Tokyo International Forum, considered one of the most important cultural centers in Japan.
[...] "architecture is not simply an artistic endeavor, or a mere technical or organizational challenge, it is a social practice with a significant impact on the collective environment far beyond the effects of its initial visualization. It is this responsibility towards the environment that defines the profession's scope of competence." - Rafael Viñoly
