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The book M_A_R_A_V_I_L_L_A_S, written by Víctor Olmos, was published in February 2024. It is a revision and a written summary of the doctoral thesis that the author defended at the ETSAM in 2010 under the title ‘Vivencias y Divisiones. El Gimnasio Maravillas de Alejandro de la Sota’ https://oa.upm.es/6587/ The British art critic John Berger used to say that going letter by letter through the words in a language he did not know had the sensation of walking along the grooves of a poem, of crossing the territory of poetry. M-A-R-A-V-I-L-L-A-S aims to do exactly that. By breaking down the name...

The Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid -COAM- has created the figure of International Correspondent with the aim of providing information on the practice of the profession in each country, facilitating collaboration with companies and institutions, representing COAM at events related to our profession and promoting collaboration between Spanish and, in this case, Austrian architects.
”I am grateful to COAM for having placed its trust in me to fulfil this role as correspondent in Austria”, says Gloria Ochoa.

The weekly magazine Leben und Wohnen in the VN (Vorarlberger Nachrichten) newspaper dedicates a special report to our first built project in Schaan, FL. We would like to thank most sincerely Verena Konrad, Director of VAI (Vorarlberger Architektur Institut), who showed a special interest in this project, as an example of how two Spanish architects confront the multiple inputs to build a house in a “foreign” country, how our experience in our land, can also bring the quality and beauty that Verena remarks in her text. This interpretation of transition-places, in-between rooms, interiors that merge with the outdoors, and that...

We are very pleased with the two commissions we have received for two housing projects in Vorarlberg. Hefel’s Real Estate Companies contacted us to study two plots, one in Kehlegg, in the mountains near the town of Dornbirn, and the other in Götzis, in a residential area in the valley. In Kehlegg, the steep slope of the terrain, the southern orientation towards the upper part of the plot and the views towards the Bodensee to the north-west greatly conditioned the project. After studying several variants and presenting them to the city council, the Kehlegg project finally consisted of four row...

The exhibition at Martinsturm in Bregenz (June-October 2022) presents the project “Platz da! Mädchen* gestalten Stadt.” (“Girls* design the city”), in which girls and young women present a counter-design to the male-dominated urban planning. “Platz da!” is a project of the Amazone Association in cooperation with the architects Catharina Fineder and Gloria Ochoa, the Department of Women and Equality of Bregenz and the VAI (Vorarlberger Architekturinstitut). During the workshops, we wanted to make visible the girls’ view of the city of Bregenz, in order to give them a voice for the design of the city. After a short, general introduction to the working...

We are delighted in our new studio in Vorarlberg. After almost two years in the beautiful vaulted room in Vorstadt 9, we have moved to Schiessstätte 12, in the former Ganahl Areal factory in Feldkirch. High ceilings and lots of light. We are looking forward to many new projects. The best is yet to come!

On 10.06.2022 we participated as Olmos Ochoa Architects in the Austrian Architecture Day. Verena Konrad, director of the VAI, visited us in the studio and we talked long about our experience in the profession. Some other friends and colleagues visited us as well, such as Joe Truog and Agostina (in the picture). Thank you very much for coming!

On Friday 10.06.2022 from 16.00 to 19.00 we are happy to participate at the Architecture Days in Austria! We invite all interested people for an open discussion about the relationship between clients and architects and will try to show how architecture can be brought closer to society and how it can be made approachable for all. Spanish wine will cheer up the exchange of view. https://v-a-i.at/veranstaltungen/architekturtage/at21_22/finale/olmos_ochoa

Gloria Ochoa’s new website www.gloriaochoaarchitektin.com is now online. It is written entirely in German. With this new page Gloria will be showing some topics that are usually implicit in the projects and in the debates but do not get the relevance they deserve. Thus the questions about Living Together or Women in Architecture (who they are, what they have done, why they are not so well known) will be updated with new posts and contributions from all those who want to join in. Mediation as a necessary task to bring architecture closer to all levels of society. Details as a...

Saturday 26.03.2022 was the open day to visit the worksite of the Kindergarten and Double Sports Hall in Mauren, a project resulting from the competition won by Urs Hüssy, Uli Mayer and Gloria Ochoa in December 2018. It is a pleasure to see how the work materialises all the ideas and details that were previously worked on in the studio. It is also a source of pride and satisfaction for all those who in one way or another have participated in the process. The building has an imposing presence, perhaps unusuall for Liechtenstein. The skylights, the brise-soleil, the ceramic material...

We recently drove to the old German city of Ulm to visit our good friends Jacobo and Michèle. They gave us a nice lift to the remarkable buildings of the University of Ulm, one of Otto Steidle´s best known works. We knew about the project from books and magazines, but it was the first time that we had the chance to visit the building… It is always worth visiting architecture on site! The long modular timber-frame wooden structure, the colourful façade panels and large windows and, above all, the joy, spontaneity and diversity of the proposal have reminded us of...

Another visit to the on-going works of our project in Nenzing. We took some pictures from the outside of the complex and from the inside of several flats. We were pleasantly surprised by the organisation of the five houses and the open areas among them. Then came the question of which apartment we would we buy if we had the chance. Any one of them.

We were interviewed for the Wirtschaftregional Jahresmagazine in the January 2022 special issue, Utopia Liechtenstein. Journalist Lars Beck visited us in the studio in Feldkirch and we answered questions about our vision for the future of architecture and in particular our opinion on the future development of the Alpine country. We were able to express our views on housing models, social and generational development, sustainability and reuse of materials as well as on new technologies, climate neutrality and the evolution of architecture. “Housing construction will have to be rethought”. As building land is becoming increasingly scarce in Liechtenstein, other approaches to...

Víctor Olmos has been invited to participate in the Advanced Studio “Landscape”, run by Csaba Tarsoly at University of Liechtenstein. He will give to lectures, “Malerei und Landschaft” and “Architektur und Landschaft” and will take part in the Mid-Term and Final Critics of the course.

Ziegelei Hebrok GmbH & Co. KG: Original Wasserstrich Backstein Klinker farina. The selected bricks of the company Hebrok, FARINA, of our project Family House in Schaan, Liechtenstein, received an award in the competition “Solutions of the Year” of the Callwey Publications. All photographs were taken by Alicia Olmos Ochoa http://www.aliciaolmos.com More about this item in the following link https://www.callwey.de/blog/haeuser-des-jahres-2021-die-loesungen-des-jahres/

Together with appreciated colleagues such as Ulf Hiessberger, Bernd Ried and Elmar Nägele, Gloria Ochoa had the opportunity to participate in the jury for the selection of a Kinderbetreuung in Rankweil, Vorarlberg. The participation of education experts and their knowledge of the needs were decisive and were taken into account to a great importance by the jury of architects. The architectural firm of Christian Schmölz from Sulz won the competition over 19 other projects. Zusammen mit geschätzt Kollegen wie Ulf Hiessberger, Bernd Ried und Elmar Nägele hast Gloria Ochoa die Gelegenheit Inder Jury für die Auswahl des Projektes Kinderbetreuung in Rankweil...

Proud to share our 3rd prize in the Architecture Competition for the “Praza da Igrexa” in Vigo, Spain. Our challenge was to respect the form and scale of the site, but at the same time, offer large and versatile spaces. A public building organised with a few well-connected, divisible rooms, with different characters and suggestive relations between the interior and the exterior. Materials and construction with the aim of a long lasting architecture design. Project Team: Gloria Ochoa, Víctor Olmos, Ángel Panero y Javier Vázquez.  

The project of 24 Houses for RIVA HOME in Nenzing (Vorarlberg, Austria) is under construction. Housing in the rural environment, dealing with the scale of village structures and regional and cultural tradition, are the main concepts of this project.

We are very pleased that the house we designed for the Reithner family in Shaan, Liechtenstein, is featured in the March 2021 issue of Bauen + Wohnen Vaterland magazine. A great report with excellent photographs by Alicia Olmos Ochoa, information about the house and a long interview with the architects. They have also dedicated the cover of the magazine to us. Many thanks to Lars Beck, journalist, for his excellent work. You can see the whole article and read the interview in this link: epaper_Magazine_20210302-1_reportaje

Our new office in Vorstadt 9, Feldkirch is a former ground floor space with two adjoining vaulted rooms, thick walls and a magnificent, unique window onto the street. We are very happy to start this new phase. With some few furniture but a lot of enthusiasm we hope to have the opportunity to project many buildings and make a small name for ourselves in this Region.

We have waited a long time for this moment. The first work on the Pazo site began on Monday 23 November 2020. This is Phase 0: “Tasks of debris removal, cleaning and archaeological prospecting”. This work is being carried out with great care, with the dismantling of the elements in the opposite process to construction. As the work progresses, a whole series of traces are revealed that show different types of stonework and different moments of construction. These traces will have to be interpreted during the archaeological work and will allow an orderly reading of the historical construction phases.  

We are grateful to the Reithner family who trusted us and motivated us to make this project a house we are very proud of and where joy can be felt in every corner. Wir sind der Familie Reithner dankbar, die uns ihr Vertrauen geschenkt und uns motiviert hat, dieses Projekt zu einem Haus zu machen, auf das wir sehr stolz sind und in dem Freude in jeder Ecke zu spüren ist.  

Am 10. November hatte ich das Vergnügen, mit den Teilnehmern des Tischgesprächs zu reden und ihnen eine Frage im Rahmen der ¨Lebensräume” zu stellen: Was brauchen wir zum Leben brauchen und was brauchen wir nicht.Die Frage weckte Neugierde und löste eine interessante Debatte aus, die sich auch in den Antworten aller Beteiligten widerspiegelte. Hier sind ihre Antworten. Wenn es uns mit diesem kleinen Beitrag gelingt, die Türen für die Bürgerbeteiligung an der Gestaltung und dem Wachstum unserer Städte und Gemeinden zu öffnen, werden wir mehr als zufrieden sein. Vielen Dank für Ihre Großzügigkeit bei der Teilnahme.   Siehe das Ergebnis unten ?...

Gloria Ochoa: Ich freue mich auf den neuen Potentiale, ich werde mit anderer Architektinnen in den Architektur Werkstatt teilnehmen. Am Sonntag 10.Nov um 11.00 werden wir  in eine informelle Runde reden über was bedeutet heuzutage Bauen mit Verantwortung und Nachhaltigkeit, was wir unbedingt für Leben brauchen und was nicht,

The 20.02.2019 toke place a Conversation about Alejandro de la Sota at Colegio de Arquitectos de Galicia in La Coruña. I was invited as a participant toguether with Miguel Angel Baldellou and the event was introduced by Elvira Carregado, chair of the COAG, and moderated by Silvia Blanco Agüeira, architect colleague to whom I met some years before in Madrid. Along with some friends, like Beatriz Martínez, Manuel Cuquejo and Javier Vázquez, were also at this event my admired and also good friend Manuel Gallego and his son architect Pablo Gallego. Video is available in http://portal.coag.es/portfolio/conversa-de-miguel-angel-baldellou-con-victor-olmos-moderada-por-silvia-blanco/

Thanks to Csaba Tarsoly for the invitation to the Midterm and Final Critics of his Studio at The University of Liechtenstein. it was also a pleasure to share the final critics with Jens Richter “Estudio Herreros, Madrid” and Angelica Salzmann, Dornbirn. Also thanks to Teresa Rädler, assistant, and to all the students of Csaba´s group. They made a great job!

A book published by the University of Liechtenstein, Institute of Architecture and Planning Ed. Urs Meister, Vera Kaps, with the Chapter “Transparency and Depth” by Victor Olmos and Csaba Tarsoly about The Maravillas Gym of Alejandro de la Sota. s. 50-57

Painting has always been and now, even more, has become a very important part of my life. The impulse of my friends has given me the courage to show my paintings in an exhibition, that will take place in Feldkirch during the following two months. The landscapes of Vorarlberg and the Rheintal have inspired me, as before Madrid or Cantabria did.    

Jetzt, es geht los! The works of the family house in Schaan (Liechtenstein) which olmosochoa have designed, have just started

Celebrating the 800 years of Feldkirch’s history, Gloria Ochoa was invited to take part in this event. The Monforthaus organized an original dialog set: some people born in Feldkirch who carry out successful careers abroad, together with new foreign citizens who have come here to stay, contributed with their ideas about the present and the future of Feldkirch.

Thanks to Urs and Uli for the opportunity to work together and design such a nice building! Projekt Description (in German) Die Erweiterung der bestehenden Schulanlage mit Kindergarten und Doppelturnhalle erfolgt im nord/östlichen Bereich des Bebauungsperimeters. Ein zweigeschossiges Gebäude, welches sich mäandrierend in die leicht abfallende Topografie einbettet, verlängert den Schultrakt B. Diese klare Setzung erfüllt gleich zwei wichtige Anliegen des Auslobers, einerseits Synergien ermöglichen für eine zukünftig durchlässigere Schulentwicklung zwischen Primarschule und Kindergarten und anderseits einen weiten, zusammenhängenden Freiraum für Pausen- und Spielaktivitäten

Since 2016 Gloria Ochoa is member of the Kammer der Ziviltechnikerinnen of Tirol and Vorarlberg. In a very pleasant event, Gloria Ochoa received formally from the Representant of the Architekten Kammer the credentials which certify her competency as Architect for Tirol and Vorarlberg.

Organised by Professor Urs Meister, Csaba Tarsoly and Víctor Olmos gave a Pecha Kucha lecture about Gimnasio Maravillas (Alejandro de la Sota) at the Universität Liechtenstein. There will be soon a publication with all the contributions.

Inma Páez, a good friend of us who lives in Felkdkirch, asked us to make a proposal for a patio-house for his brother’s family in a small Andalusian village.

August_2017, in our way back to Austria, we made another stop. Geneva, a wonderful city, hides (it is not so easy to find) the Maison Clartè. Iron, wood, and beton in a wise combination define another masterpiece of the modern architecture. It seems to have been renovated, and it looks like brand new!

July-August_2017 Santander has inaugurated its own “landmark”, the new building for the Fundación Botín is a fine work of Renzo Piano. Some of its better achievements are the generosity with the open spaces, the free accesibility to the building’s terraces without entering into the building, the different appearance of the enveloping reflecting the colour of the sky or the sea, and furthermore, the excellent exhibition of the Goya drawings. It deserves a drive or a flight!

July_2017, In our way to Cantabria for holidays we bumped into La Tourette! We stopped there to pay tribute to Le Corbusier. It remains fresh, violent, daring. It won’t ever get old. we remembered the first time we visited the place with our friend Angel Panero and spent a couple of nights there in 1985!

We went with our car from Austria to Denmark, all the way north through Germany, to visit our son in Copenhagen. We couldn’ help visiting again some places which had such a big influence in our work. With permission from Mr Jakobsen and Mr Utzon 🙂