Interview with Fernando Valdez

I always wanted to create, to do things you first imagine and time later you see them realize, that is my motivation.

I choose to become one, I always been interested in the arts and the fields surrounding design it can be architecture, fashion, art, movies.

We design everything in the office from houses to corporate or residential buildings or renovations, I will like to design more cultural buildings like museums, I think it would be an interested challenge.

I think is important to have a human perception of the world, have a human touch in everything you do, and be involve with the arts as much as you can, visit museums, see architecture, follow fashion, basically everything that involves design.

I think the difference between them Is the final message they give to their design, and the work they put at the end on the details and the message they try to bring to their product.

A really good design for me is something that makes you feel, it generates an emotion on you, and creates a feeling of something new.

I believe everyone should try to invest in good design because at the end we get to live with it, we see it, we feel it, we interact with it, so investing in it I think is a value we give to our lives.

I would love to design a museum I think is really interesting the shape of the building and the meaning you can bring to the design, and for who, would be for anyone that asks for it.

I would love to design a building in New York or Milan.

We work a lot on the meaning of the project, we try to give a story to the design and we get inspire by other arts, so I think that helps us go places that we wouldn’t go if we stick only to architecture.

I always get inspired by Alexander McQueen, I love his work and everything he did and the way he presented his shows and the message that he gave.

I love the designs of Es Devlin and Neri Oxman, I believe they do some new work in their fields that are so human and so interested that is hard to keep your eyes from looking at them, and are designs that bring emotions on you.

We did a funeral home so time ago that it was something so different that it was so out there, the interpretation we gave to it delivered a message of peace, the façade and materials we choose made it great.

I always try to keep learning, by any means necessary that could be books, visit museums, see architecture, take a course, always trying to keep growing.

I would love to be a movie director or movie producer. I love cinema and the creativity it brings to the screen.

Design is where ever your imagination can take you. It is the tool we have to bring new things into life.

My family is my biggest supporter they always believed in me, and also the people I work with my team, they have had my back since day one.

Keeping faith in what we were doing, on the design we wanted to present and the path we wanted to follow.

Getting people to like my work, sometimes the things we do were very different of what people expect, or like so it has been a challenge to get people to like what we do.

I think every designer has the creativity to present their work as they like, I don’t think it should be just one way, that’s where creativity comes in.

Right now we are working on some project that we got inspire from fashion, so it’s something that is coming along nice, and in the future we will like to keep pushing the boundaries in architecture, involving other arts in the process to create new things and designs that bring together different arts.

To do design that becomes as a brand, that the design we make becomes recognize all over, by the style we create.

To keep bringing new ideas into the design we make and to keep challenging ourselves with our work.

With design we can bring society to care more about their environment, to see things with a new perspective and the respect the work of design they found around them, it’s like when you see art, you get this feelings, so I think that if we can do that with the designs we make we will have a better society with a more human side.

We are working on a private salon for a client of ours for his house, it’s an space dedicated for gatherings and social reunions, but we took this project that could be very basic because there is no so much room to what you can do with it, and we made it into this sculpture like volume, and we played the interior so it resembles a cave, so I’m really excited to see how we end this project.

The last year we have work on some project that I’m very happy with, they represent everything we want to do and the message we want to send you could say they are our project that give the idea of who we are as an architecture office.

I would love to see more recognition by other institutions not related to the design industries I think is important that the design get more recognition due to that it is something present all the time on our lives.

I think we will keep seeing new ideas and going more into the ecologic side of things, evolving with the new mentalities we have of the world of taking care of our world, design should go with that also.

It depends on the scale of the project but it could go from 6 months to a couple of years depending on the project.

We started with talking to the client to see where the project has to go, but on the design side we always started by looking into other arts to see where they can take us, if we can get inspired by something and talking with the team ideas.

It’s a quote by Alexander McQueen that I loved ‘give me time and I’ll give you a revolution.

I think design sets the trends.

Technology helps us create what we have on the mind, by using computer programs that can helps us see the design more clearly and see the whole process, I believed technology is a big tool for designers right now.

We use the basic programs Autocad, Revit, 3dstudio.

I believed these 3 concepts make the final design, each of them helps the design has its final look, and the final product. Without them we can get things more abstract.

What is the idea behind it and what where you trying to said with this design.

I love seeing great design, it makes me happy to see new things out there and I always think what new design that person will bring next.

I believed design is a team effort, I do believe in co-design and that a team effort makes the design better.

My dad was one great influence in my work, he was the one that taught me and helped me in my first works.

I read a lot, of everything but a book that has had effect on my design is Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton.

I try to keep up with trends going on, and I also read, and watch documentaries to get a feeling of what we are living.

I would love to meet Leonardo Da Vinci I think he is one of the most interesting people in history, all the areas that he studied and work in, and also Alexander McQueen is one person I would love to talk to.

I don’t consider myself famous, I’m grateful and honor of the recognition we had so far.

My favorite color is black and purple, a place I love is New York City, my season is winter, food I love pasta and tacos. Thing are books and brand I love is apple, all the innovations they develop in the world is amazing.

Our whole process a bit funny when we start because we do research in everything from art, to chef’s plates, to dancers so it can be strange for new people when they join the office.

I motivate myself it day by knowing at the end of the day the design will take new shapes and forms, and will keep going down new paths, so that is enough motivation for me.

No it was never obvious, as a child I wasn’t that much creative or good at drawing, so it was a surprise for my family how things turn out.

A thousand years from now I hope we have a new kind of renaissance getting back to the human side and a new era awakes in design.

I hope they keep liking our work, and we will continue to keep bringing new ideas and new feelings into everything we do.

Valdez Arquitectos is a studio focused on being daring, creative and going against established ideals. We like our design to innovate and do projects that evoke emotions.

Design is wherever your imagination can take you. It is the tool we have to bring new ideas to life.

I love designing commercial or residential buildings, Im interested with the fact that cities keep growing, so the need for more buildings keeps getting higher while we search for the design that brings the best quality of life for the user.

My favorite design is one that we made for a funeral home, this is because we tried to detach the typical archetype of a funeral home, being cold and overwhelming to a more warm and positive environment where reflection is our main focus.

The first project that I made was when I was back in college in 2012. I was comissioned to design a residential building composed of 6 floors.

We don't really have one favorite material or piece of technology for our projects, we are always trying to incorporate what we feel is right for every unique project we are comissioned to do.

At night I consider to be when my creativity is at it's top.

We always start analyzing different ways in which the building can function, then we move on with the experimentation of plasticity of the volume that contains the program, revealing then the final façades.

I’m usually nervous at the beginning when I don’t have yet a clear path the project is taking but once we get started and things start to look the way we want I get more confident that we are on the right path.

When a design is finished I'm always proud of the outcome, some projects take a lot of time to accomplish and sometimes it's hard to overcome the creative slumps that come and go.

I think the feeling it conveys to the user, if you could transmit and make the user feel happy with the product I think that is success.

The feeling it gives me, the idea behind it and the final result how it is presented in the space.

With design, we can provoke people to care more about our environment, see our reality in a new light and respect the design around them.

I think artificial intelligence will go a long way and it will help us to design better by providing different ideas and methodolgies.

I haven’t had any exhibition yet.

I feed my imagination with every other facet of art that I can get access to, like when I look at a painting and I try to decipher the meaning behind it or by reading, thats an activity I enjoy a lot.

I don't have a specific style of design per se, I just create what's appropriate for each unique case that comes up.

I live in the city of Puebla, in Mexico. A country known for its richness in culture and traditions, here you can find tons of color and solid materials, these which I try to incorporate into our projects.
I feel like the pros that come from living here is that the heritage of artists or architects like Luis Barragán leaves us with a richness of art in its many forms that influence our style as Mexicans. While the cons are that we are not so advanced technology-wise and some materials which are booming in the industry are harder to obtain here.

We are very open with our clients, so we have a good relationship with them. We always intend to deliver the best design as we can achieve for them.

Have a good relationship with the designer, since making a design work involves a lot of going back and forth, so it can get a bit complicated during the process so having a good relationship and open communications is my best advice. For selecting a good designer, I think you should choose one that aligns with your values and challenges you to think outside the box.

My design process always started by doing research on the site we are working on, after that we look for inspiration in other arts or areas, that could be a painting, a food plate, fashion, anything that can spark an idea to where we want to go next. After that we start sketching and from there we can take it anywhere until we find a result we love.

A lamp, bartending equipment, design books, a sculpture and paintings I have.

I start my morning by working out, after some coffee and breakfast I get to the office where I spend all day, sometime I have meetings at clients offices that I go to, but most days we work at the studio developing new projects and ideas.
At night I get some time to read and watch shows in Italian, currently I’m studying it.

I think is important to have a human perception of the world, to develop this human touch in everything you do, and be involved with the arts as much as you can, visit museums, look at architecture, follow fashion, basically everything that involves design.

Positive: You are always working on a project that has a potential to make a change in society, and designs that have meaning.
Some negatives would be that people will always have their opinions of your designs, not everyone is going to like your work, but for me that makes it more interesting and challenging.

Innovate, always try to innovate in whatever design we are working on.

Being always informed, drawing, reading and getting to know different people from different arts.

I never let go from my pencils, as soon as a spark of inspiration comes to me I drawit on a piece of paper, sometimes we also like experimenting with volumetric models so we can discover interesting shapes and textures.

I don’t like giving me a certain time to design, I try to manage my time so I have enough time to complete the project but I don’t usually use the clock as working on an schedule.

Depending on the project it can go from 6 months to a couple of years.

How do you design that, people want to know the idea or the inspiration behind the project.

Failure, the project I consider we fail have been the greatest experience.

My clients are all private that decide to invest in a project for personal or commercial use.

There isn’t a thing that I like most I enjoy designing buildings, houses, commercial use, cultural use, I think each one brings new challenges and new ideas we can develop.

I like to continue growing taking my designs outside of Mexico and then figure out a new career in design that is not related to architecture.

I work as a team with everyone in my office, I believe design is a team effort.

We are working on a private salon for a client of ours for his house, it’s an space dedicated for gatherings and social reunions, but we took this project that could be very basic because there is no so much room to what you can do with it, and we made it into this sculpture like volume, and we played the interior so it resembles a cave, so I’m really excited to see how we end this project.

They can contact me through our web page: www.valdezarquitectos.com
Instagram: valdez.arquitectos
Facebook: Valdez Arquitectos.

I think we are fine. It has been a great experience and we hope to be on more A´ Design contests soon.