Overview
Atelier García is an architecture studio led by Orlando García and based in Brooklyn, New York.
We are convinced that Architecture can satisfy our spiritual need to find our place in the world and therefore, it is our belief that architecture is the “refuge of the Soul” a place we can call home.
For this reason, our work gravitates around five principles that are rather universal and that belong to the metaphysical realm which Plato described in the “Theory of Forms” as eternal, absolute, unchangeable, and which are the nonphysical essences of all things. These principles are:
The embracement of Mystery as an eternal constant of life;
The pursuit of Perfection as a way to find essence and truth;
Honoring Nature as the force that equilibrates our existence;
Celebrate and revere Light as the giver of life,
And lastly the pursuit of the mental construct of Home as the refuge for the affections of the soul.
We believe that these principles are the fundamental factors that build a rich “Experience of Space” which is in the end the essential task of architecture.
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Biography
Orlando García was born in 1975 in Medellín, Colombia. He attended Architecture school at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Medellin and received his Bachelors Degree in Architecture and Urbanism in 1999. After collaborating with the Laboratory of Architecture and Urbanism (LAUR) at the UPB in the design and construction of the Pies Descalzos Park and EPM Interactive Museum in Medellín, he traveled to the United States in 2001. In 2006 Orlando founded the architecture studio G Ateliers Architecture with offices in New York and Medellín. The practice was renamed to Atelier García in 2019.
Orlando has built a number of buildings in New York City and Medellin and has received several awards and honors including in several occasions, the Design Award of excellence from the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) in New York, Finalist in the “Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative Program” to collaborate with architect Peter Zumthor in 2014 and nominated to the “Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize” with the Fernando Botero Library Park in 2014. In 2018, Orlando received a recognition from Medellín City Council for his outstanding professional career.
Awards
2018
Honorary recognition for outstanding professional career awarded by the Medellín City Council.
2016
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) acquired eleven drawings and one architectural model of the Fernando Botero Library Park to be included in the Architecture and Design Collection.
2014
Finalist in the "Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize" with the built work: Fernando Botero Library Park as one of MCHAPs 36 inaugural Outstanding Projects.
Finalist in the Rolex Mentor and Protegé Arts Initiative Program to collaborate with Peter Zumthor.
2012
Honorary Mention in the XXIII Colombian Architecture Biennial with the Fernando Botero Library Park.
2009
Winner, International Competition for Library Park Fernando Botero- San Cristoal- Medellin, Colombia.
2006
Design Award or Excellence, The New York Council Society of American Registered Architects, Project: Myrtle Ave Condominiums. New York- USA.
2005
Design Award or Excellence, The New York Council Society of American Registered Architects, Project: Clarkson Ave Development. New York- USA.
2003
Award of excellence, The New York Council Society of American Registered Architects, Eight Annual Design Awards program. Project: Medellin International Convention Center.
2002
3rd Place, Medellin International Convention Center Competitionn, Medellin- Colombia.
2001
Honorary Mention for the Construction Supervision of Parque de los Pies Descalzos and the EPM Interactive Museum, Medellin- Colombia
Past Collaborators