Mr. David Picazo

C.E.O. AT PICAZO ARCHITECTS

LPS: Mr. Picazo, as a C.E.O. of Picazo Architects, could you please introduce your company to our readers?

Picazo Architects is a world class award winning architectural firm with an international reputation for consistent innovation at the highest level of architectural design. Our main headquarters is based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife – Canary Islands, Spain. We also have offices in Madrid – Spain, Monterrey – Mexico and Beijing – China.

Founded in 1972 by Jorge Picazo, Picazo Architects has worked on more than 1,500 projects, always guaranteeing high quality modern sustainable designs and innovative ideas within the budgets set by the Client.
Our services include architecture, urban planning, interior design, landscape design, product design and construction. We can provide our clients FULL design and construction services, working on every Stage of Design from initial Feasibility Concept studies to Schematic Design, Detail Design and Construction stages, always guaranteeing our schemes are of the highest quality in design and attention to detail.
Picazo Architects has undertaken projects all across Europe, Africa, South America, USA, Middle East and China and has been awarded with numerous design and construction international awards worldwide.
Our professional experience ranges from residential developments to airports, hospitals, hotels, luxury villas, offices, mixed use, industrial parks, high rise towers, museums, libraries, sporting venues, shopping malls, touristic resorts, concert halls, auditoriums, theatres, schools, urban planning, interior design, landscape design, product design and construction amongst others. Picazo Architects currently hires more than 300 of the best team of professionals and consultants distributed amongst our four international offices. All our team members, with their passion, their love for our profession and their constant professional dedication help our firm deliver our world class sustainable designs to our clients. All our design teams have a vast experience working on large, medium and smaller scale projects, using sketches, models, state-of-the-art digital tools and visualization technologies to provide our buildings with the most energy-efficient and sustainable credentials possible.
Being an international company with projects all over the world has helped us gain an enormous expertise on liaising with different international Governments, Developers and Clients while complying with local design and construction regulations to get our projects approved and ultimately built on site.
We are committed to make a change in the world and, with our unique vision and expertise on sustainability and energy-efficiency design, minimize the environmental impact of our buildings on Earth.

LPS: What’s Picazo Architects design style?

I always say that to conceive a unique and sustainable design, experience and talent only takes you half way there. The rest comes from designing from your heart and your eternal love for your profession.
Picazo Architects is proud to work with passionate Clients and professionals who share our principles. Our goal is, by loving what we do (DESIGN!), offer the best sustainable, dynamic, cost effective and energy-efficient buildings and spaces in the world.
Our design approach is simple: understanding our Clients’ needs and unique vision for their project and providing them with the best possible designs that could quickly become part of (and enhance!) the existing neighbourhood, the local culture and its traditions.
We fully understand that every Client is different and every project is unique. Therefore, we don’t have a fixed architectural language but we work in response to our Client’s different requirements and the context where we work to always end up with a bespoke design.
My father, also an architect, said once that “Planet Earth was there before mankind. We are mere visitors who need to cherish its beauty and protect its natural resources so it can live forever. Love your planet, cherish our environment and work hard to protect it”.
Every team member at Picazo Architects works under the premises that making our buildings and spaces as sustainable and efficient as possible is the ONLY responsible way forward. We devote ourselves to every project, big or small, with the same passionate creative energy and flair which sets us firmly at the very forefront of the international industry.
We are proud that the works, awards and projects by Picazo Architects have been largely published in architecture books, magazines, websites and different international media since we started trading as a professional design company more than 47 years ago.
One of my personal responsibilities and joys is to attend international forums, interviews and conferences in my efforts to keep sharing my views and opinions on the importance of sustainable, energy-efficient design, hoping to keep promoting an architecture and interior design that protect the world’s natural resources and responds to the natural environment by trying to reduce the CO2 emissions of our buildings.

LPS: Let’s get a bit personal, how was your childhood and how did you become an architect?

I have been very fortunate to have been born in a family where most of us dedicated our life to the world of arts. Since I was a child, I was taught to love all forms of art from painting to sculpture, architecture, interior design, cinema, theatre, etc. I remember how my father, from a very early age, he used to take me to museums, cinemas, theatres and opera houses to understand that art is everywhere; all you need to do is open your eyes and really see it! Sometimes it gets me really anxious to realize that some people don’t see what I see or don’t experience what others do when looking at a great painting, a wonderful sculpture or a daily sunset. We all need to open up not just our eyes but our hearts and souls to allow BEAUTY be part of us all. I truly believe that those who are sensitive and try to see the world from a different perspective are the ones who live a truly fulfilling life.

Nowadays, any person in this world who dears to CREATE – or question the world as we all understand it! – is worth my respect, as they put themselves out there, in the open, for others to love them or criticize them. It’s not easy to be a designer these days as everyone – including digital media – is ready to judge you and your work in both the most noble way and also the most critical or cynical one. As a designer, I much rather be controversial than boring, innovative than safe, the first one than one of many. In the end, I let my designs talk by themselves.

LPS: You were one of the leading roles in a movie that was shown in cinemas all over China. How did this happen?

Ha! (David smiles). As I mentioned art is everywhere and I Iike to experiment not only on my daily architecture and interior design projects but I also like to paint, design and produce sculptures, furniture and multiple product design objects. When the opportunity to become an actor in a Chinese movie arrived, I said to myself: “why not? movies are another form or art. Let’s give it a try!”. I must say it was fun and challenging! I have my most sincere respect for actors who “magically” become other people in each different role they play.

LPS: Picazo Architects have already several offices in Spain and Mexico. How did you make the decision to open up another office in China?

It was a natural step for our company. China is an incredible country with a millenary culture and very rich culture and traditions. I love the fact that, even after been living in China for more than 7 seven years now, I learn new things every single day of my life. I truly LOVE CHINA! I love how meticulous Chinese people are, how they protect and cherish their culture and traditions and how much they love their country. China has given us the opportunity to design and build incredible projects of great magnitude all across the country, receiving multiple design awards and helping us expand our international professional recognition as a world class architecture and design company. Picazo architects love China and we thank our Clients and the media for their trust and interest on our company, hoping to keep promoting an architecture and interior design that protects the world’s natural resources and responds to the natural environment by trying to reduce the CO2 emissions of our buildings. “Love your life, have PASSION for design!” – David Picazo.