Clavel Arquitectos, an internationally renowned studio with offices in Spain and Miami, has stood out for its specialisation in unique architectural and interior design projects. Its approach has transcended borders, ranging from China to the United States, and has been recognised with numerous national and international awards. Likewise, his innovative projects have been widely featured in prestigious publications, from the New York Times to Vogue.
Clavel Arquitectos' architecture, as well as stimulating the imagination, has also been associated with architecture and design initiatives around the world. Its portfolio of projects ranges from multi-million dollar works to small interior design interventions. However, at Clavel Arquitectos, the selection of projects is not based solely on their size or budget, but above all on their potential to contribute to the creation of a better city. This has led them to create a portfolio of transgressive and audacious projects that form an identity of their own, where the use of artificial lighting and the purity of the materials used stand out.
Its founder, Manuel Clavel Rojo (Murcia, 1976), is one of Spain's most internationally renowned young architects. With offices in Spain, Miami and Dubai and a multidisciplinary team of 25 people, including architects, biologists, engineers and interior designers, Clavel has managed to draw attention to the capital of the Region of Murcia. Under his leadership, there have been restaurants in Dubai, collaborations such as the Pacha Group's Lio project with Ricardo Urgell, a garage in Miami, schools, housing, yacht clubs, industrial warehouses, street furniture and even gates for the Retiro Park.
At the same time, Manuel Clavel has developed an academic link with the profession, combining
his professional work with his architecture classes at universities in Miami and New York, as well as participating as a jury member in the evaluation of final projects at Harvard University.
At Kronos Homes, we have had the opportunity to work with him on two completely different projects. On the one hand, Brooklyn, an urban residential development with strong Madrid roots, located in the neighbourhood of Carabanchel; and on the other, Onix, a very exclusive complex of low-density single-family homes in Torrelodones. Two innovative and imaginative visions that demonstrate the capacity of Clavel's architecture to mimic and its enormous potential to blend in with its surroundings.
They say that there is strength in numbers. And a good example of this is represented by Clavel Arquitectos, where, as with Touza Arquitectos and other studios, two generations of the same family live side by side. Two ways of understanding architecture, the sum of which has given rise to unique and innovative projects that are recognised both at home and abroad.
Clavel Arquitectos was founded in August 1998 as an architectural practice. It is headed by Luis Clavel, an architect from Murcia who studied architecture in Valencia, and his son Manuel, who studied at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM).
In an interview with the specialised portal Arquitectura y Empresa, the former says that he brings temperance to the parent-child relationship. "So there is a balance between the two of us and I think we complement each other well. And he speaks highly of his son, because "he has a very good thing: when it comes to projects, his level of demand is very high".
For his part, Manuel Clavel, who has become the most visible and mediatic face of the company, does not hesitate to say that his father is a reference for him. And also the Swiss Le Corbusier or the Portuguese Eduardo Souto de Mora, whom he quotes when asked how he understands architecture.
In addition, during his training he had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the British Farshid Moussavi and the Spaniard Alejandro Zaera Polo at the London studio Foreign Office Architects (FOA). A vital experience that, as she explained to Vanity Fair, taught her to see complex projects in a natural way and to demystify problems and situations.
Currently, Luis and Manuel Clavel lead an office with offices in Murcia and Miami (USA). It is made up of a multidisciplinary team of architects, biologists, engineers and interior designers, whose work, as detailed in another section, has won numerous awards and mentions.
Projects, in many cases, that reinvent the concept of luxury. An example of this redefinition is the Odiseo building, a leisure complex located in Murcia whose hallmark is a large lattice of metal tubes that support the sign that crowns the complex. And it is precisely there, in the heights, where there is a terrace crossed by a swimming pool with a 22-metre overhang. A detail, according to Clavel Arquitectos, that represents contemporary luxury.
Also in our country, the Murcian firm has been in charge of the remodelling of the NH Gran Hotel Casino Extremadura. Specifically, the work in this five-star establishment, located in Badajoz, focused on the connection of the central atrium with the leisure areas and the entrance hall. And in it, among other solutions, black Marquina marble was combined with different proposals of lights and mirrors. The result is luxurious, enveloping and welcoming spaces.
Outside Spain, one of the studio's most emblematic projects is the Louis Vuitton Group's Miami Museum Garage. With gold and silver cars presiding over its façade, the building has revitalised the Florida city's Design District, an emerging neighbourhood dedicated to innovative art, design and architecture. And it has become a major tourist attraction and a new Miami icon.
Similarly, Luis and Manuel Clavel have been called upon in Dubai to give shape to the dreams of the great stars of gastronomy. One of them is the miX restaurant of Alain Ducasse, the chef with the most Michelin stars in the world. The other is All'onda, by actor and restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, with rooms customised using elements of Venetian craftsmanship and traditions.
This and other work by the firm has not gone unnoticed by the sector. So much so that they have been the subject of a number of awards and recognitions:
To date, Clavel Arquitectos has received more than 100 international awards. And its projects are featured in magazines and blogs around the world, from The New York Times to Vogue.
In terms of awards, these are the most important works in a wide and varied portfolio that includes projects for different sectors. Among them, even the funerary sector. In fact, one of architect Manuel Clavel's first works was a pantheon for his grandfather, which was later followed by others.
And, logically, the firm's catalogue included residential projects. Among them:
This activity, together with the quality and originality of its projects, has not left Kronos Homes indifferent. On the contrary, the property developer has commissioned two residential projects from Clavel Arquitectos:
Apart from the residential buildings, Manuel Clavel, an architect who can boast of being one of the most outstanding lighting designers in our country, has left his stamp on a very original initiative: to convert the cranes of the Kronos Homes works into a real artistic installation using lighting resources.
"The project started when Saïd Hejal, CEO of Kronos, called me to look for solutions that could beautify the construction sites of his buildings. In the studio, we thought that we could achieve an extraordinary effect through light. In this way, a crane fulfils its function during the day. But at night it becomes a sculptural, poetic and mysterious object", explains in a video the man who, together with his father, runs one of the most innovative offices of the moment: Clavel Arquitectos.