Fernanda Canales

Fernanda Canales (born 1974) is an architect, designer, critic, and curator of Mexican architecture.

Fernanda Canales was born in Mexico City.

She studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana; she graduated in 1997 with honors and won the award for the best thesis.

She was awarded by the Mexican Federation of Architects Association for her career and has received numerous awards for projects and publications.

She has an MA from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, and a PhD in Architecture from the UPM.

After graduating from the Universidad Iberoamericana, she worked as a professor in the university, in the workshop Max Cetto of the Architecture Faculty in the Universidad Autónoma de México and the CMAS with the UPC.

Similarly, she has been teacher in exchange programs with universities such as ETSAB in Barcelona and several workshops in Mexico.

She has also been a member of the jury in architectural competitions and has participated in the creation of internationally recognized projects.

Some of those projects also include work for charities or contracts.

Her most recent projects are in Mexico where she is trying to build equal houses for the misfortunate, because since the budget is so small, they can't always afford engineers or other important personnel.

One of her most recent projects, which is called Casa Eva, is a single-family home which is a part of a larger scheme started by architect Carlos Zedillo.

Due to constantly changing family circumstances, the design of the house had to be very specific but also very adaptable.

The house had to accommodate the original family plus another family, with children staying in the upper level due to safety concerns, and the owner of the house could control who came in and who went out of the house.

The materials which were used for the house, were all made locally, for example: the bricks which form the shell, were made from concrete and soil.

Her other recent project was called Casa Productiva, which was meant to improve the conditions of low-income workers.

The project was envisioned to be a modular prototype, with many of its features embracing the regions climate and lifestyle.

The house is completely off-grid, which also store any rainwater that falls, which is meant to meet the resident's needs.

This style of building was designed to have natural ventilation and able to be self-built by its inhabitants.

Canales' projects are always concerned with good views and sunlight, no matter the budget.

She always tries to include simple materials, natural light, cross-ventilation and with creating a safe space.

According to Canales, the only thing that sets social housing apart from private housing, is the low budget.

Through all of her projects, she learned that she had to leave the projects open ended because circumstances could change, and therefore the building had to be modified to deal with those circumstances, in other words, be ready for the unexpected.

One of her other past project is called Casa Bruma, due to mist that surrounds the landscape.

Casa Bruma is 1 of 70 houses on 500 acres of untamed land.

This house, and eventually the other houses, were meant to restore the ecology of the land as it was before.

Some of the restrictions set to help with this idea were: all of their water they use, comes from rainwater; Restriction on nonnative vegetation and cutting down trees.

As said by Claudia Rodriguez, "was to allow freedom in the expression of houses, but strengthen the identity of the landscape" Within the practice as an architect and planner, Fernanda Canales has worked on international offices.

In Tokyo, Japan, she worked at the firm Toyoo Itō Architects and Associates and in Barcelona, Spain, she worked at the office of the architect Ignasi de Solà-Morales.

In Mexico she became founder of Fernanda Canales, an architectural firm where she works independently.

She is an architect of numerous important projects; many of them have been recognized and awarded for their design.

Amongst them the Centro Cultural Elena Garro

Her personal vision towards construction is based on searching what is essential.

For the Mexican architecture it is important to meet the customer's needs and to maintain the relationship between the construction and the environment.

For Canales, architecture is an agent of change.

Her architectural stance has been reflected in her theoretical proposals; as a result, Fernanda Canales is a recognized author of criticism.

In 2005 she published Spaces for Abraham Zabludovsky'S Culture.

In 2008 she published Central de Arquitectura, an analysis of the work of young and emerging generations in various fields such as house-building, hotel-building and office-building.

She is co-author of 100x100 arquitectos del siglo XX en México, a collection of the most important architects in Mexico.

In 2014 she published Arquitectura en México 1910-2010.

A deep study that explains the development of Mexican modern architecture and is not limited to the study of architecture but linking it to urban planning and design.