Oscar Tusquets Blanca

Architect by profession, designer by adaptation, painter by vocation and writer out of the need to make friends, Oscar Tusquets Blanca is the prototype of the all-round artist that the specialisation of the modern world has brought to the verge of extinction. Born in Barcelona in 1941, he graduated as an architect in 1965 from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Barcelona. Founding member of the disappeared Studio Per, he worked with Lluís Clotet until 1984 on the great majority of his projects, which include the Casa Fullà, the Casa Regás and its belvedere, a house in Pantelleria and the restaurant La Balsa. In 1975 executes, with his Master and friend Salvador Dalí, the Mae West Room in the Figuera’s Teatro-Museo. After working for several years with the architect Carlos Díaz, in 1987 they formed a partnership to develop their projects in the fields of urban planning, architecture, interior design and architectural design, both in Spain and France, and also in Holland, Germany and Japan. The most notable works of the last years are: -Refurbishment and extensions of the Palau de la Música, Barcelona. (Working from 1983 in this monument declared by UNESCO human patrimony). -Pavilion Tusquets in the Parc de la Villette, Paris. -Residential development in Fukuoka, Japan. -Cavas Chandon. Industrial complex for the production of sparkling wine. In Sant Cugat Sesgarrigues, Barcelona. -Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. -Polideportivo Daoiz y Velarde (sports centre) in Madrid. -Princess and Miramar hotels in Barcelona. -Refurbishment of the XVII to XX century galleries in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Louvre, Paris. -Casa del Laberinto. Sant Vicenç de Montalt, Barcelona. Currently, he is dedicated to the project and works direction of the Toledo subway station and his urban enviroment, Metropolitana di Napoli. He is a founding member of Bd Barcelona Design and launched his career as a furniture and object designer with this group. He has work, between others, with the Italian producers: Alessi, Driade, Zanotta, Leucos, Tonon, La Murrina, Bissazza, Trend and Cleto Munari; the German: Forwerk, Ritzenhoff and Quartett; and the Spanish: Bd, Figueras, Casas, Nani Marquina, Amat and Kettal. Some of his pieces form part of the collections of important museums such as the Moma in New York or the George Pompidou centre in Paris. He has participated as curator and set designer in several exhibitions: -Miró otro, with Studio Per in the Colegio de Arquitectos, Barcelona. (To celebrate the artist 75th anniversary, 1969). -Dalí arquitectura, La Pedrera. 1996, Barcelona. -Requiem for the staircase, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea. 2001, Barcelona. -Through labyrinths. Centro de Cultura Contemporánea. 2010,Barcelona. CAM. 2010, Valencia. -Dalí, Palazzo Grassi. 2003, Venezia. -Dalí, Il sogno si avvicina. Palazzo Reale. 2010, Milano. He has also designed some scenographies for the theatre. In 2003, under the direction of Juli Capella, the exhibition El laberinto: Arquitectura, Diseño y Arte showed his entire work. Later, it travelled to the Palau Reial of Barcelona, and to the cities of Sofia and Budapest. On the occasion of these exhibitions the ENCICLOPEDIA/ÁLBUM, (Editorial Electa) was published. Among other awards he has received the Premio Nacional de Diseño, the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes, the insignia of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Creu de Sant Jordi. In addition he has twice won the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona, and several FAD de Arquitectura and Delta de Diseño. In 1994 he revealed his talent as an essayist with Más que discutible (Tusquets Editores). Later he has published the books: Todo es comparable, Dios lo ve y Contra la desnudez (Editorial Anagrama). In 2003, Dalí y otros amigos y Anna (RqueR Editorial). In 2007 the COAC has published a complete revision of his architectural trajectory in the Inventaris d’Arquitectura collection.