soumaya museum, irrigacion, mexico city by LAR/fernando romero, 2007- ongoing courtesy LAR/fernando romero

opening today is the first monographic exhibition dedicated to the work of fernando romero and his mexico city–based practice, LAR (laboratory of architecture).the exhibition is on view in the heinz architectural center at carnegie museum of art until may 31, 2009.

in the exhibition fernando romero and his practice, LAR present 20 key projects. illuminated models are complemented by large photographs of mexico city that depict the context for much of romero’s work. informed by his studies of mexico city and the U.S./mexican border, romero responds to the challenges and hopes of mexico with new building forms, imaginative structures, and concepts for civic space. romero is also currently working on projects in the united states, europe, and china.

models of projects are divided into four categories: orthogonal, non-orthogonal, organic, and communal. orthogonal includes sleek rectilinear pavilions that reinterpret the classic modernist glass house, and an ambitious master plan for mexico city’s polanco district. non-orthogonal includes more complex crystalline shapes, some functioning as bridges—as in the case of museum bridge mexico/USA to link disconnected terrains.

http://www.cmoa.org laboratory of architecture/ fernando romero exhibition at carnegie museum of art soumaya museum, irrigacion, mexico city, 2007- ongoing courtesy LAR/fernando romero

laboratory of architecture/ fernando romero exhibition at carnegie museum of art bridging mexico/USA, ciudad juarez, chihuahua/el paso, texas, 2000–ongoing courtesy LAR/fernando romero

laboratory of architecture/ fernando romero exhibition at carnegie museum of art bridge tea house for the jinhua architecture park, 2006

laboratory of architecture/ fernando romero exhibition at carnegie museum of art bridge tea house for the jinhua architecture park, 2006

educated at the universidad iberoamericana in mexico city, romero (born 1971) worked from 1997 to 2000 in rotterdam, the netherlands, for rem koolhaas’s office for metropolitan architecture (OMA), where he was project leader for the casa da música in porto, portugal (completed 2005). in 1999, romero established LCM (laboratorio de la ciudad de méxico) in mexico city as an architectural practice, a studio to investigate urban phenomena, and an organizer of cultural events. romero’s principal architectural activities are now carried out through LAR.