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.

   He was born in Barcelona in 1941, he took primary school at Deutsche Schule and he graduated as an architect in 1965 from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura in Barcelona. At the same time, he attended Escuela de Artes y Oficios (Llotja), where he won the First Sculpture Drawing Prize in 1955 and the one of Natural Drawing  in 1959.

   He collaborated in the studio of Federico Correa and Alfonso Milà from 1961 to 1964.

   In 1964, he founded Studio Per with Lluís Clotet, Pep Bonet and Cristian Cirici. With the first one he carried out the vast majority of his projects until 1984.

   During 1966/67 and 1976/78 he was Culture Vocal at Colegio de Arquitectos in Barcelona.

   In 1975/76 he worked as an associate professor in the ETSAB Projects Chair and in 1979 he collaborated as a guest in the same professorship.

   In 1980 he was invited to the Rhode Island School of Design (RISDI). From then on, he lectured and directed workshops at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCLA and University of Miami, as well as in European universities such as Paris, London, Lausanne, München, Milano, Rome, Napoli and several Spanish cities.
(More information: Lectures)


   In 1983 he was nominated Patrono Vitalicio of Fundación Gala Salvador Dalí by explicit desire of the painter.

   In 1987 he formed a partnership with Carlos Díaz, Oscar Tusquets Blanca Arquitecturas,  to develop projects in Spain, France, Holland and Japan.

   Since 2008 he works alone or with the sporadic help of young collaborators trained in his studio.
(All his architectural works in: Architect)

   As a designer, he is a founding member of Bd Ediciones de Diseño and launched his career as a furniture and object designer with this group. He later collaborated with prestigious Spanish, Italian and German factories. Some of his pieces are part of the collections of important museums such as the Moma in New York or the George Pompidou centre in Paris.

(See his designs in: Designer)

   Although he began painting when he was young, it is no long since his paintings can be bought. He has exhibited in national and international galleries. In 2003 he published the artbook ANNA (RqueR editorial), tribute to Anna Bohigas,  and in 2015 the erotic painting artbook HOT DAYS (Umberto Allemandi & Co).

(All his paintings in: Painter)
 
   In 1994 he appeared on the writing scene with Más que discutible (Tusquets Editores) and he later wrote other books, articles and texts for other publications and press.

(More information in: Writer)

   The exhibition El laberinto: Arquitectura, Diseño y Arte, at Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (2003), under the direction of Juli Capella, showed a selection of his works. The exhibition was also shown at Palau Reial de Barcelona and in Sofía and Budapest. His complete professional and artistic career is described in the ENCICLOPAEDIA/ALBUM Oscar Tusquets Blanca, published in 2003 by Electa (Random House Mondadori).

   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. He has twice won the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona, and several FAD de Arquitectura and Delta de Diseño.



MUSEUMS THAT SHOW HIS WORKS

-Centre Georges Pompidou de Paris.
-Musée des Arts Decoratifs de Paris: Gaulino chair (Carlos Jané), Victoria tea set (Driade).
-New York Metropolitan Museum: Alada table (Casas).
-New York Columbia University Avery Library: original drawings of the project for the Frankfurt Museum of Modern Art.
-New York Museum of Modern Art.
-The Israel Museum in Jerusalem: Victoria glassware (Driade), Ali-Babá sofa (Casas), Gaulino chair (Carlos Jané).
-Vitra Design Museum in Weil Am Rhein, Germany: Victoria bottles (Driade), Gacela table (Driade), Gacela's original drawing, Varius and Gaulino chairs (Bd Barcelona Design).
-Frankfurt Architectur Museum.
-Die Neue Sammlung Staatliches Museum from Munich.
-Solingen Deutsches Klingenmuseum: Victoria cuttlery (Driade).
-Teatre Museu Dalí de Figueras, Girona: Sala Mae West.
-Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Canadá: Victoria bottle (Driade), Oronda teapot proyotype (Alessi), Gaulino chair and armchair (Bd Barcelona Design).
-Denver Art Museum: Gaulino chair (Bd Barcelona Design).
-London Victorian & Albert Museum: Oronda tea set (Alessi).
-Museu del Disseny de Barcelona:

Ali-babá sofa, Belgravia sofa, Vaivén arm chair (Casas), several Varius chairs (Casas), Extra de Varius rocker (Casas), Ágape high chair, Ágape low chair (Andreu World), audiovisual cabinet (Artespaña), Delirio ashtray (Disform), Fina Filipina arm chair, Gacela table (Driade), Victoria cuttlery, Victoria glassware, Victoria tableware (Driade), Oronda tea set (Alessi), Girándola table, Vórtice table, Soca table (Carlos Jané), Gaulino chair, Potro chair (Carlos Jané), Gaulino arm chair (Bd Barcelona Design), Bib Luz, double Bib Luz, Consentida lamp, (Bd Barcelona Design), Metalástica arm chair, Catalano bench (Bd Barcelona Design), Burguesa table, Metarrígida table (Bd Barcelona Design), Cornisa shelf, Hialina shelf, Hipóstila shelf, Talaya shelf (Bd Barcelona Design), Versátil trolley, BD cooker hood, Tres Cuatro Cinco letter boxes (Bd Barcelona Design).




EXHIBITIONS THAT INCLUDED HIS WORK

-Arquitectura del Studio Per, Lérida 1971.
-XV Triennale di Milano, with the film "Mi terraza", Milano 1973.
-Arquitectura y Lágrimas, Sala Vinçon, Barcelona 1975.
-Centenario de la Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, Palau Nacional, Barcelona 1975.
-Festival of Films on Architecture, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1978.
-Transformations in Modern Architecture, M.O.M.A., New York 1979.
-Forum Design, Linz 1980.
-Biennale di Venzia, 1980.
-The House as Image, Luisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Dinamarca 1981.
-Le Presence Du Passé, Paris 1981.
-The Presence of the Past, San Francisco 1982.
-Il Tavolo, Milano 1983.
-100 Designers, Triennale di Milano 1983.
-Tea & Coffee Piaza, Milano and New York 1983.
-Tusquets & Clotet Watercolours, San Francisco 1984.
-Idee Prozess Ergebnis IBA, Berlin 1984.
-Biennale de Paris, 1985.
-La Reconstruzione della Cittá, XVII Triennale di Milano, 1980.
-8 Diseñadores y un nuevo material, Formica Colorcore, Barcelona and Madrid 1985.
-Contemporary Lanscape from the Horizon of Posmodern Design, National Museum of Modern Art, Kioto 1985.
-Speanse Architectur in der Jaren 50-80, Hasselt, Europalia 1985.
-Diseño España Europalia, Bruxelles 1985.
-Proyectos Inéditos de Diseño Español, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid 1985.
-La Mossa del Cavallo, Frankfurt and Madrid 1986.
-Design in Catalonia, Milano 1987.
-Oscar Tusquets, Objets Dans Le Parc, París 1990, Barcelona 1991.
-Arquitectos Catalanes, Chicago 1993.
-Héroes de la Crisis. Bremen 1995, Barcelona 1995.
-Tusquets-Dalí: Una Alianza Obscena, Frankfurt 1995.
-Arquitectura en Catalunya: 20 años de Democracia 1977-1996. Palau de la Música, Cavas Chandon, Vila Olímpica. Barcelona 1996.
-Museum for Modern Art Louisina, Dinamarca 1996 (other designers objects).
-Bienale de Arquitecura de Venecia 1996 (Auditorio de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Palau de la Música Catalana).
-Diseño catalán del S.XX: de Gaudí a las Olimpiadas. Centro Cultural BID de Washington (EUA), 1997 (Gaulino chair, Oronda tea set) (itinerant).
-Diseño Industrial en España. Centro de Arte Reina Sofía de Madrid and Museo de Artes decorativas de Barcelona, 1998-1999.
-Realisme en Catalunya. Centro de Arte Santa Mónica de Barcelona (“La Fregona”, “Autorretrato con mi hija” y “Luces y transparencias en la cocina”), 1999.



BOOKS WHERE OSCAR TUSQUETS APPEARS

-Arquitectura Española Contemporánea de Lluís Doménech, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1968.
-Contradiciones en Living Environment de David Mackay, Editorial Crosby Lockwood, London 1976.
-El Studio Per o los confines de la arquitectura actual de J. Muntanyola, Barcelona 1976.
-Arquitecturas Catalanas de Helio Piñón, Editorial La Gaya Ciencia, Barcelona 1977.
-The Language of Post-Modern Architectura, Editorial Oikos-tau, Barcelona 1977.
-Nacionalisme i Modernitat en la arquitectura catalana contemporània de Helio Piñón, Ediciones 62, Barcelona 1980.
-Design its unsichtbar: Eine Interpretation unserer Arbeit de Osterretchisches Institute für viasualle Gestaltung, Loeker Verlag 1981.
-Eclecticismo y Vanguardia de Ignasi Sola-Morales, Harry N. Abrams Publishers, New York 1983.
-Clotet-Tusquets de Claudia Mann, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1983.
-The Modern House de David Mackay, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1984.
-Spanish Contemporary Architecture de Eduard Bru y Jose Luís Mateo, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1984.
-Tea & Coffee Piazza por Officina Olessi, Editorial Shakespeare & Company, Italia 1983.
-Contemporary Designers McMillan Publishers, London 1985.
-Barcelona, baroque et moderne, interview by Juli capella, Editions Autrement, Paris 1986.
-Architecture minimale a Barcelona de Ignasi Sola-Morales, Quaderni de Zotus, Editorial Electa, Milano 1986.
-Il bel Metallo de Patrizia Scarzella.
-Diseño de arquitectos en los 80 de Quim Larrea y Juli Capella, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1988.
-Oscar Tusquets, Objets Dans Le Parc, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1989.
-Arquitectura Española Contemporánea, La Década de los 80, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1990.
-Casa Mediterráneas. Italia, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1992.
-Casas Mediterráneas-Costa Brava 2, Editorial Gustavo Gili, Barcelona 1994.
-La casa del arquitecto, Editorial Gustavo-Gili, Barcelona 1995.
-El taller del arquitecto, Editorial Gustavo-Gili, Barcelona 1996.

1949. 8 year old in Playa de Aro.

1966.

Con Lluís Clotet. Foto de Oriol Maspons

 

1969. With Cristian Cirici, Lluís Clotet and Pep Bonet in front of the Col.legi d'Arquitectes, Barcelona. Foto by Colita

1970. En Bocaccio. Foto de Colita

1973. Con Salvador Dalí en el Hotel Meurice de París

1980. Con Lluís Clotet en casa de Leopoldo Pomés. Foto de Leopoldo Pomés

1991. Con la Reina Sofía

1994. Con Alessandro Mendini

1994. Con José Luis Berlanga y Charo López

1998. Con Enric Miralles.

2002. Con Esther Tusquets y otros amigos en Cadaqués.

2003. Con Juli Capella

2013. Con Valeria y Luca Tusquets en la entrega de los premios Fad.