Reasons for a Presence 

Mangado y Asociados, the architecture studio of Francisco Mangado Beloqui, created the Fundación Arquitectura y Sociedad via a monetary endowment and the contribution of technical, economic, and consulting support, in order to promote and further its commitment to the social values of architecture in the context of urban development that is sustainable and efficient in terms of costs and production.

The commitment of Mangado y Asociados does not end at this stage, for the studio will continue to support the Foundation as a Trustee Contributor, by means of an annual monetary contribution with the aim of helping the Foundation to promote discussion of architecture and the city in social –and not merely architectural– terms. To this end, the studio and the Foundation will work together to organise exhibition, lectures, and debates, to sponsor awards and grants, and in general to promote activities that contribute to improving the quality of architecture urban development in today's society.

Mangado y Asociados: Background

With each new project, Mangado y Asociados attempts to broaden the analysis of the architecture and to propose contents of the greatest interest. This reflection is apparent in the density and the intensity of the creations of this studio of architects. Mangado y Asociados advocates architecture of quality that is found in the specific research that underlies each piece. Our studio has a tradition of designing useful architecture at the service of the people, architecture that solves real problems, rather that merely showing off the architect's art. The genuinely iconic architecture of our time is one that incorporates social responsibility and accountability, and whose formal and visual beauty enhances its nature as efficient architecture, with presence, in which every section has been meticulously researched. This is what we call "intelligent architecture".

My Commitment to the Foundation

Throughout my life, the profession of architecture has given me a great deal, and this, alongside my social convictions and sense of solidarity, nourished a desire to repay society with at least in part for what it has given me. It is from this concern that the idea arose of establishing this Foundation, where I could work hand in hand with the other trustees in promoting an analysis that could lead to some at least partial solutions to the problems of out time, and to pursue a concept of architecture that is closely linked to the ethical values of utility, harmony, and efficiency.

For a building in itself is nothing. A building cannot stand in isolation from the society to which it belongs, and which commissions and finances it. Though a building may by may be private, the space it occupies always part of the public sphere. Removed from the social context, architecture is mere calligraphy, style without content, fancy writing and empty words. This is why I have explained elsewhere about designing with the left hand (or with the right, for those who are left-handed), in order to better appreciate the difficulties, and to avoid the "velocification" of the project, as Paul Virilio advised, and the rendering of architectural work into something banal, a mere fashion show.

Good architecture is entirely the opposite: it is durability and comfort, which means meeting people's real needs. And this is why we promote sustainable urban designs and constructive and energy efficiency.