Drew Merkle

Drew Merkle

Programme Director

AADRL 2012

drewmerkle@aaschool.ac.uk

Drew Merkle is currently working at Zaha Hadid Architects in London, United Kingdom. He has experience working on both large and small scale built projects in North America, and various large scale projects in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He holds a Master in Architecture with thesis distinction from the Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association, School of Architecture in London, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, USA. Drew has multiple built projects to his name, thanks to his work at the world-renowned, design-build program, the Rural Studio, during his years in Auburn. Drew’s previous professional and academic experience includes having work published in multiple international publications, works being exhibited in both the MoMA in New York and the Venice Architecture Biennale, lecturing in both the US and UK, and sitting as an invited critic in the US. In 2012 he co-founded mEmE a contemporary atelier for the re-search and re-thinking of advanced design and geometry in architecture.

Miguel Miranda

Miguel Miranda

Programme Director

AADRL 2011

miguel.miranda@aaschool.ac.uk

Miguel Miranda is the designer and principal researcher in Muuaaa, a transdisciplinary studio which he co-founded in 2007 with his partner Celina Nogueras-Cuevas. Miguel has a strong background in architecture and design, made in academic institutions in Spain, Puerto Rico and London which provides an overview of the discipline. His academic training began with a BA from the School of Architecture at the University of Puerto Rico and continued a Master’s degree with Distinction in Architecture and Urbanism at the prestigious Architectural Association (DRL) in London, where he developed intellectual interest particularly about the idea and aesthetics of Soft-Architecture. His disciplined studies in visual art and design has given him a visual culture that allows to design and produce successful projects as the Tropical Design Symposium (2009), the urban art biennial Graphopoli (2008), and more importantly FRESCOS: 50 Puerto Rican artists under 35 (2010), the first book of Muuaaa distributed internationally by Actar-Birkhauser Publishing. He was assistant editor of the magazine Entorno, the journal from the Association of Architects and Landscape Architects of Puerto Rico, where he was responsible for overseeing the aesthetic and editorial content of the publication contributing feature articles, and interviews with international partners such as Bjarke Ingels, Maarten Baas, Izaskun Chinchilla and Beatriz Colomina. He currently serves as professor of design for First and Second year of the School of Architecture at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico where he co-taught with visiting professors Tom Wiscombe and Hernán Díaz Alonso, in a project called PONCE: Projects of New City Ecology and recently served as the first visiting professor to UPR-Summer Visiting School at ELISAVA Barcelona, teaching Parametric Design and Digital Fabrication Tectonics.

Jorge Mendez-Caceres

Jorge Mendez-Caceres

Programme Director

AADRL 2012

mendez-caceres@aaschool.ac.uk

Jorge Mendez-Caceres lives in London, United Kingdom and is currently working at Heatherwick Studio and previously at Zaha Hadid Architects. He holds a Master in Architecture + Urbanism with Project Distinction from the Design Research Laboratory at the Architectural Association. Prior to London he lived In New York and studied at Pratt Institute, where he received his Master of Architecture degree earning the Sidney Katz Award for Design Excellence. Mr. Méndez-Cáceres also holds a B.A. in Environmental Design from Universidad de Puerto Rico, Escuela de Arquitectura. Previous professional and academic experience includes international publications, research, teaching, lectures, graphic development, exhibit and installation design in the United States, Puerto Rico, Great Britain and Germany. In 2012 he co-founded mEmE a contemporary atelier for the re-search and re-thinking of advanced design and geometry in architecture.