Life and work of Fran Silvestre
This Valencian, barely 45 years old, is still one of the great revelations of recent years in the world of architecture. Despite his youth, Fran Silvestre is one of the most recognized architects, both by professionals in the sector and by architecture enthusiasts, with major awards behind him such as the Best Architecture Studio of the Valencian Community, in 2013, for Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, and the XIII Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism award, in 2016.
In addition to graduating from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, graduating cum laudem, he also obtained a specialization in urban planning at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. Silvestre, who has always shown an exquisite taste for sculpture and the plastic arts, began working with the Spanish sculptor Andreu Alfaro for the studio of the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza.
During his years in Oporto he acquired the necessary influences to start working on his own. Thus, in 2005 he founded his own architecture studio, the aforementioned Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, now merged with the studio of Andrés Alfaro, interior designer and son of the sculptor.
Probably his most significant work is the Casa del Acantilado, in Calpe. A complex building due to the situation of the terrain but that Silvestre managed to save successfully. This project perfectly reflects the character of the Valencian's works with white as the predominant element to achieve large and bright spaces and achieve a balance with the sunny climate of our country.
Silvestre defines his style as clean in a mixture of form and function, playing with geometric forms of sculptural inspiration. A good example of this is the recent project of the Torre Eólica de Valencia, still under construction, with a height of 170 meters but without renouncing a symmetrical aesthetic with an all-white facade.
Silvestre's usual practice is concentrated on detached houses near the sea and away from the big cities. House in Benahavís, Málaga, Pati Blau, Barcelona, Casa de Arena, Valencia, and Casa de Aluminio in Madrid are some of the architect's most significant projects.
It should be added that Silvestre is passionate about modules and that most of his works are built in two modules that, superimposed, attract sometimes unimaginable forms, as in Casa Balint and its elliptical shape. The large windows that let in natural light keep out the heat, thanks to the exterior thermal insulation and solar charters, which seek to combine sustainability with the environment.
Although most of his work is in Spain, it is in the rest of the world where Silvestre has developed almost all his exhibitions. New York and especially Tokyo, on more than one occasion, have hosted exhibitions such as 'On-Site. New architecture in Spain', 'GA International 2011.Emerging Future' and 'GA International. Project 2014', respectively, some of them in collaboration with his partner Alfaro.
In short, Fran Silvestre's architecture could be catalogued as minimalist and purist, with a magnificent in the context in which his projects are located.
For us, Fran's works are sculptural works in the field of architecture. Harmony and simplicity come together to give birth to magnificent projects that are realized month after month.
If you want to see the project we made with high quality renderings in Lobo studio about a project of Fran silvestre, I invite you to visit it here: A tribute to Fran silvestre
If you liked Fran silvestre's article, you can't miss the one we published yesterday about Rafael de La-Hoz.
