Zuloark is a distributed architecture, urbanism and culture office founded in 2001 in Madrid, with current offices in Madrid, Berlin, Coruña, Bologna, Amsterdam, Athens and La Palma.
Its collaborative model, based on co-responsibility and shared authorship, is organized through “fluid hierarchies” and rotating roles, supported by an international network of collaborators.
The collective addresses a broad spectrum of activities, including architectural design, tactical urbanism, territorial design, citizen participation, cultural programming, festival design and hands-on construction workshops. Throughout its trajectory, Zuloark has been involved in public debate on contemporary concerns and demands.
Zuloark’s philosophy is based on four fundamental pillars:
– Second Lives: encourages the reuse of materials through an integrated recycling policy from the earliest stages of design, promoting the circular economy and collaboration with local authorities.
– The Situated City: Inspired by Donna Haraway, it acts as a mediator between private, public and civil society agents, facilitating co-creation in its projects.
– The Zone of Proximal Development: Based on Lev Vygotsky, it seeks to teach “by doing together”, enhancing individual skills and collective learning.
– Collective Intelligences: Learning from emerging ways of making cities and their technical applications to generate innovation in architecture and urbanism.
Zuloark has received international recognition such as the Golden Nica Award, the Arquia Próxima and the UN Best Practice for the ‘Campo de Cebada’ project, as well as awards at both the Spanish and Ibero-American Architecture and Urbanism Biennials. The collective’s work has been exhibited in renowned institutions such as the MoMA in New York, the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, the Venice Biennale and Matadero Madrid. In addition, Zuloark is actively involved in academia, teaching at universities such as the Polytechnic School of Madrid (ETSAM), the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (Tec).
