León Duval — Spatial Possibilities
I am a Chilean architect who works through the spatial possibilities of the discipline, engaging in inter and transdisciplinary relationships. Teaching, researching, and designing, both individually and collectively.
León Duval
E-mail leon@leonduval.com
Instagram @leonduval
For any enquiries, commissions & collaborations please do not hesitate to write. Special requirements, full portfolio and resume available upon request.
I am a Chilean architect who explores the spatial possibilities of architecture through interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. Simultaneously engaging in teaching, research, and design —individually and collectively— I view architecture as a deeply political endeavour that extends far beyond the physical construction of buildings. Committed to the perspective that the Global South requires equal representation in its built environment and intellectual discourse, my work wants to critically interrogate the complex interconnections between human and more-than-human ecologies, Latinx identities, and spatial narratives. My research and practice focus on counterpower imagery, extractive landscapes, migratory spaces, politics of bodies, Latin American identity, and popular culture.
In 2023, I founded my personal work & research platform leonduval.com to display all my professional activities and engagements. I am an active member of the Latin American applied research group Colectivo de Palabreo. I teach aesthetics at the School of Design of the Universidad Finis Terrae and I am the coordinator of professional practices and alumni of the School of Architecture of the Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile, where I teach design studios. Until 2024 I was a founder partner at Espiral, a Chilean architecture firm created in 2011 by Luis Felipe Venegas, León Duval, and Hernán Duval, who incorporated Jorge Brady as a partner in 2013. My work at Espiral can be seen on the Espiral website.
In 2024, I initiated my PhD in Architecture at the School of Architecture of the Royal College of Art in London, UK, directed by Dr Ines Weizman, with a thesis first supervised by Dr Godofredo Pereira and secondarily supervised by Dr Mark Campbell, focused on extractive spaces and the politics of bodies in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Since 2022, I have held a Master of Science in Architectural Design (MsAAD) degree from Columbia University, where I was the recipient of the Avery Scholarship, the Honor Award for Arguments in Design and the William Kinne Traveling Prize. From 2020, I hold a Master's in American Aesthetics approved with maximum distinction from the Aesthetic Institute of the P. Universidad Católica in Chile. In 2009, I got my degree in architecture from the Universidad Finis Terrae in Chile. Today, I am the coordinator of professional practices at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile, a member of the Latin American applied research group Colectivo de Palabreo, founder partner of the Chilean architecture firm Espiral, and an Alumni Board Member at Columbia GSAPP in the US.
Colectivo de Palabreo is a transdisciplinary collective of applied research founded in 2022 by Lina Celis (Colombian architect and textile designer), Elisa Lutteral (Argentine textile designer), Rubén Gómez (Colombian architect), and León Duval (Chilean architect). We work with the traces, renderings, representations, and relationships derived from Latinx culture in different global contexts. We aim to comprehend, expose, and communicate their impacts and extent through engagement actions among individuals, collectives, humans, more-than-humans, and communities, facilitated by the act of "palabreo" (oral communication, and derived from its Indigenous and pre-Hispanic significance). Palabreo signifies an oral and performative method of transmitting knowledge and worldview. Our complete work beyond my selection can be seen at the Colectivo de Palabreo website.
In 2022 I started to work as a Coordinator of Professional Practices & Alumni at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) in Chile, where I have been a teacher since 2019. At the UNAB I have been implementing a professional practice plan developed to allow students to critically engage in the different possibilities of contemporary architecture, within and beyond the discipline. With a team of expert teachers and selected employers, we have provided our students with theoretical and empirical knowledge in architectural design and construction, as well as in communications, editorial, research, teaching, and preservation, among other possible disciplinary engagements and affairs.
Practice
2022 – Present
Colectivo de Palabreo. Co-Founder.
UNAB. Coordination of Professional Practices & Alumni.
2011 – Present
Espiral. Founding partner and Architect.
2016 – 2017
XX Chilean Architecture and Urbanism Biennial. Director of the International Workshop.
2012
ONG Acercando Salud. Director of Marketing and Communications.
2009
Boza Arquitectos. Architect.
2007
Boza Arquitectos. Internship.
Academy
2022
Barnard and Columbia Colleges Architecture Department, Barnard College, New York.
[2022, Spring] Teaching Assistant, AADII Studio / Instructors: Diana Cristóbal, Michael Schissel, Hanna Tulis.
2021 – 2022
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, New York.
[2022, Summer] Adjunct Assistant Professor, AAD Studio / Instructors: WAI Think Tank.
[2021, Fall] Dep. Research Assistant, AAD / Advisor: Andrés Jaque.
2019 – Present
School of Architecture, Universidad N. Andrés Bello, Viña del Mar.
[2024] Instructor, Architecture Studio 5.
[2022–present] Instructor, Research Seminar
[2019–present] Instructor, Preliminary Design Final Architecture Project.
[2022–2023] Instructor, Architecture Studio 8.
[2019–2021] Instructor, Architecture Studio 6+7.
[2019–2021] Instructor, Final architecture project.
2012 – 2023
Faculty of Architecture and Design, Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago.
[2023] Instructor, Critical Research.
[2019] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Research and Criticism / Instructor: Igor Fracalossi.
[2018] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture studio 7 / Instructor: Francisco García-Huidobro.
[2017] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture studio 8 / Instructor: Francisco García-Huidobro.
[2016–2017] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture studio 6 / Instructor: Francisco García-Huidobro.
[2013–2015] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture studio 5 / Instructor: Francisco García-Huidobro.
[2013] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture studio 5+6 / Instructor: Francisco García-Huidobro.
[2013] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Seminar on Research and Criticism 4 / Instructor: Felipe Saez.
[2012] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Integrated building systems 1 / Instructor: Andrés Goñi.
[2012] Adjunct Assistant Professor, Model making workshop 2 / Instructor: Francis Castaño.
Activities & Memberships
2023
Alumni / Columbia GSAPP. Board Member & Regional Ambassador.
2021 – 2022
PATIO (Latin GSAPP, GSAPP). Member of the Editorial Board.
QSAPP (GSAPP). Member of the Editorial Board.
rAADio (MSAAD, GSAPP). Member of the Editorial Board.
2018 – 2022
College of Architects of Chile (CA). Member of the Young Architects Committee (CAJ).
Talks, Exhibitions & Conferences
2023
Workshop-Exhibition: M A Í Z 6; Event: Pabellón 2023. Category: Transmediar – (Colectivo de Palabreo: Lina Celis, Elisa Lutheral, Rubén Goméz y León Duval) – Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
Workshop: M A Í Z 5. (Colectivo de Palabreo: Lina Celis, Elisa Lutheral, Rubén Goméz y León Duval) – Le Cordon Bleu & Universidad Finis Terrae.
Exhibition: Resonancia; Colloquium: Diálogo con el espacio y las imágenes: Espacios Transmediales. (Espiral) – Galería Machina / Instituto de Estética, Campus Oriente, PUC.
Conference: M A Í Z 4. (Colectivo de Palabreo: Lina Celis, Elisa Lutheral, Rubén Goméz y León Duval) – Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad N. Andrés Bello.
2022
Workshop: Experiencia Detonante III. (Espiral) – Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile. Conference: Firefighter ́s Headquarters in Chile. (Espiral) – School of Architecture, Syracuse University, Syracuse.
Conference: Nixtamalizaciones. (Colectivo de Palabreo: Lina Celis, Elisa Lutheral, Rubén Goméz y León Duval) – School of Design of the Universidad Finis Terrae.
Happening-Workshop: M A I Z: biographical textiles through the lens of corn / Parsons School of Design. (Collective: Lina Celis, Elisa Lutheral, Rubén Goméz y León Duval) – Factory Tamal, New York, USA.
2020
Conference Critic-All 2020–2021. Accepted article / Sao Paulo, Brazil.
MEXTRÓPOLI 2020 “(In)sostenible” (postponed). Professor in charge of the workshop / Mexico City, México.
2019
Pavilion “Jauken” – XXI Chilean Architecture and Urbanism Biennial “The common and the ordinary”. Curator of the Pavilion of Universidad Finis Terrae / Santiago, Chile.
Pavilion “Life cycles”. UNAB. Museum Artequin Viña del Mar / Ministry of Culture – Professor in charge of the installation, Architecture Studio course 6+7 – UNAB (Viña del Mar).
2017
XX Chilean Architecture and Urbanism Biennial “Unpostponable Dialogues”. “Unpostponable” Workshop Director – Invited tutor / Valparaíso, Chile.
XVI Buenos Aires International Biennial of Architecture – Selected project: “Casas Los Refugios”. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2016
Archmarathon Awards 2017. Conference: “Alto del Carmen Town Hall”. Miami, USA.
XV Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. Exhibition: “Territories in Contrasts”. Collateral event:
“Time-Space-Existence” – Global Arts Affairs Foundation / Venezia, Italia.
Conference “Territories in Contrasts” (XV° Venice Architecture Biennale) – Alto del Carmen, Chile.
Awards, Fellowships, Scholarships
2023
Honor Award (Association: Farah Alkhoury, Rubén Gómez, León Duval, Teresa Páez & Nicolás Samchez). International Call Remotes Residences 2.0 - Universidad Andrés Bello / Viña del Mar, Chile.
2022
Honor Award for Arguments in Design’s recipient. MSAAD, GSAPP, Columbia University / New York City, EE.UU.
2021
2nd prize (Association: Espiral + Max Nuñez Associate Architects) – San Fernando Industrial Lyceum competition. San Fernando, Chile.
2019
Avery Scholarship ́s recipient – MSAAD, GSAPP, Columbia University. New York City, EE.UU.
1st prize – Curatorial competition of the Universidad Finis Terrae School of Architecture Exhibition. Universidad Finis Terrae Exhibition, XXI° Chilean Architecture and Urbanism Biennial. Santiago, Chile.
Special Mention – Competition: Photo of The Year 2019 – Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark. Professor in charge / Aarhus, Denmark.
1st prize (Association: Espiral + Ekhos + Juan Renhfeldt + AAM Abogados) Tender: “Comprehensive diagnosis of housing complexes to implement the program for the regeneration of social housing complexes in the sectors: Villa Andina II and El Salitre of the town of Temuco.” / Temuco, Chile.
2018
1st prize “Ex Aequo” (Association: Espiral + Mas-Fernández Arquitectos Asociados) – Hebrew Institute Competition. Santiago, Chile
Nominee YALA CA ́ASI – XVI Venice Architecture Biennale – Selected project: “Alto del Carmen Town Hall”. Venice, Italy.
2017
“30 leaders” – MasDeco no.760 magazine, La Tercera. Chile.
Finalist. Institutional category – Archmarathon Awards 2017. Miami, USA.
2016
1st prize (Team leader: Felipe Vera) – XX Chilean Architecture and Urbanism Biennial Public curatorial competition. Valparaíso, Chile.
2015
3rd prize (Association: Espiral + Iglesis & Prat Arquitectos) – Iquique PDI (Investigations Police of Chile) regional headquarters competition. Iquique, Chile.
Acknowledgement of the Ñuñoa ́s Fifth Company Fire Department. Santiago, Chile.
2012
2nd prize (Association: Espiral + Iglesis&Prat Arquitectos). Lonquimay Town Hall competition / Chile 1st prize (Association: Espiral + Iglesis&Prat Arquitectos) – Alto del Carmen Town Hall competition / Alto del Carmen, Chile.
Grants, Research Fundings, Fellowships
2022
SAT Research Authors; Living Continuity; Argumentative or Position Essay – Sharjah Architecture Triennial. Proposal: “More than buildings.” – Researcher.
William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize ́s recipient – GSAPP, Columbia University. Proposal: “Migratory Spaces in Northern Chile.” – Researcher with Sebastián Salas.
2021
National Fund for Cultural Development and the Arts (FONDART); Architecture Line; Creation Mode; Folio: 579623. “Celebration of the 60 years of the House in jean Mermoz: Reconstruction of the wooden formwork system as a tribute to a lost architectural heritage” – Co-Responsible and Project Manager – Responsible: Igor Fracalossi.
2019
Annual Research Competition, Universidad Finis Terrae – “Phenomenology of the model: the abstract experience of the design and building processes towards the understanding of the work”. Co-investigator – Investigator-in-charge: Igor Fracalossi.
School of Architecture internal financing, Universidad Finis Terrae – “The formworks of the Jean Mermoz house”. Research assistant – Investigator-in-charge: Igor Fracalossi.
Publications
2024
Article: Municipalidad de Nancagua: desde lo dicho, lo representado y lo hecho. Revista Rita, issue #21. Mayo, 2024. Go to website ↗
Article: Lecciones de Gagarine. BEAT Revista, issue #17. 2024. Argentina. Download PDF ↓
2023
Blind referee – Revista Aisthesis. Instituto de Estética, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Article: Can corn be architecture? Peel Magazine, issue #1. 2023. Accepted. Columbia GSAPP, EE.UU. Go to website ↗
2022
Article: Máquinas de Habitar. Hacer arquitectura con las instalaciones – Revista Rita, número 17. Mayo 2022, páginas 56-59. Madrid, España. Download PDF ↓
Article (Co-Author): Migratory Spaces in Northern Chile. Urban Magazine, MsUD, GSAPP, Columbia University. Go to website ↗
Podcast (Co-Editor): rAADio Second Season. Dissecting Conformity in Architectural Practices – MsAAD, GSAPP, Columbia University. Go to website ↗
Magazine (Co-Editor): Patio 2 – Real Talk. Patio, GSAPP, Columbia University.
Book (Co-Author): Dissapearing Queer Spaces: Architecture from the Harlem Renaissance – QSAPP, GSAPP, Columbia University. ISBN: 978-1-941332-77-1.
2021
Article (Author): Bicianimita. Dispositions for a new counter-monument in Santiago de Chile. Digital-Conference Minutes: IV International Conference on Architectural Design & Criticism (Critic-all) Article (Author): The Bicianimita and its local, activist, and artist heritage – Digital-Blog: Lofscapes.com: Ciclo-rutas.
2020
Short story (Author): Intimacies from a distance. The city in quarantine: selection of short stories, Urban studies collection UC (IEUT). Download PDF ↓
2017
Article (Author): Community, madness, repression and political space. Magazine REA #02.
Published In
Arquine.com (Mexico, digital); Beautiful Beach Houses, Images Publishing (Australia, print); Dwell.com (USA, digital); Beta-architecture.com (Spain, digital); A&B magazine. (Poland, print); Enlace magazine (Mexico, print); Todoobras magazine (Chile, print); Time Space Existence, Global Art Affairs Foundation (Netherlands, print); XV Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 Catalog (Italy, print); Archdaily.com (Chile, digital); Digital, plataformaarquitectura.cl (Chile, digital); Peel (USA, digital); Springtime. Emerging Architecture in Chile (Chile/USA, print).
Credits & Acknowledgements
León Duval portrait
News
2024
,
Sep 9
Education
PhD in Architecture at the Royal College of Art, London, UK
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In 2024, I was accepted to initiate a PhD in Architecture at the School of Architecture of the Royal College of Art in London, UK with a proposal first supervised by Dr Godofredo Pereira and secondarily supervised by Dr Mark Campbell. My research focuses on the Atacama Desert in South America and delves into migratory spaces, extractive spaces, indigenous communities, environmental justice, and the politics of bodies regarding the migratory route between Colchane and Iquique in Chile. The PhD Program is directed by Dr Ines Weizman and the School of Architecture at the RCA is led by Professor Dr Adrian Lahoud.
Website: https://www.rca.ac.uk/study/programme-finder/architecture-mphil-phd/
2024
,
May 30
Publication
Ilustre Municiaplidad de Nancagua: Desde lo dicho, lo representado y lo hecho
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The article examines the implicit aspects of design, representation, and communication strategies in architectural works, focusing on the Ilustre Municipalidad de Nancagua, designed by the Chilean firm Beals Lyon Arquitectos as a study case. The article addresses the role and influence of graphic and linguistic representation in architectural projects by analysing five key points—position, concept, references, representation, and materialisation— through published, represented, and written materials. It also critiques the impact of decontextualized allegories and references on local communities being intervened.
Website: https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v2i1.880
2024
,
Apr 27
Competition
Centro Comunitario Getsemaní
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Centro Comunitario Getsemaní is a project developed within the context of the professional academic activity Experiencia Detonante III (EDIII) at the Universidad Del Desarrollo (UDD). This initiative was organised in collaboration with the Asociación de Oficinas de Arquitectos (AOA) and the Municipality of Lo Barnechea in Santiago de Chile. This winning proposal of the academic competition was developed by Espiral, in partnership with UDD students, and is now awaiting finalisation and implementation in the Getsemaní borough of Lo Barnechea.
2024
,
Jan 24
Publication
Lecciones de Gagarine
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Lecciones de Gagarine is an article published in the 17th issue of the digital publication: BEAT Magazine edited by Adrian Gasparoni, on January 24, 2024. This article explores, through the case of the life and death of the french public housing complex building Cité Gagarine, the relationships embedded within the buildings as structures and objects located in the built environment, and the importance and repercussion of public policy making and political decisions for human and more than human actors, as well as for the built environment. This article also states the idea of housing and architecture beyond buildings. Particularly, when considering all the immaterial entanglements originated and housed throughout the structures of the material buildings.
Website: https://beatrevista.com/17-4/
2023
,
Nov 11
Biennial
Sharjah Architecture Triennial
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The opening of the 2nd Sharjah Architecture Triennial, curated by Tosin Oshinowo and named The Beauty of Impermanence: An Architecture of Adaptability occurred on November 11th, 12th, and 13th, 2023 in Sharjah, UAE, and it will be open to the public until March 10th, 2024.
This triennial, which I was fortunate enough to be invited to experience, due to my connection with the SAT Research project: Living Continuity, is an extraordinary example of what is happening in the Global South, especially in the Arab, African and Latin American communities. Unlike other similar events, this one is a great space for reflection and collective discussion about different visions, proposals, and experiences coming from the south and particularly from women.
2023
,
Sep 27
Workshop
Interwoven Narratives by Colectivo de Palabreo
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This event was organised by Colectivo de Palabreo and was part of the New York Textile Month 2023 as a transatlantic dialogue among diverse practices engaged in non-lettered knowledge systems. As a collective we invited a broad audience to weave narratives that cultivate a global perspective on contemporary challenges. During the event, a participatory and interdisciplinary online palabreo was produced to bring to light the interconnectedness among creative practices linked with today’s global agenda. The featured panellists were Piedad Aguilar, Juan Pablo Aschner, Ana Gutierrez, Zayaan Khan and Arcenio Moya.
2023
,
Aug 15
Publication
SPRINGTIME: Emerging Architecture in Chile
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Springtime: Emerging Architecture in Chile is a book published by Constructo (Chile) and launched on the 17 of August of 2023 in the Center for Architecture (NYC, US) during Chile Day. This book showcases the work produced by new, young, and emerging Chilean individuals all over the world, and we, with Espiral, were selected to publish our project 10 Roof Pavilion.
