Fernando Nieto is an architect and scholar based in Helsinki, Finland. He is Professor of Architectural Design at the Tampere University School of Architecture, where he develops his academic activity within the Spatial & Speculative Research in Architectural Design (SPREAD) research group. As an architect, his professional activity has received several prizes and special mentions in architectural competitions. His built work, done independently and in collaboration with other architects, has received wide recognition, having been published in specialised media and exhibited in several forums such as the IV Conference of Architects of Spain in Valencia or the Museum of Spanish Contemporary Art Patio Herreriano in Valladolid. As a researcher, he has been doctoral researcher at the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM-UPM), Department of Architectural Design, visiting researcher at the ETH Zurich Department of Architecture, and postdoctoral researcher at the Aalto University Department of Architecture in Helsinki. His research work has been published in scientific and professional journals, has received the first prize at the 14th Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, and has been shortlisted at the 11th Biennial Competition for Doctoral Dissertations in Architecture arquia/tesis 2017 by Fundación Arquia. He has obtained various research grants such as “la Caixa” Postgraduate Fellowship and the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship for Foreign Scholars and Artists. He is founder member and co-editor-in-chief of the HipoTesis research platform. His work as an editor, always collaboratively, has been awarded at the 8th Latin American Biennial of Architecture and Urban Planning, the 13th Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism and the FAD Awards for Architecture and Interior Design in the category of Thought and Critique. As an educator, he has been guest lecturer and teacher of architectural design at national and international universities such as ETSAM-UPM (Master’s Degree in Advanced Architectural Design), ETH Zurich, Aalto University and the University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD in Advanced Architectural Design (Excellent Cum Laude with International Mention) and a Master of Advanced Studies in Collective Housing, both from the Department of Architectural Design at ETSAM-UPM, and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Valladolid School of Architecture. He is the author of the book Habitar la norma: Proyecto de vivienda y sistemas normativos, co-editor of the book Loneliness and the Built Environment, and guest editor of the special issue Casas en Finlandia / Houses in Finland of the journal Casas Internacional.

Photo: Anne Kinnunen