Following a week of celebratory events, Casa RIA will open to the public Monday 1 July in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The historic building is the new headquarters of Fundación RIA, the independent non-profit think tank and agency founded by David Chipperfield in 2017 to promote sustainable development and quality of life in the territory of Galicia, in north-west Spain. It provides a dynamic space for the exchange of ideas, discussion, and multidisciplinary research on sustainable development.
‘The opening of Casa RIA marks a new chapter in the activities of Fundación RIA. As well as being the new home of our studio, it is a place of exhibition, debate, research, and dialogue around the issues that influence and shape our environment, and define our quality of life. As architects we are too often obsessed with the object, the final product. Through RIA we instead focus on the process, on how decisions get made. Only by becoming part of this process can we make things happen.
'The programme of Casa RIA will bring together architects, planners, policy makers, politicians, as well as representatives of the commercial sector and the wider community, to promote the understanding of regional issues within the context of global social and environmental challenges. With this new project we hope to provide a public forum; a space in which we can celebrate ideas, identify challenges and promote debate.’
David Chipperfield, President and founder of Fundación RIA
Casa RIA will host a public programme of events, talks, conferences and exhibitions related to the work of the foundation. The space, a former sanatorium which has been restored and transformed by David Chipperfield Architects Santiago, also provides educational facilities and accommodation to support research residencies, as well as A Cantina, a canteen that is open to the public during exhibition hours. The building further comprises the offices of David Chipperfield Architects Santiago, whose activity and resources support the work of Fundación RIA.
Casa RIA will begin its public programme of activities with a display of Fundación RIA's work over the last seven years located in the exhibition space on the ground floor.
Image ©Adrián Capelo for Fundación RIA