We had the privilege of welcoming the renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma to Espai Alfaro, in a session that allowed students from the MArch Valencia school to experience first-hand the thinking and trajectory of one of the leading international figures in contemporary architecture.

During the lecture, Kuma shared some of the most representative projects of his career, offering a direct insight into the processes, decisions, and values that have guided his work over the years. Among the presented projects, he highlighted large-scale works such as the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, as well as already iconic buildings such as Sunny Hills Minami Aoyama and the Nakagawa-machi Bato Hiroshige Museum of Art. He also addressed projects closely linked to context and landscape, such as the Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum and the Yusuhara Community Library, in which architecture is understood as a natural extension of the place in which it is inserted.

Beyond these widely recognised works, Kuma placed special emphasis on small-scale projects and on research into construction and assembly systems. In this regard, he presented the Chidori system, developed for Milan, as an example of how material and constructive experimentation can open new spatial possibilities, even from seemingly simple solutions.

Throughout the lecture, the architect emphasised the importance of materiality in his architecture, as well as the need to understand each project through its integration with its surroundings. Lightness, both physical and conceptual, was another key aspect addressed, understood as a structural quality and also as an attitude towards design and the relationship with the cultural and natural context.

Last Friday, February 6, the Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos de Valencia visited our studio on the occasion of the launch of a new initiative titled SOBRETAULA d’arquitectes, a series of meetings that proposes opening architecture studios across the province as spaces for conversation, exchange, and shared reflection.

The first session of this new format took place at the studio of Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, located in Espai Alfaro, the former workshop of sculptor Andreu Alfaro in Godella. The gathering brought together architects and young professionals in a close, informal atmosphere, over coffee, to gain first-hand insight into the studio’s day-to-day reality and the professional moment it is currently experiencing.

SOBRETAULA d’arquitectes is conceived as a series of monthly meetings, held on the first Friday of each month, with the aim of creating spaces for collective conversation around contemporary architectural practice. Through these visits, the initiative seeks to showcase the diversity of ways of practicing the profession in Valencia, focusing on internal processes, work organization, and the real dynamics of everyday life within architectural studios.
During the session, the team at Fran Silvestre Arquitectos shared how an internationally oriented studio is structured and evolves, addressing their approach to residential, cultural, corporate, and public projects, at both small and large scales, in different contexts and locations around the world.
This first meeting marks the beginning of an initiative that is committed to strengthening the young architectural community, fostering a more conscious and plural view of the profession, and creating direct links between studios and architects in training.

An afternoon of open conversation, shared learning, and architecture experienced from the inside, inaugurating a cycle that promises to become a key meeting point for Valencian architecture.

At the end of the year, ArchDaily publishes its selection of the best projects of 2025, a list compiled based on the interest and response of its global readership.

The analysis highlights the main trends of the year, with a strong presence of residential projects and a particular focus on integration with the landscape.

Our project, House in Sotogrande, has been included among the selected works, forming part of a collection that brings together architectural references from different parts of the world.

House in Sotogrande, located in front of the Sotogrande golf course, is defined by a cantilevered roof that creates a continuous shaded space between the ground and the ceiling. The project seeks to minimise its impact on the surroundings, proposing a way of living between two planes and encouraging the experience of something as simple as an inhabited shadow in Sotogrande.

ArchDaily is one of the most influential architecture platforms internationally. Founded in 2008, it has become a leading reference for architecture professionals worldwide. Its main aim is to disseminate projects, ideas and debates around architecture, design and the city.