Events Events

We are excited to invite the community to join us Wednesday, September 16, for the Fall 2026 Morgenstern Chair Lecture with our current visiting chairs, Natura Futura architect José Fernando Gómez and architect Juan Carlos Bamba. The lecture will begin in Center Core in S. R. Crown Hall at 5 p.m.

Juan Carlos Bamba is a Spanish architect and International Ph.D. in Advanced Architectural Projects from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He is founder of Bamba Studio, where he develops architectural projects, research and consultancy focused on housing, public space, construction systems and sustainable design. He is currently Professor of Architectural Design and Director of the LabVIS research group at the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil, and Coordinator of the Ibero-American Network of Sustainable Social Housing. His professional work includes projects such as Cabañón DLPM, awarded at the Quito Pan-American Architecture Biennale and Arquia/Próxima, and Las Tejedoras, recognized with the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize and the International Barbara Cappochin Architecture Prize. He is also co-founder of Txt.Críticos and a member of the Editorial Board of DOMUS-Ecuador.

José Fernando Gómez is an Ecuadorian architect born in Babahoyo in 1987. He holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Guayaquil and a Master’s in Advanced Architectural Design from Chihuahua, Mexico. He is the founder of Natura Futura Arquitectura, a practice focused on the relationship between architecture, community, territory, and landscape. His work has received international recognition, including awards at the Architecture Biennale of Quito (2016, 2018, 2020, and 2024), the Brick Award 2022, MCHAP.emerge 2024, ArchDaily Building of the Year 2026, and the Barbara Cappochin International Architecture Prize 2026. His current research explores vulnerable territories, amphibious infrastructures, and new relationships between cities and water.

Together, Bamba and Gómez are winners of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (MCHAP) Emerge award in 2024 for Las Tejedoras, a community production center that serves as a hub for local women artisans, providing them space to learn, create, and showcase their handmade textiles. The project, based in Chongón, Ecuador, is a community-centered design that incorporates traditional building practices while addressing sustainability and economic empowerment. As part of Ecuador’s rich cultural landscape, this project not only offers a functional workspace but also embodies the spirit of environmental and social sustainability.

Established by a gift from the Victor A. Morgenstern Family Foundation, the Morgenstern Visiting Chair in Architecture is an architectural practitioner of the highest caliber who has a substantial body of work that is widely and recently recognized in the field.

We look forward to welcoming everyone for our first lecture of the semester.