Carlos Ott
Carlos Ott (born October 16, 1946, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan architect who resides in Canada and many other countries. He became famous when he won his first prize in 1983 (among 744 architects from all over the world) for the construction of the Opéra Bastille in Paris, which was inaugurated on July 14, 1989 (bicentennial of the French Revolution). He has offices in Toronto, Quebec, Shanghai, Dubai and Montevideo.
Contents
- 1 Education
- 2 Early career
- 3 Return to Uruguay
- 4 China
- 5 Current Projects
- 6 Awards
- 7 Main works
- 8 References
- 9 External links
Education
Ott graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of the Republic, Uruguay at the age of 23. In 1971, he received a Fulbright Scholarship and went to study at the University of Hawaii and graduated with a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Washington University's School of Architecture in 1972.
Early career
From 1972 to 1974, he worked as an architect for Baldwin & Cheshire Architects in Brunswick, Georgia, and for ARQUECO in San Jose, Costa Rica. In 1975, he moved to Canada where he was *ociate architect until 1979 at Moffat, Moffat Kino*a & *ociates Architects in Toronto. From 1979 to 1983, he joined Cadillac Fairview Corporation as architect responsible for commercial and multi-purpose projects in Canada. From 1983 to 1993, he joined NORR Partnership Ltd, the largest Canadian firm, located in Toronto as partner heading the Design and Architecture Division. Under his direction important projects in Canada and the United Arab Emirates were designed and built, including the Federal Court Building (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - not built yet, Simcoe Place (Toronto), Mixed Use Complex and Residential/Commercial Development for HE Sheik Tahnoon in Dubai, Union National Bank (Dubai), National Bank of Dubai (Dubai) and Union National Bank (Abu Dhabi).
In 1983, Ott won the international design compe*ion for the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, France, to commemorate the 200 year anniversary of the French Revolution on July 14, 1989. Ott was selected from 744 participants as one of the three finalists and then hand-picked by French President François Mitterrand as the winner of this prestigious project. In order to carry out the supervision of this project, he moved to Paris and formed a team, which in turn gave him international recognition and opened doors to many countries.
His next accomplishments followed by winning the compe*ion for an extremely advanced hospital in Weimar, Germany and several compe*ions in the United Arab Emirates such as: the Sheikh Zayed Road Development Project (Abu Dhabi), the National Bank of Abu Dhabi Headquarters (Abu Dhabi), Etisalat Telecom & Administration Building (Abu Dhabi), Majid Al Futtaim Project (Dubai), Baniyas Road Development (Dubai), Offices for the Al-Futtaim Group (Dubai), the New Dubai Creek Hilton Hotel (Dubai).
In 1993, Carlos Ott won several other compe*ions in Europe such as the Salle des Spectacles in Mont-de-Marsan, France and the Thomson Headquarters Building, Offices and Laboratories in Geneva, Switzerland.
Return to Uruguay
In 1992 he returned to Uruguay to open an office which would complement his others around the world. From this new addition to his consortium, he completed projects such as: the International Airport of Laguna del Sauce (Punta del Este, Uruguay); the International Airport of Ushuaia-Malvinas Argentinas (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina); the Punta Shopping Centre (Punta del Este, Uruguay); Telecommunications Tower, the new headquarters for the state-owned telecommunications company ANTEL (Montevideo, Uruguay); the Libertad Plaza Building (Buenos Aires, Argentina); the International Airport Lago Argentino (El Calafate, Provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina); among others.
China
In 1997, he was invited to participate in the compe*ion for the Jiang Su Opera House in Nanjing, China where he obtained first prize. As a result, he was invited into another series of very important compe*ions such as the Beijing Opera House, the Commercial and Residential GW Plaza, and won the contract for the National Grand Theater of Hangzhou, China from yet another international compe*ion. He won after Dong Guan Yulan Theatre, the Wenzhou National Theatre and the Henan Art Centre. In front of the Hangzhou Grand Theatre was selected to build the Hangzhou International Conference Center including a 5 stars hotel of more than 400 rooms.
Current Projects
Ott continues to travel the world and is currently working on projects in USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Singapore, China, United Arab Emirates, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Paraguay, Philippines and Uruguay.
Awards
Among his awards are Arts et Lettres and the Legion d´Honneur awarded in 1986 and 1988 respectively by French President François Mitterrand, the Gold Medal awarded by the Faculty of Architecture in Uruguay in 1990, the Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University in 1997, and the Vitruvio Award from the Museo de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, also in 1997.
Main works
- Bastille Opera, Paris (1989)
- Simcoe Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1995)
- Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport, Argentina (1995)
- National Bank of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (1997)
- Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport, Punta del Este, Uruguay (1997)
- Libertad Plaza, Buenos Aires (2000)
- Comandante Armando Tola International Airport, El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina (2000)
- Torre Antel, Montevideo (2002)
- Calgary Courts Centre, downtown Calgary, Alberta (2007)
- Hotel Boca by Design Suites, Buenos Aires (2012)
- Universidad Argentina de la Empresa - Sede Pinamar
- The Proscenium at Rockwell, Makati City, Philippines
- ECHO Aventura - Aventura, Florida (2014)
- Muse (apartment building), Sunny Isles, Florida
References
External links
- Biography of Carlos Ott
- Photos of his work at Flickr
- Carlos Ott at archINFORM