Alejandro Zaera-Polo

Alejandro Zaera Polo is a Spanish architect, theorist and founder of Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML). He was formerly dean of the Princeton University School of Architecture and of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam.

Career

Alejandro Zaera-Polo was born in Madrid, Spain on 17 October 1963. He graduated with honors from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, and subsequently obtained a Master in Architecture (MARCH II) at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University in 1991, with distinction.

Architectural Practice

He worked at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam between 1991 and 1993. In 1993, he co-founded Foreign Office Architects. The company produced architectural projects in Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, and Spain. In June 2011, after the dissolution of FOA, he established Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture (AZPA) renamed Alejandro Zaera-Polo & Maider Llaguno Architecture (AZPML). He has also been an advisor to the Quality Commission for Architecture in Barcelona and a contributor to the Urban Age Think Tank of the London School of Economics. He has published as a critic in professional magazines worldwide. El Croquis, Quaderns, A+U, Arch+, Harvard Design Magazine, Log, and other magazines have published his writings. He was the inaugural co-director of the Seoul Architecture Biennale in 2017.

Academic career

Alejandro Zaera-Polo has maintained in parallel an academic career. He was the Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University (2012–2014), the Dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam, and the inaugural beneficiary of the Norman Foster Visiting Professorship at Yale University. Prior to that, he was a Unit Master at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and has been a Visiting Critic at University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University in New York, the School of Architecture in Madrid, and the Yokohama School of Architecture.

Plagiarism Controversy

While serving as Dean at Princeton University, Princeton architecture was featured at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2014. Zaera-Polo abruptly left his role as Dean, after he was accused by the Princeton University President of "plagiarizing parts of a text he produced for the “Elements of Architecture” exhibition curated by Rem Koolhaas at the 2014 Venice Biennale". Architect Rem Koolhaas emailed the Biennale's director to deny any wrongdoing by Zaera-Polo. Zaera-Polo also denied the accusations and as a result, Zaera-Polo filed a lawsuit against the university in 2016.

Dismissal and Gonzo Ethnography of Academic Authority

In the summer of 2021, Zaera-Polo was dismissed from his faculty position at the Princeton School of Architecture. In a series of seven videos under the title "A Gonzo Ethnography of Academic Authority. Princeton 2014-2021", Zaera-Polo has accused Princeton University, and the Dean of the School of Architecture of deceitful and dishonest behavior, breach of the university rules, disregard for academic freedom, systemic misuse of affirmative action policies, conflict of interest, manipulation of evidence and coercion of students among others. The seven-session document referred to a downloadable folder of related evidence, with a summary text titled "The Fascisms of Identity in the Post-truth University". In the letter of dismissal contained in the evidence released by Zaera-Polo, Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber cites reasons for Zaera-Polo's dismissal including "callous disregard for student well-being," "mistreating graduate students," "research misconduct" and "harass[ing]" colleagues." In turn, Zaera-Polo has accused President Eisgruber of "slander", "conflict of interest", "neglect of duty" and "deceitful behavior", and published related evidence in a link supplied in the videos. On June 7, 2022, The Daily Princetonian published an exposé diving into the events that led to Zaera-Polo's dismissal, which the former professor attributed to "cancel culture" and suppressed "academic freedom."

Selected projects

Foreign Office Architects (FOA)