Lluís Alexandre Casanovas Blanco (Ripoll, Girona, 1985) is a Madrid-based architect and curator. He has a joint appointment as a curator and scientific advisor for the new architecture and design collection at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and at the Education Department. He holds a PhD in Architectural History and Criticism, Princeton University. He was a Critical Studies Helena Rubinstein Fellow 2017-18 at the Whitney Independent Study Program, and an IKKM-Weimar Princeton Summer School for Media Studies Fellow 2016. Casanovas was trained as an architect at ETSABarcelona and the Edinburgh College of Art, and graduated with honors from the MSc in Advanced Architectural Design at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.


His design work has been recognized with several prizes, including the Simon Architecture Prize 2018, the Bauwelt Prize 2019 and the FAD Prize 2017 for Architecture Theory and Criticism. He was a finalist for the Lisbone Triennale Millennium bcp Début Award 2019 for architects under 35.


Casanovas Blanco was chief curator of the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2016 together with the After Belonging Agency. Other shows he curated include: A Prepared Piano at La Casa Encendida (together with Isabella Lenzi); A Special Stage in Perpetual Metamorphosis at Espacio Gaviota, Madrid, or Niño de Elche: Sacramental Auto Invisible at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (together with Miguel Álvarez Fernández). He was part of the curatorial team of Communicating Vessels : Collection, 1881-2021, led by Manuel Borja-Villel and Rosario Peiró, at the Museo Reina Sofía. He is currently working on the show Lo animal en España, 1932-1956 at the Fundación Antonio y Cinia Cerezales in Cerezales del Condado, and Val del Omar: Una técnica con "T" Mayúscula at the Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía C3A in Córdoba.


His writings have appeared in publications such as Volume, Plot, Movement Research Performance Journal, Millennium Film Journal, and newspaper El País, amongst others. Casanovas is the recipient of several grants, including the La Caixa Fellowship for Postgraduate Studies, or the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts Grant. Casanovas has taught studios and seminars at Columbia GSAPP, Princeton University, Barnard College and Parsons The New School, and has lectured in different venues such as ZKM Karlsruhe, Harvard University or the University of Sydney, Círculo de Bellas Artes and Museo Nacional de Escultura in Spain.


Awards
– Finalist, FAD Awards 2024
– Finalist and shortlisted, XV Bienal Española de Arquitectura y Urbanismo 2021
– Shortlisted, FAD Architecture Prize 2021
– Finalist Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Début Award 2019
– First Prize, Bauwelt Award 2019: “Das Erste Haus. First Works”
– First Prize, Living Places–Simon Architecture Prize 2018
– First Prize, FAD Prize, Best Architectural Book of 2016
– Grantee, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies 2015
– Finalist, VII Arquia/ próxima 2018-19
– Finalist, VII Arquia/ próxima 2016-17
– Selected Madrid Design Week 2019
– Shortlisted, TRANSFER Architecture Video Award 2019
– Shortlisted, FAD International Award 2017


Curating
– Lo animal en España, 1929-1959. Fundación Antonino y Cinia, Cerezales del Condado, León, 28.04-25.08.2024
– José Val del Omar: Una Técnica con T Mayúscula. Centro de Creación Contemporánea de Andalucía (C3A), Córdoba, 21.03-01.10.2024
– Christian Lagata: Una oscura euforia. Galería Artnueve, Murcia, 27.04-2.06.2023
– A Special Scenario in Perpetual Metamorphosis. Espacio Gaviota, Madrid, 20.02.2023-15.03.2023
–Un piano preparado. Contexto cultural y social alrededor de La Casa Encendida, 2003-2023. With Isabella Lenzi. La Casa Encendida, Madrid, 16.03.2022-31.03.2024
– Vasos comunicantes: Collection 1881-2021. Rooms “Eight Degrees Less,”“Mediterraneans,” and “Latin America: A New Opportunity”. With Manuel Borja-Villel and Rosario Peiró. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 01.12.2021- 01.06.2023
– Niño de Elche: Auto Sacramental Invisible. A Visual Representation Departing from Val del Omar. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 07.10.2020-30.11.2021
– Oslo Architecture Triennale 2016. After Belonging: A Triennale In Residence, On Residence, and the Ways We Stay in Transit. With Ignacio G. Galán, Carlos Mínguez, Alejandra Navarrete and Marina Otero. Oslo, 8.09-27.11.2016
– A Fine Line: Scenarios for Bordering Conditions. With Maite Borjabad, Enrique Espinosa and Lys Villalba. MUGAK, I Euskadi International Architecture Biennial, Tabakalera Building, San Sebastián, 22.09-28-12.2018