On Wednesday, 13 March 2013, the exhibition «The Notebook of Beginnings: Mario Corea» was inaugurated by Mario Corea, an architect and professor at the ESARQ School of Architecture, and Frederic Cabré, the president of the Girona branch of the Architecture Institute of Catalonia (COAC). The exhibition, curated by Diane Gray, can be seen in the La Cova hall at the COAC headquarters in Girona until 26 May 2013.
"The Notebook of Beginnings: Mario Corea" features 20 of Corea's works and projects influenced by five important figures in the architect’s education and career: Frank Lloyd Wright, a major influence during his studies; Josep Lluís Sert, whose studio he worked in upon arriving in the United States; Louis Kahn, whom he met in a workshop at Harvard; Fumihiko Maki, who was his professor at Harvard; and Mies van der Rohe, whose architecture he discovered through the restored Barcelona Pavilion.
Visitors to the exhibition are given the opportunity to compose their own notebook with the drawings and texts from the exhibition that are most interesting to them, so that they leave the exhibition with a small catalogue similar to Mario Corea's notebook, unbound pages that summarize the Argentinian architect's conception of architecture and life.
At the headquarters in Girona, visitors can also view the documentary The Value of the Idea, produced by Nihao Films, in which Mario Corea opens the doors of his studio and his life. A survey of the architect's life, the documentary reveals a life dedicated to work and full of dynamic coincidences.
Mario Corea was born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1939, where he received a degree in architecture from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral. He received a Master's Degree in Architecture and Urban Design from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design as well as a diploma in Urban Studies from the London Architectural Association.
In 1976, he left his native country after a military coup and settled in Barcelona with the help of Josep Lluís Sert. Ten years later, in 1986, he began the "Notebook of Beginnings", a collection of sketches, drawings and writings that chronicled his first years in Catalonia.
In 2010, he was named an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (HonFAIA) and he received the International Architecture Award given by the 13th Buenos Aires Biennial in 2011. He has given lectures and classes at several prestigious institutions and universities in the United Sates, Latin American and Europe and his work has been widely published. He is currently a professor at UIC's ESARQ School of Architecture.
