Gómez Platero Architecture and Urbanism

They tells us about their philosophy of creating spaces that improve the quality of cities with nature and sustainability in mind.

Making Earth the Best Place to Live

Gómez Platero Architecture and Urbanism is a global firm specialized in urban projects, mixed-use complexes, hospital architecture, malls and sport centers, corporate and residential buildings, hotels, transportation terminals and industrial parks.

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES THAT GÓMEZ PLATERO ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM IMPLEMENTS TO MAKE THE EARTH A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE?

We believe that in the next five years there will be more changes than in the past fifty ones, and when the next generations inhabit the earth we would like it to continue being the best place to live, even if they have other alternatives. This can be achieved thanks to the way we relate to spaces and by our sense of belonging. To achieve this, we seek to look far beyond what a client entrusts us, while we strive to understand their needs, we seek to innovate and design disruptive projects to improve the quality of life in society. In this sense, our philosophy is to create public spaces that improve their surroundings and become a piece of a better city. Public spaces foster human relationships, which is the thing that makes people happiest. Finally, we consider that there is a vital element in the construction of buildings, cities and, consequently, life in society, which are the proportions that define our architecture. When proportions are well managed, when there is a concern not only for respecting the environment and community relations, but also for integrating them into the project at the same time that we integrate the project itself into the environment, is when we realize that we are working to make the Earth a better place to live.

“Our philosophy is to create public spaces that improve their surroundings and become a piece of a better city.”

Huertas de los Horneros, residential development under construction in Canelones, Uruguay
Ilustración / Illustration: Gómez Platero Arquitectura & Urbanismo

HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO PROMOTE HAPPINESS THROUGH ARCHITECTURE?

We understand that what makes people happy is not their professional or financial success, but the quality of their social relationships. Therefore, we as architects can contribute to this by generating good spaces for these social relationships to take place, prioritizing environments of coexistence and a healthy relationship with the city.

At Gómez Platero we develop each of our real estate projects and proposals as if we had to live in them. We have realized that, in this busy world, full of technology, that lacks human relationships, the real estate industry was asking for something different worldwide. We value the importance of having time for our own selves and having spaces to share with family or friends and feel safe within the place where we live. For us happiness is that, disconnecting, being with our family or friends, having moments of pleasure. For this, spaces play a fundamental role, that’s why we believe that through architecture we can achieve happiness.

Catehua, mixed-use project under construction in Monterrey, Mexico
Ilustración: Gómez Platero Arquitectura & Urbanismo

WHAT IS THE WELL V2 BUILDING STANDARD? WELL

is a tool that enables buildings and organizations to offer spaces designed to improve health and promote people’s well-being. Developed by the International WELL Building Institute, this accessible, adaptable, and equitable classification system, is supported by scientific research and industry best practices. It is a voluntary certification and is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and is based on performance measurement by an external evaluator and on recertification, which must take place every 3 years. In all our projects, whether they are urban or architectural, we focus on generating environments with the presence of nature. Based on that vision, we seek to connect with the outside environment, whether it’s urban or natural. Even in cases of interior offices, the presence of green is very strategic. The split between interior and exterior spaces is key to us. In each project we try to generate atmospheres where this natural environment predominates, in some way, we reinterpret the presence of nature, even in well-established urban environments. The relationship between interior and exterior is key, all our projects begin to happen with those hybrid environments that connect the inside with the outside.

Atlántico Punta, Mixed-Use project. Awarded at the International Property Awards
Ilustración: Gómez Platero Arquitectura & Urbanismo

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE YOUNG ARCHITECTS SO THAT THEY RESPECT, CONSERVE, AND INCLUDE NATURE AS THE CENTRAL AXIS IN THEIR PROJECTS?

In our firm we have committed ourselves to a greater purpose “Making Earth the Best Place To Live”. We try to live it in every project opportunity that comes our way. In disciplinary practice, we must create spaces that have a positive impact on people’s lives and that are not alien to what we all share, which is the natural environment and our planet. We are obsessed with improving the quality of cities and public spaces, so thinking about nature and sustainability becomes a structural premise.

“We are obsessed with improving the quality of cities and public spaces, so thinking about nature and sustainability becomes a structural premise.”

This vision crosses any scale of intervention, and we always seek, while responding to the specific needs of our clients, to build positive responses to the needs of the communities by improving the city and the environment. This studio-client commitment requires us professionally to connect with a broader one, which exceeds the limit of the property or the order, which is to try to generate a piece of a better city with each intervention. In this way we not only improve our client’s product, but we also improve the environments in which we work and the impact on the general environment, that is key, and we call it “Seeing beyond”.