Benjamin Cadena Image © StudioCadena

His intuitive approach to architecture can be summed up by his playfully ambitious works that not only showcase his talents as a designer, but as an innovator in the field of architecture. Pulling from his influential upbringing in Bogotá, Cadena's use of simplistic forms and color has allowed him to shape his own voice and approach to design. 

As we wrap up 2018, we welcome the New Year with this week's Studio Snapshot on an architect whose passion for community and dialogue inspires him and his creative practice. Benjamin Cadena, of Studio Cadena, talks freedom in architecture, the joys of model making, and color's association with habitation.

How many people are in your practice?

In the last couple of years it's been mostly me with people coming on a project basis. Right now, it's two.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice?

Starting my own practice was always something I was interested in, and in a way, I was always working with that goal in mind.  Being able to shape your own voice, language and approach to design was something that I craved since I was introduced to architecture in school. Starting your own practice opens the door to do precisely that and comes closest to that experience. 

What hurdles have you come across?

It's hard. Convincing potential clients that a young practice or small practice can take on the work and be a good choice to deliver is a perennial challenge.  On the flip side, I’ve been lucky to be given opportunities along the way by others in the field that allowed me to grow organically into my own. After several years working with Rice + Lipka Architects I was restless, and they supported me by giving me space to teach and take on independent projects until I found myself fully immersed in my own work. 

What are the benefits of having your own practice? And staying small?

There is real freedom to experiment and test ideas quickly which you naturally loose as you grow. So, I’m trying to enjoy that for the time being. Also, having my own practice has been a way to be more intentional about what I focus on. I’ve found myself much more engaged with the general architecture community in a broader and  deeper sense. This has happened in part through teaching, which I find constantly challenges your thinking, and also through a very active dialogue with other young practices in the city.  

With a group of friends, we’ve collectively organized events like 24x24x24 over the summer at Storefront for Art and Architecture. We run a design salon, and last year we produced a multi-day event called New Local, which brought together leaders in design, industry and government to exchange ideas shaping the future of cities. These side projects and productive distractions have been incredibly rewarding and further fueled creative ambitions.

You have a B.A in Economics and your Masters of Arch. from UPenn, was architecture something you always wanted to pursue or did it slowly develop over time? 

It was a very slow process. With both my parents trained as architects, architecture has always been part of my life in one way or another.  I initially sought to carve my own path studying economics as an undergraduate, and working in finance for a few years before deciding architecture was something I wanted to pursue.  I like to say I rebelled and became a banker.  In the long run though, this more roundabout path into the field gave me a broader perspective that I now find invaluable. Architecture is slow, so I’m glad it took some time.

Do you have a favorite project? Completed or in progress. 

I have to say the building I recently completed for Masa in Bogotá. It’s my first ground up building which is a big deal for me, and frankly, I had a lot of fun bringing the project to life with the client.  They trusted me, took risks, and pushed me hard. With the enormous pressure of time and money, we were able to craft something unique and focus on creating spaces that went beyond the typical aspirations of the program. It's a project that makes me happy to be an architect.

Your models play a major role in your work, it's as if they add an additional layer of playful artistry. Do you remember the first model you ever made? Do you see your models as artworks on their own?

Yes, I'm big on models. I find them to be the most useful tool in developing ideas as well as communicating them. They are the closest thing you can have to the real thing, and outside of architecture, people actually understand them in the same visceral way. Big or small, abstract or detailed, I like the immediacy they offer. When I was a kid I used to play with my father’s discarded paper models in his studio and was always captivated by the potential they suggested. So, I guess I now get to play with models some more.  

I don’t remember the first one I built (probably in school), but I do remember the first one I built at my first architecture job. I was interning at WORKac, and on the first day on the job they asked me to make a model of a small bathroom in the shape of an egg. It's hard to forget that one.

How important is color to you and your designs? 

I tend to spend too much time thinking about it, usually trying to avoid it and mostly failing.  I’ve always been attracted to the work of architects that can be reductive and consistently even remove it from their work — in a way, I find that liberating.  At the same time, there is a very strong sensory experience that color delivers and can be tapped. This doesn’t mean that it has to always be integrated directly into the design, but that it can also be effectively introduced as part of the context through landscape, furniture, or even people. In both design and representation, I tend to associate color with habitation, or what happens over time in the frame of what’s being designed. On the other hand, in projects like Happy, color was absolutely integral to the concept as it helped make visual associations and elicit a sense of warmth. 

Growing up in Bogotá, how has your upbringing influenced your work if any?

I think I’m still very much a product of the place. There is a part of me that always feels connected to Bogotá and frames how I filter the world. Perhaps it's not manifested explicitly in the work, but growing up in context with no seasons, that has a strong relationship to mountains, and deep masonry culture, are still some aspects that resonates strongly in the way I engage architecture.  

If you could describe your practice in three words what would they be?

Simple, Playful, Ambitious