Guillermo S. Arsuaga

Guillermo S. Arsuaga is an architect and Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University School of Architecture. His research interests lay in the intersection of architecture, power, and territorial management, focusing on the geopolitics of the 1960s and 70s. In the 2022-2023 academic year, he received the Mellon-Marron Research Consortium Fellowship at MoMA’s Architecture and Design Department in New York.

His doctoral thesis, “Island Exceptions: The Construction of a Minor Empire in the Late Francoism,” examines architecture’s role in global power dynamics during the 1960s and 70s, using “islanding” as a lens. This concept examines the architecture’s role in creating zones of exception in mainland Spanish territories and African regions, contributing to capital growth and resource exploitation against the backdrop of the Cold War and decolonization.

Arsuaga’s work has been published in Drawing Matters, MoMA Posts, and E-flux Architecture, among others. He has taught at Columbia University GSAPP, Princeton University SoA, and the Architectural Association in London. His work extends beyond academia, with his work showcased at the 16th Architecture Venice Biennale and the 2016 Gothenburg International Biennial of Contemporary Art. Several international organizations have supported his research, including the Swedish Committee for Contemporary Art, the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, the Princeton Center for Digital Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

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