Architect, born in Viña del Mar (Chile, 1972), holds a degree from the Maritime University of Chile and a Master in Architecture from the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB, 2002). He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of the Republic of Uruguay. He was a co-founder and professor at the School of Architecture of the University of Talca, where he taught design studios, research, and thesis supervision. He is now Associate Professor of Practice at the School of Interior Architecture at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His Domestic Interventions Studio received the BIAU 2022 award, and several of his students’ works have won major international prizes, including Archiprix (2013, 2017) and the Young Talent Architecture Award (2020). He has been a visiting professor in Latin America and Europe, advisor to the Chilean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2016, and director of the Seminar on Architecture of the Territory in Detail. He is the author of Del territorio al detalle (BIAU Award 2022) and Conversamos From South to South (Arquine, Mexico, 2025).

Education

Architecture, Universidad Marítima de Chile

Expertise & Interests

• Local–Global Relationship. Valenzuela sees architecture as inseparable from its local context—culture, territory, and community—arguing that global architecture only exists through specific places.
• Territory and Detail. His work focuses on how landscape, material conditions, and spatial detail connect larger territorial logics with precise architectural decisions.
• Education as Practice. He promotes a pedagogical model where research, construction, and social engagement are integrated, treating building as a form of architectural knowledge.
• Critical and Experimental Thinking. Valenzuela challenges conventional architectural norms through experimental, reflective approaches that link architecture with language, theory, and critique.