Interview with Iciar de las Casas

In high school I took a course of study in the sciences, but when it came time to enter university I realized I wanted to be an architect. Maybe there was a youthful resistance there, perfectly logical, to not follow in the family tradition, but I finally realized that was what I really wanted to do.

I did indeed choose the profession, and I am passionate about architecture. I learned a great deal from my father, but I have always marked my own path.

While Weco Windows continues to grow I am determined not to give up my architectural practice. I have a program of research and design for future windows and their applications that I am currently carrying out with my colleagues at Weco. And who knows what other inventions in the field of building products may occur to me? There is so much to do, so much to improve on!

If you are truly passionate and determined, you can achieve your goals. Remember that the design idea is only a small part in the development of a new product. And cast your net widely, be curious about everything. You need a vast field of reference to draw on to design creatively, it doesn't just happen in a vacuum. The context you create around yourself and the design problem is fundamental. And breakthroughs come not from just solving problems, but from formulating the right problem to solve, and asking the right questions.
It might be worth pointing out as well that I have lived in Spain, France and Italy, and speak all three languages. And I've traveled all over the world, searching in each place for innovative and interesting architecture. To have familiarity with different cultures, to be cosmopolitan, adds a fundamental breadth of perspective. These factors may seem intangible, but they are in fact essential in having a broad context of reference to draw on.

Great designers have a unique take on things, a particular vision. You can see their hand in everything they touch. They are also, in general, remarkably curious, intelligent and open to everything.

A good design is not only visually appealing; you have to put it to the test, and discover all the problems it anticipates and solves.

Good design is a basic ingredient of a good quality of life, it raises life above the humdrum. For businesses, the producers of consumer goods, real estate developers and others responsible for the built environment, good design is a fundamental responsibility for the common good. It forms part of the basic ethics of being part of a community. Criteria of naked economic gain are not justification enough.

Exactly what I am doing right now, developing the Weco Window and working as an independent architect in Madrid.

One thing to take into consideration is to count on the best technical advice. Consult the specialists, and learn from them. Our windows wouldn't have been possible without the expertise of specialists in glass, hardware, carpentry, extruded metals and so on.

Many of the master architects of the 20th century were great inventors as well. One who inspires me most is the Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz.

Be curious, open, reach out. Read literature, philosophy, study the music, art and history of every culture.

To improve the quality of life of the people who use my designs.

I may think I've finished a design, this may be the hundred-and-tenth time I've profoundly revised it, but let's take another look in the morning.

That depends if you are an innovator or a follower. Innovators don't look to trends, but they are very sensitive to the zeitgeist, the future that is already taking shape in the present, for those can sense it and give it form. At the same time, the best designers stand above trends. They may not even be completely understood or accepted in their lifetime, or their work may pass out of fashion, but time will finally decide in their favor.

Fundamental. Design without a full understanding of the underlying technology involved cannot offer anything truly innovative or of lasting value. Good design can even inform technological development: just look at the work of Steve Jobs.

We work with CAD and models. We hope to move into 3D printing to be able to increase our options and the speed of design development.

Factors such as color, material and ambience are fundamental. Tactile qualities, ergonomics, even senses such as smell – of oil, varnished wood, or metal- are important too. In the whole package of a design, every dimension counts.

Pleasure, and the urge to buy it – or buy the book.

I do like to design with a co-partner, though it can be hard to find the perfect match. Complimentary skills and personalities are what one should look for first, I suppose, as well as basic compatibility.

Besides my colleagues at Weco Windows, the specialists in glass, hardware and carpentry that we've consulted, and with whom we work.

Mechanization Takes Command, by Siegfried Giedion; Architecture and Utopia by Manfredo Tafuri; The Gutenburg Galxy, by Marshal McLuhan; Theory and Design in the First Machine Age, by Reynar Banham; Studies in Tectonic Culture by Kenneth Frampton; Delirious New York, by Rem Kookhaas, etc.

Work, work, work. Demand greatly of oneself. And never stop thinking, questioning, challenging oneself.

The great Swedish architect Sigurd Lewerentz for starters. He has some great window designs! And uniquely creative figures such as Hans Scharoun or Alvar Aalto.

I have my own architecture studio in Madrid We’ve designed and built projects of many different program types, from private houses and housing developments to social housing, schools and other cultural and institutional facilities. Windows are a new line. I saw the potential for using new technology in windows, ideas that I couldn’t find in the market, and I started talking to technical specialists and got to work.

For me, design is an integral part of architectural thinking. When I design a window I am thinking about issues of space, light, aesthetics, function, structure, materials, economy and the different possible contexts of use. In a way, our windows incorporate a whole philosophy about the role of design in everyday living.

Anything with a roof on it. Gardens too. And all the elements involved.

My favorite design is always the one I’m working on right now. At the moment I’m developing new features for the Weco Window, how to make new shapes (round and angled windows), incorporate new operating systems, blinds, screens and other forms of solar protection.

It’s hard to remember, but one of the first things was a built-in storage wall incorporating closets, shelving and a mini-kitchen for scholars’ dormitories in one of my father’s projects, the Institute of Spanish-Portuguese Studies in Zamora.

Well, for starters, wood, though I could mention tons of others. Wood is not as common a building material in Spain as in northern Europe, but it has an amazing versatility, especially with new techniques of lamination and so on. It’s a wonderful natural material, every piece is unique. I love its warmth and I'm fascinated by the long tradition of craftsmanship in working wood, which we carry forward with our windows. Working with carpenters is one of the great pleasures of making Weco Windows.

When I am working on a design problem, I am working on it all the time, not only during work hours at my desk. It's when I'm in the shower, trying to fall asleep or driving the kids to school that I get some of my ideas. But the best time is early in the morning, in the studio, alone, before the hubbub and distractions of the day start.

designing?
Designing is a process of going over and over a problem from every angle, again and again. To get everything right you have to focus on the smallest technical details, without losing the big picture in the process. And you have to have the capacity to anticipate problems, to see also what is not right in front of you, the still-invisible potential consequences of any given situation.

10. What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

A successful design has to meet many different performance criteria, but then it has to have something extra as well, something like the beauty of an elegant mathematical proof, in which everything comes together in a single clear idea.

Architecture has focused too much in the last few years on creating spectacle. Too many of the clients who
Architecture has focused too much in the last few years on creating spectacle. Too many of the clients who commission homes from famous architects are "fashion victims". Their houses are not even functional! My first aim is to make a client happy. And that's what I look for in other designs. I am all for experimentation, research and invention. But always in the service of the function of the building, and with the client's best interest in mind.

Our commitments to environmentally sustainable industrial production and energy-efficient performance are at the heart of our window design. Increasingly, consumers and end users in general are with us in this commitment. With our design, we hope to contribute to the European Union's goals for greatly reducing building energy consumption in coming years.

Design is becoming more and more important in everyday life, and people are becoming more aware of its importance. We are a very visually-oriented society, and a highly technified society, where every aspect of our environment must be designed at some level or another. Designed objects are deployed to try to seduce and fascinate us at every turn, as well as make our life easier.

I´ve traveled widely to see and analyze the most interesting works of 20th century architecture, and I’ve found inspiration at every turn. I also read everything I can get my hands on. There are so many little-known architects with marvelous work. Somehow that all feeds my imagination, but how the information goes in and ideas come out remains something of a mystery to me. It’s not a direct thing.

I think I probably come out of the Spanish tradition of designs that are very direct and functional, without fuss or strutting. Spanish architecture is very elegant, to the point, and yet its best practitioners think everything through as if it were the first time anyone had approached the problem, say, of designing a stair or a window. I’d be proud to be considered part of that tradition.

I think I probably come out of the Spanish tradition of designs that are very direct and functional, without fuss or strutting. Spanish architecture is very elegant, to the point, and yet its best practitioners think everything through as if it were the first time anyone had approached the problem, say, of designing a stair or a window. I’d be proud to be considered part of that tradition.

Working with clients is very complicated. You are not only selling them a product, you have to educate them along the way about a vast range of technical issues and design considerations. You have to get to know them, understand them, and even psychoanalyze them a bit and offer your best counsel. And I try to make my enthusiasm contagious, to put new ideas into every project, to keep my own interest alive and pass that energy on to them. I do this with my private architectural clients and I find myself doing the same thing with the clients for Weco windows. We end up creating all kinds of custom designs, discovering possibilities that none of us anticipated when we started talking.

The first problem clients have to solve, together with their architect, is to determine exactly what they want, need and can afford. Clear goals, clear decisions that move forward with the progress of the project. They also have to trust the professional advice we can give them. How to select a good designer? That in itself is a whole process of self-education: looking at whats out there, deciding what you like, and then using the first contacts to test rapport and compatibility.

A good designer must be exacting, demanding of themselves, and in passionate about their work. Then there's the spark of a special, particular imagination, which seems to be innate: either you have it or you don't.

I still turn to books and magazines. I have a library that spans a couple of generations, from my father and grandfather. and those sources are fundamental when it comes to sitting down for the first time to face a design problem. But of course these references are already all in my head, and it's a question of going back to the masters in order to find that spark of a new idea.

Running a small business, it's not only the designing that takes time. It's very important to reserve a period of peace and quiet each day for creative work, and not let the pressures of business swamp everything.

t take to design an object from beginning to end?
In a way, design never ends. I am always thinking about how to improve our windows. It's a continuous process.

We are currently marketing our windows in Europe, but we are a young startup and our immediate plans are focused on consolidating the company and insuring its success. Our growth plans include new markets and new window models to meet the demands those markets present.

I always prefer teamwork. The dialogue with another person, going back and forth over a particular problem, that's when I really manage to think and engage.

This year, we received development funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 729206. The grant recognizes the excellent thermal performance, innovative design and great market potential of Weco’s W2C window. We have also received a number of other awards this year, most recently the German Design Award.

You can start on our webpage, www.wecowindows.com. Our contact information can be found there, we'll answer your queries right away.