Barclay & Crousse Architecture: microcosms of Peruvian landscape in Milan exhibition

The Peruvian architecture studio Barclay & Crousse Architecture, founded in 1994 in Paris by Sandra Barclay (Lima, 1967) and Jean Pierre Crousse (Lima, 1963), will be the subject of an exhibition at the Politecnico di Milano opening June 18, curated by Massimo Ferrari and Claudia Tinazzi. The show is structured around six conceptual themes, presenting built works and design processes through video, photos, and models. The studio is known for integrating architecture with Peru's coastal desert landscape, creating 'microcosms' that blend climate, territory, and volumetric subtraction. Key projects include the Lugar de la Memoria in Lima (2015), winner of the Oscar Niemeyer Prize; the Museo de Paracas (2016); and the Franco-Peruvian School in Lima (2025), a 17,275 sqm complex on three bands that won the Grand International Prize at the X Bienal Internacional de Arquitectura de Santa Cruz in Bolivia (announced March/April 2026). The school, built on a noisy site adjacent to the Pan-American Highway, uses a reddish pozzolanic cement mortar applied artisanal to unify three autonomous schools stacked with rooftop playgrounds. The studio also received the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize 2018 for the Edificio E at the University of Piura, and has taught at PUCP Lima, GSD Harvard, and Yale. Their work draws on pre-Columbian ruins, Le Corbusier's rationalism, Alvar Aalto's organicism, and Italian and Greek traditions.