David Barragán is an architect born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. He graduated from the School of Architecture, Design, and Arts at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. He is a partner at the architectural firm Al Borde, along with Pascual Gangotena, Maríaluisa Borja, and Esteban Benavides. Al Borde inhabits the territory of questioning, where certainties about what architecture should or should not be are under constant construction. Their ideas are developed in the making, with greater precision and detail on-site.
Al Borde’s practice has received significant recognition such us being the 2021-2022 Donghia Designer-in-Residence by The Environmental Design Department at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, being listed among the 100+ Best Architecture Firms 2019 by Domus Magazine, being a finalist for Design of the Year 2015 at the Design Museum in London, winning the Lafarge Holcim Award Acknowledgment for Latin America 2014, the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2013 in Paris, the Schelling Architecture Prize 2012, the Bicentenary Medal for Cultural Merit by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador 2012.
Al Borde’s work has been featured in landmark exhibitions such as “The Beauty of the Impermanence” at the Sharjah Architecture Triennial 2023, “Crossroads” at the Seoul Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2021, “Reporting from the Front” at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennial, “Share and Exchange” at the Kultursymposium (Weimar, 2016), “The State of the Art” at the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2015, “Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World” (Vienna, 2014), “Réenchanter le Monde” at the Cité de l'architecture & du patrimoine (Paris, 2014), and “Ways to Collaborate” at the São Paulo Architecture Biennial 2013.
David has engaged in teaching, lecturing, conducting workshops, and serving as a jury member and reviewer at various universities, institutions, and conferences across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Al Borde’s work has been widely published. The Mexican editorial Arquine published Al Borde’s monograph titled Less in All in 2020. Additionally, Al Borde edited Las Tres Esperanzas in 2020, a book that tells the story of a decade-long collaboration with the community of Puerto Cabuyal, focusing on a long-term project centered on community participation.
In 2017, Al Borde co-produced the documentary film Do More with Less, which explores the practices of the post-bankruptcy crisis generation of young architecture studios in Ecuador, highlighting their innovative approaches to the role of the architect in society. In 2023, they co-produced the short film Building with Living Trees, the first episode of a documentary series that explores Al Borde’s works, unveiling the social, environmental, political, cultural, and human contexts surrounding these projects. The series aims to foster a deeper understanding of architecture and its societal impact.
