SHOWCASING THE WORLD’S FINEST PROPERTIES AND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM
Fran Silvestre’s Villa Noon in Sotogrande, Spain: linearity, curvature, concrete, glass. All slicing through the space of nature. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
Architects may come and architects may go. There are those who build and those – like Fran Silvestre – who sculpt space itself.
When you’re managing a firm of creatives, it helps to remember what one old guru said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” These young architects and professionals look like they’re ingesting the right philosophy. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
This photograph illustrates it. Behind Fran Silvestre’s 33-strong team, two thin black metal maquettes to the right – doorways? – barely exist, yet their form and intent express at once possibility and completeness. It’s within gaps that space occurs.
Silvestre’s structures are studies in gravity, light and precision, where sheer white volumes seem to hover above the earth and dramatic cantilevers extend toward infinity. From cliffside retreats that dissolve into the horizon to a villa that creates its own water from air, his work challenges the boundaries of design and engineering.
For the Valencia-based architect, beauty is inseparable from innovation, and function must be in perfect sync with form. His latest pursuits – exploring neuro-architecture, redefining sustainability, and revolutionizing affordable housing – are no exception.
Storied correspondent Natalie Hoberman sat down with Fran Silvestre to discuss his design philosophy and why the future of affordable homes might be more like an iPhone than a house.
The studio of Fran Silvestre Arquitectos lives at Espai Alfaro, a 7,000-square-meter space dedicated to art, sculpture and design just north of Valencia. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
Your work is often described as sitting at the intersection of art and architecture. How do you define your design philosophy?
We talk a lot about efficient beauty – architecture that’s both functional and sculptural. A big part of this comes from our studio’s surroundings. It was once the personal studio of the great Valencian artist Andreu Alfaro, and the space today houses 49 of his sculptures. When you’re immersed in that environment, elements of form, balance and movement naturally translate into our architecture.
Many of our projects have direct artistic references. For example, a recent house we designed in Madrid follows the silhouette of an Alfaro cheetah sculpture. It’s not an exact copy, but the influence is unmistakable.
Like nature, the purity of geometries can induce feelings of calm and repose. Villa 18 Casa en La Moraleja. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
A lot of your projects convey a sense of weightlessness and fluidity. How do you achieve this structural and visual balance?
For us, structure is everything. If the structure is resolved, the project is complete. That’s why we integrate engineering from the very first sketch, rather than designing a concept and figuring out the structure later.
We present three different design proposals for every project: one that aligns with the client’s expectations, one that challenges them and one that is completely unexpected. Watching clients gravitate toward the most radical option is always fascinating.
This structural-first approach also allows us to design for longevity. Homes should evolve over generations, which is why we create flexible open-plan layouts that can adapt over time.
At scale, the restraint of minimalism layers quietly into major statement-making. Villa Noon Sotogrande. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
Villa Noon in Sotogrande in southern Spain is said to be the world’s first zero-energy home, producing its own water. What inspired this?
It started with a simple question: what if we could create water?
Drought is a pressing issue, but water is always present in the atmosphere – it just needs to be harnessed. After making the home self-sufficient in energy, we realized it was generating a surplus of electricity. So we used that excess power to drive an integrated air conditioning system that collects and filters rainwater while extracting additional moisture from the air.
We’re very lucky to work in luxury architecture, but that comes with a responsibility to contribute to the community. If we have the capacity to innovate, we should take advantage of it.
For us, structure is everything. That's why we integrate engineering from the very first sketch, rather than designing a concept and figuring out the structure later.
Your studio emphasizes ‘innovated tradition’ as a key design pillar. What does this mean, and how does it translate into your work?
We embrace innovation, but not for the sake of novelty. For example, many of our projects are in the Mediterranean where the temperatures can be quite extreme. Simply by being strategic about the angle and depth of a piece of glass in a window or roof, we can completely eliminate the need for air conditioning and heating.
This is what we mean by innovating tradition: taking age-old passive cooling and heating techniques and refining them with modern technology.
Harmony is not a static concept, not an end-point. Movement is ever-present as shifting moments come and go. Villa 18 Casa en La Moraleja. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
You’re conducting a study on neuroarchitecture – the science of how design influences the brain. What have you discovered?
For centuries, feng shui and traditional wisdom have emphasized the psychological impact of space. But we wanted scientific data to support these ideas.
We partnered with the Neuroarchitecture Laboratory at the Polytechnic University of Valencia to study 1,000 participants, using eye-tracking and brain-scanning technology to measure subconscious responses to different spatial elements.
One of the most fascinating findings? People decidedly prefer neutral environments over bold, colorful ones. Bright reds, yellows, and sharp, vibrant blues – colors often associated with danger in nature – trigger stress responses.
We’re hoping to share our results with a wider audience. If we know that a specific shade of calming blue enhances concentration, for example, why wouldn’t we use it in schools, hospitals and workplaces?
Western zen, where stripped back simplicity opens space for limitless possibility. NIU Campolivar, Valencia. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
Your firm is known for sculptural, one-of-a-kind residences that respond to the environment. Why launch Niu, an affordable housing initiative?
I love designing sculptural homes, but they’re only for a select few. It’s frustrating that people can choose their car, phone or clothes, but have almost no control over where they live. Architecture remains an exclusive privilege. To me, it is more interesting if we can transform this service into a product.
Niu is our answer to this. It’s not prefabrication. It’s a systemized construction model that allows us to build affordable, high-quality homes in just three months.
We hired automotive engineers and event production specialists, people used to working with efficiency and precision at scale. In traditional homebuilding, everything happens in steps – you order the materials for the structure first, then the glass, then the finishes. The problem? Delays are inevitable. One misstep, one missing piece, and the entire project stalls.
At Niu, we flipped the process. We order everything from day one with built-in flexibility for adjustments, so the build runs seamlessly from start to finish.
Right now, we’re still a start-up, but the response has been overwhelming. We’re choosing to start small and build 100 houses to start with, but we’ve received interest for more than 4,000 homes in Spain alone.
For centuries, feng shui and traditional wisdom have emphasized the pyschological impact of space. But we wanted scientific data to support these ideas.
In modernist homes functionality is primary, yet the prevailing calm encourages a meditative look at what surrounds you. NIU Campolivar, Valencia. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
It’s no secret that AI, modularity and automation are reshaping architecture. How has this changed your work?
AI has completely transformed efficiency. I’ll give you a recent example. We’re currently designing a house in the Hollywood Hills and had to learn about the zoning laws. We used ChatGPT to analyze zoning laws in minutes – something that would have taken a human team weeks. Rendering, once an expensive and time-consuming process, now happens overnight with AI-powered tools. These advancements are freeing up architects to focus on innovation rather than logistics.
Monochrome is a color when shadows are made to play upon it. NIU Campolivar, Valencia. (Fran Silvestre Arquitectos)
You’ve said that housing is on the brink of a revolution. What do you think will define the next generation of architecture?
What we’re seeing now in the United States and Europe is still a craft-based approach. We have industrialized processes in different elements that go into a home – such as windows, doors or kitchens. But I have no doubt that within the next five years, we’ll see something emerge that becomes the iPhone of housing – a radical simplification of the home-building process that blends speed, quality and accessibility.
© 2025 FGP, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Use of this website is governed by the User Agreement. The content contained on this site is provided to users “AS IS” without any express or implied warranty. For information on your privacy, please read our Privacy Statement. FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES™ is a pending trademark registration used under license from Forbes Media LLC.
Are you a Forbes Global Properties member? Login here
Are you a Forbes Global Properties member? Login here
