Richard Moreta Castillo

Richard Moreta Castillo, also known as Richard Moreta, is an American architect, urban planner, industrial designer, artist, and a diplomat.

Biography
Castillo was born in New York City, United States and grew up in the Dominican Republic.

At the age of five, Castillo won a painting competition, and was discovered by the Dominican artist Nidia Serra.

While receiving formal artistic training in figure drawing and oil painting, he pursued studies at the DGBA - Escuela Nacional de Artes Visuales, Dominican Republic, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture and urban planning from UNPHU (Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña), UCE (Universidad Central del Este), 1986. His work has then exhibited in several galleries in the US, the Caribbean and Europe.

Until the present time, he has explored a variety of subjects, including abstract painting techniques and the aesthetics of industrial design. His engagement with the visual arts provided a strong basis for his work in architecture, another field he had an early interest in, and it has remained his primary means of communication since then.

As a member of the "Studio Radiosity" (ex-members of the "Menphis" design movement with Guirreiro, Mendini & Ettore Sottsass), he participated in a movement that was at the avant-garde of design in the 1990s. This was followed by work with the firm, Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) in 2001, Arquitectonica in 2004 – where he specialized in large projects, from airport design to high-end luxury towers across all five continents.

In 1996, three Civilian Medals (Department of Defense, Corps of Engineers and United Nations) were presented to Richard Moreta for the responsibilities in the design and processing of high-visibility projects during the Balkans war. His service reflected these great credits placed upon him and had a direct contribution to the successful support of the program by providing a significant amount of new construction in all building types in the post-war region.

From the beginning of 2010, Moreta is member of the faculty of Architecture and Urban Design at the Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany as well as visiting professor at Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, Universidad Central del Este, Universidad O&M, Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Technische Universität Wien, Technische Universität Berlin, South Florida University, University of Miami, NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona and others academics institutions.

Also, since 2010 Moreta is President of Green Container International Aid, an organization whose main goal is to respond to humanitarian needs worldwide through h usage of recycled containers.

Design development, concepts, and emphasis
Richard Moreta specializes in cutting-edge, futuristic architecture. In the avant-garde of international architects, he combines the formal possibilities of structure with the available advances by using Digital Architecture, of which he is a pioneer. His buildings are dramatic and are often characterized by the combination of spaciousness and the utilization of exposed structuring – thus mixing volumes and space to create unconventional patterns intriguing and appealing to the eye. He has been both praised and criticized as a "sculptor of monuments" and for being a great artist and one of the greatest architects of his generation. His many design awards give testimony to his evaluation.

In 2004, Moreta joined the firm Arquitectonica led by Bernardo Fort-Brescia and was also the design director for various firms in South Florida. He was responsible for the design as project designer for dozens of buildings that reshaped, together with others, the landscape of the new Miami and Miami Beach during the construction boom of 2004–2006 in Florida, as well as several other high-end towers, commercial buildings, and hospitality designs in other latitudes.

In 2002, Moreta cofounded with Victor Gane, the firm GMZ-Design, in Miami, Florida. GMZ-Design achieved notoriety implementing its signature style – dramatic, Daring, and innovative, expressive in its usage of 'high tech modernism', and application of digital possibilities in the design process. "Marquis" received international acclaim.

Moreta is the principal and founder of Richard's Architecture + Design, Inc. (RA+D), in 2006. This firm's work runs the spectrum from the m design of large-scale, high-rise condominiums to hospitality projects, as well as intimate, small-scale low-rise residential and commercial units. Moreta is the Architect Designer anTeamam Leader for projects involved in hospitality, high-end residential development, aviation, public, residential, and commercial complex facilities. RA+D has worked with international the international community from the beginning, including commissions for upscale clients in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, São Paulo, Brazil, Romania, Bosnia, Russia, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Dominican Republic, ic and Asia. Richard – give me details on where in Bosnia, Russia, Italy Germany Mexico Dominican Republic, and Asia.

Lecturer
Richard Moreta is a widely-sought lecturer on Architecture, and the future of ecologically-compatible architecture, having given conferences in the United States, Eur, ope and Latin America. He has taught in several institutions in the United States, Europe, and Latin America as at Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, Universidad Central del Este, Universidad O&M, Universidad Pedro Henriquez Urena, UniversidPontificiacia Madre y Maestra, Technische Universität Wien, Technische Universität Berlin, South Florida University, University of Miami, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti a Milano, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona and others academics institutions. His participation in the n Internal Congress of Architecture aa s speaker or panelist is well remarkable and he had been sharing a podium with the masters of international architecture as Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Peter Eisenman, Renzo Pia, no and others from the podium of "Las Vegas" to the International Congress of Architecture.

Awards and achievements

 * Achievement Medal for Civilian, Archite,ct and Project Manager for the Reconstruction of Bosnia, Department of Defense, United States of America, 1996.
 * NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Civilian Medal for the Reconstruction of Bosnia, Architect and Project Manager, 1996.
 * Operation Joint Endeavor Civilian Award, Architect and Project Manager for the Reconstruction of Bosnia, by the United Nations, 1996.
 * Most Distinguished International Architect from the Dominican Republic, CODIA (Dominican College of Engineers), 2011.
 * Overseas Director of Liaisons of Encounter of Faculties of Architecture, Encuentro Nacional de Escuelasy Facultades de Arquitectura, DR, 2011.
 * Design Award from the Friedberg Fire Department, Friedberg, Germany.
 * Professor Emeritus Diploma from the Universidad Central de Este, 2012.
 * Minister Adviser from the Dominican Embassy in Berlin, 2011.