Carlos Ott

Carlos Ott (born October 16, 1946, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan architect who resides in Canada and many other countries. He became famous when he won his first prize in 1983 (among 744 architects from all over the world) for the construction of the Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, which was inaugurated on July 14, 1989 (bicentennial of the French Revolution). He has offices in Toronto, Quebec, Shanghai, Dubai and Montevideo.

He studied at the School of Architecture of the University of the Republic, Uruguay where he graduated at the age of 23. In 1971, he received the Fulbright Scholarship which allowed him to study at the University of Hawaii as well as graduate with a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Washington University School of Architecture in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. in 1972.

From 1972 to 1974, he worked as an architect for Baldwin & Chesire Architects in Georgia, U.S.A. and for ARQUECO in San Jose, Costa Rica. In 1975 he moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada where he was associate architect until 1979 at Moffat, Moffat Kinoshita & Associates Architects. From 1979 to 1983 he joined Cadillac Fairview Corporation as architect responsible for commercial and multi-purpose projects in Canada. From 1983 to 1993 he joined NORR Partnership Ltd, the largest Canadian firm, located in Toronto, Ontario, as partner heading the Design and Architecture Division. Under his direction important projects in Canada and the United Arab Emirates were designed and built, such as: the Federal Court Building (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Simcoe Plaza (Toronto), Mixed Use Complex and Residential/Commercial Development for HE. Sheik Tahnoon (Dubai, U.A.E.), Union National Bank (Dubai, U.A.E.), National Bank of Dubai (Dubai, U.A.E.), Union National Bank (Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.).

In 1983, Ott won the international design competition for the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, France, to commemorate the 200 year anniversary of the French Revolution on July 14, 1989. Carlos Ott was selected from 744 participants as one of the three finalists and then hand-picked by François Mitterrand, President of France, as the winner of this prestigious project. In order to carry out the supervision of this project, he moved to Paris and formed a team, which in turn gave him international recognition and opened doors to many countries.

His next accomplishments followed by winning the competition for an extremely advanced hospital in Weimar, Germany and several competitions in the United Arab Emirates such as: the Sheikh Zayed Road Development Project (Abu Dhabi), the National Bank of Abu Dhabi Headquarters (Abu Dhabi), Etisalat Telecom & Administration Building (Abu Dhabi), Majid Al Futtaim Project (Dubai), Baniyas Road Development (Dubai), Offices for the Al-Futtaim Group (Dubai), the New Dubai Creek Hilton Hotel (Dubai).

As well in 1993, Carlos Ott won several other competitions in Europe such as the Salle des Spectacles in Mont de Marzan Landes, France and the Thomson Headquarters Building, Offices and Laboratories in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1992 he returned to Uruguay to open an office which would complement his others around the world. From this new addition to his consortium, he completed projects such as: the International Airport of Laguna del Sauce (Punta del Este, Uruguay), the International Airport of Ushuaia-Malvinas Argentinas (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina), the Punta Shopping Centre (Punta del Este, Uruguay), the new headquarters for the state owned telecommunications company ANTEL (Montevideo, Uruguay), the Libertad Plaza Building (Buenos Aires, Argentina), the International Airport Lago Argentino (El Calafate, Provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina) and others.

In 1997 he was invited to participate in the competition for the Jiang Su Opera House, (Nanjing, China) where he obtained first prize. As a result, he was invited into another series of very important competitions such as the Beijing Opera House, the Commercial and Residential GW Plaza, and won the contract for the National Grand Theater of Hangzhou, China from yet another international competition. He won after Dong Guan Yulan Theatre, the Wenzhou National Theatre and the Henan Art Centre. In front of the Hangzhou Grand Theatre was selected to build the Hangzhou International Conference Center including a 5 stars hotel of more than 400 rooms.

The unique style of his architecture is recognized in many countries through prestigious awards such as: Arts et Lettres and the Legion d´Honneur awarded in 1986 and 1988 respectively by François Mitterrand, the President of France, the Faculty of Architecture in Uruguay awarded him with the Gold Medal in 1990, the University of Washington with the Distinguished Alumni Award 1997, and the Museo de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires with the Vitruvio Award, also in 1997.

Carlos Ott continues to travel the world and is currently working on projects in USA, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Singapore, China, United Arab Emirates, India, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Philippines and Uruguay.

• Bastille Opera, Paris (1989)
• Simcoe Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (1995)
• Ushuaia – Malvinas Argentinas International Airport, Argentina (1995)
• National Bank of Dubai, United Arab Emirates (1997)
• Capitán de Corbeta Carlos A. Curbelo International Airport, Punta del Este, Uruguay (1997)
• Libertad Plaza, Buenos Aires (2000)
• Comandante Armando Tola International Airport, El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina (2000)
• Torre Antel, Montevideo (2002)
• Calgary Courts Centre, downtown Calgary, Alberta (2007)
• Hotel Boca by Design Suites, Buenos Aires (2012)
• Universidad Argentina de la Empresa - Sede Pinamar
• The Proscenium at Rockwell, Makati City, Philippines
• ECHO Aventura - Aventura, Florida (2014)
• Muse (apartment building), Sunny Isles, Florida

• http://www.e-rockwell.com/proscenium