Carnicero is a Ph.D. architect from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) in 2015 and received his professional title from the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid (ETSAM) in 1998. In 2008, his research work was awarded a scholarship from the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome. Alongside his professional work as an architect, he has been actively engaged in teaching, research, and curatorial activities, focusing on issues related to housing, urbanism, and adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
He has held visiting professor positions at several renowned international universities, including the Polytechnic University of Madrid for 12 years, Cornell University, Columbia University, Yale University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT. His contributions in academia and professional practice have given him international recognition, earning prestigious awards such as the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2016, the AIA New York Housing Design Award in 2015, the Hauser Award in 2012, the Design Vanguard in 2011, the FAD Architecture Award in 2012, and the COAM Award in 2012.
From June 2020 to his appointment as the Secretary General of Urban Agenda and Housing in February 2023, he served as the Director General of Urban Agenda and Architecture. In this role, he played a pivotal role in the development and enactment of the first national law on High-Quality Architecture, which received unanimous approval in the Spanish Senate in June 2022.
Moreover, Carnicero has actively contributed to enhancing Spain’s public building stock through the innovative building rehabilitation program called P.I.R.E.P. (Plan for the Boosting of Public Building Rehabilitation). This program, which forms part of the Spanish government’s Transformation and Resilience Plan (P.R.T.R.), is endowed with a budget of 1.080 million euros. Aligned with the Law on High-Quality Architecture, P.I.R.E.P. not only promotes improvements in energy efficiency but also emphasizes the significance of comprehensive approaches to the rehabilitation of public buildings.
Furthermore, he has played a key role in the development and implementation of the Spanish Urban Agenda, which includes substantial investments in the P.R.T.R. The initiative has successfully funded 117 pilot projects for Local Action Plans aligned with the Urban Agenda.
Iñaqui Carnicero’s contributions extend to the promotion of Spanish architecture both nationally and internationally. He has been instrumental in shaping the overarching themes of the past five editions of the Architecture Biennials, including the Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU), the Ibero-American Biennial (BIAU), and the Spanish Pavilion for the Venice Biennale. In his capacity as the “National Contact Point” for the New European Bauhaus (NEB), he has actively fostered debates and dissemination events among various institutions, associations, and professionals involved in this initiative. Furthermore, he has played a significant role in promoting the first Spanish pavilion at the NEB festival held in Brussels in 2022.