2026 ESTAMPA AWARD: FOD

Francisco Olivares Díaz was born in Puerto Lumbreras (Murcia) in 1973. In recent years, FOD’s work has explored the relationship between materials, space, support and colour. Revisiting the aesthetic principles of the Bauhaus, his practice has evolved around key references relating to construction, deconstruction and destruction. His assemblages and sculptures bring together an array of collected materials, from corrugated metal sheeting to cardboard and reclaimed wood, carefully fitted together and repurposed in ways far removed from their original function, with controlled chance playing a constructed role in the work.

My work emerges from bringing together fragments that reference all the arts—a juxtaposition of seemingly disconnected remnants that acquire architectural meaning as a whole, through the consolidation of the stratigraphic, almost archaeological process that underpins my practice. Chance plays only a limited role compared with the scientific rigour of my approach. Contrast is fundamental to works in which engineering—another of my passions—plays a significant role, completing the architectural circle. Painting and architecture are necessarily intertwined.