Born in 1948 in Pamplona, he is graduated as an architect by the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra in 1972. He has been a lecturer at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de San Sebastián since 1977, Doctor Arquitecto Cum Laude for the thesis La Lección de las Ruinas directed by Rafael Moneo since 1990 and Professor of Projects since 1997. He has been a guest lecturer at the universities of Miami (1988), Columbia (1988), Liverpool (1989), Turin (1993) and Milan (2004), among others. He was founder and editor of the magazines Composición (1983) and Composición Arquitectónica ART&ARCHITECTURE (1988), where he was also editor from 1991 to 1993. He is the author of numerous writings, including the books La Lección de las Ruinas (1997) and Presencia y Figura: la acción del Decoro en arquitectura (1997).

His architectural work - in collaboration with Manuel Iñiguez - has been published in the most important national and international journals. In 1987 he received the Prix Europeen de la Reconstruction de la Ville awarded by the Fondation Philippe Rothier pour L'Architecture de Bruxelles for his work in Lesaka: Restoration of the Town Hall, Plaza Mayor and Health Centre.