As the Austin economy continues to boom, the newest of the new rich want impressive buildings designed by somebody with a national reputation. Increasingly, that somebody is 36-year-old Juan Miró, the son of prominent architect Antonio Miró and a distant relative of painter Joan Miró—though he wouldn’t mention the latter if you talked to him. That’s fine because Juan’s résumé stands on its own: The native Catalonian helped design the Geffen company headquarters in Beverly Hills and the massive curtain wall for the AT&T building (now Sony Plaza) in New York City. Since 1996, when Miró moved to Austin to finish work on Michael Dell’s steel and limestone home, he has landed a number of high-profile projects, including a private residence called the Deck House that won honor awards from the American Institute of Architects and the Texas Society of Architects. Though an architect with Miró’s credentials could have set up shop anywhere in the world, Texas seems to be a perfect fit. “Austin is a city where you can feel very easily at home,” he says. “My wife and I had a baby who was born here, so he’s a Texan. We are here to stay.”
