Juan Castro-Varón (b. 1997) is a Colombian-British designer, artist and engineer based out of London, who makes jewellery and small objects, mostly in metal. Having lived in several large cities across multiple continents, Castro-Varón creates pieces that draw from the urban built environment – its forms, materials, and the forces that shape it. Beyond the studio, he leads workshops and walking tours examining how architecture and urban infrastructure inform the life of its users, past, present and future. He also runs MINILITH (minilith.co.uk), a jewellery label crafting silver pieces influenced by modern architecture. In his previous career, Castro-Varón worked as an engineer at Google and The Nature Conservancy, developing AI tools to help stop deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. He settled in the UK under the Government’s Exceptional Talent visa programme and is based in London’s Somerset House as part of Makerversity’s Under-30 Residence programme.
About his medal Stet Fortuna Domus (translating as ‘Let the fortune of this house stand’), he writes: ‘It was a great experience to work with BAMS to bring this medal to life. I designed it in 2023 and entered it for the 2024 Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Awards when the medal brief was “gates and barriers” (see The Medal, 85 (2024), p. 68). The hand-drawn design won the gold award in the design category and through that process I was introduced to BAMS and its work. The medal is a reflection on the unaffordability of housing in the UK, which for many Britons remains the most significant barrier to stability and opportunity. With house prices far beyond the reach of the average worker, the entire system has become a ticking time bomb on which the wider economy relies, while rents hit record highs and many mortgage-holders face unaffordable payments as interest rates climb. The front depicts the Union Flag merging into a vault mechanism – Britain as a fortress of wealth and a safe haven for investors at the expense of residents. The back shows an oxidised keyhole, broken and inaccessible, reflecting the effects of our housing system on working people.’
