MARÍA GONZÁLEZ ARANGUREN

María González Aranguren is an architect and urban planner who graduated with a Master’s degree from The Technical University of Architecture of Madrid (NAAB Substantial Equivalency Accreditation), with Honorable Mention in 2014. She obtained the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to study at the Technische Universität Berlin for one year and she received a Postgraduate Master in Advanced Architectural Projects to complement her knowledge in Architectural Theory. In January 2018, María joined the faculty at University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, and in 2020 she become Assistant Professor Tenure Track.

During this time, she has combined teaching with professional practice in the renowned office Aranguren & Gallegos architects, where she began working as design architect in 2011 on national and international projects, including the ICA New Contemporary Art Museum in Miami, Housing Towers of Valdebebas or the Oak House in San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Her work in the office addresses conditions and opportunities in the public dimension of the contemporary city; the exploration of domesticity in all its expressions from public collective dwelling to individual houses, and the synergy between past and future, designing projects with pre-existing historic architecture.

María González Aranguren´s research addresses the regeneration of degraded urban fabrics caused by social, climate, or catastrophe factors. She has won more than 20 awards for her urban research on the rehabilitation of the Alfama district of Lisbon, including the 2018 AIA Unbuilt Washington Award of Excellence, the 2019 Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Design Award, the 2019 SARAs National Design Awards, the 2019 Global Future Design Award, Architecture Masterprize 2019, the 31st World Architecture Prize, the 2019 Eurasian Prize, the World Architecture Community Award 2019, Designing the Future DTF MAGAZINE and the Urban Design & Architecture Design Awards 2019(APR) among others.

This year 2022 she has been recognized as one of the Europe 40 under 40 architects : “highlight and distinguish the world’s most promising figures in the field of architecture and design who will impact future living and working environments, cities, and rural areas”, awarded by the The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum.

She has also been very interested in researching the Global South and she has been a co-leader of the recent Yamuna River Project studios at UVA, with Professor Pankaj Vir Gupta. In this multi-disciplinary academic research project, the students have the opportunity to examine the urbanity and ecology of two of the most stressed cities of India, Delhi and Jaipur, and to respond to complex urban questions through thoughtful, detailed designed interventions. Together, they offered a template for urban remediation, applicable in urban cities across the globe. This project allowed undergraduate and graduate students to participate in immersive site research in collaboration with diplomatic and governmental partners in India.

Their 2019 YRP Studio, sited in New Delhi, India, was the recipient of Architectural Record’s 2019 Studio Prize, awarded by ARCHITECT MAGAZINE highlighting “excellence in design education by recognizing thoughtful, ethical studio courses” across the nation. In 2020 their studio based in the city of Jaipur was again the recipient of the 2020 Studio Prize but also the SLOAN Prize for studios that focus on sustainability, specifically water conservation.Her most recent research focuses on minimal domestic space where she investigates new ways of living in the 21st century. She explores the limits of domesticity, comparing housing types across different realms from college dormitories to nomadic units to prison cells. 

Her work as educator has been recognized in the last years with the ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award 2021 and the ACSA Faculty Design Award 2021