Gemma Peribáñez Ayala

Gemma Peribáñez Ayala is an architect graduated from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, specializing in urban design, urban planning, and territorial strategy.

Her work has been recognized with the Spanish National Urban Planning Award (2005) and the European Gubbio Prize (Italy, 2006), both awarded for the Menorca Island Territorial Plan. The Madrid Centro project, for which she served as methodological lead, received the European Urban and Regional Planning Award and the Research Award of the Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (2012).

Her professional practice bridges urban design and urban planning across multiple scales, from detailed urban interventions to large-scale territorial strategies. She has extensive experience in the feasibility and delivery of complex urban developments, combining spatial design, regulatory frameworks, and institutional negotiation to ensure effective implementation.

She is the author and coordinator of territorial plans in complex contexts, including Menorca, Lanzarote, and Gernika-Markina (UNESCO Biosphere Reserves), as well as masterplans and general urban plans across Spain. In Madrid, she has contributed to major urban developments such as Campamento and Castellana Norte, as well as strategic projects including BBVA Headquarters (La Vela) and Telefónica’s historic headquarters.

Her work exceeds 15 million sqm of planned land, with capacity for more than 60,000 residential units, and includes the full delivery of urban operations, from planning to land readjustment and urbanization.

In recent years, she has specialized in the territorial planning of tourism destinations, focusing on carrying capacity and regulatory frameworks to balance tourism development and housing systems. Internationally, she works as a consultant in UNESCO World Heritage management and urban development, with extensive experience in Latin America.

Moreover, since 2026, Gemma leads the Urban Design and City Sciences specialty.