Architects Directory 2020: Malu de Miguel, Spain
Set up in Madrid only three years ago, Malu de Miguel’s practice may be young, but the dynamic Spanish architect is a master at creating well proportioned, tactile residences, using humble materials and plenty of natural light. Her portfolio includes a house in Menorca and a family home in Madrid suburb Boadilla del Monte. The latter combines brick, concrete, large openings, light wells and airy double height spaces in a modest home with a sense of spatial luxury that punches above its weight.
Designed by the young Gran Canaria-born, mainland Spain-based architect María Luisa ‘Malu' de Miguel, this family home in Madrid’s Boadilla del Monte suburb is straight out of Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite movie – a neatly executed, modernist exercise in light, levels, texture and double height spaces all encased in industrial concrete.
Designed to accommodate a family nucleus made up of three generations, de Miguel conceived the house as a continuous space of boundary-free play, escape and endless circuits. There are no set routes or generationally segregated common spaces; instead, two pavilions are connected by a shady inside / outside courtyard enclosure that is open to the elements from March through to October.
A graduate of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, María Luisa de Miguel worked at the Arup, the multinational construction consultancy, before starting her own Madrid practice in 2017.
MORE FROM WALLPAPER* ARCHITECTS DIRECTORY 2020
For this project, her first independently completed commission, the architect chose ‘rough and vibrant' materials to create harmony. ‘Exposed concrete formed with OSB (standard, oriented strand board shutter) produces a texture that turns the concrete an almost vegetal, friendly and warm material.'
Half depth, rustic-faced brick, bonded with a mortar similar in thickness to the sandy-red blocks recalls old factory walls, ‘from a time when matter, and not chemistry, was the main resource of construction.' Ingeniously, the versatile brick, configured, woodworking style, in various biscuit jambs, projections, uprights and cantilevers, has also been put to use as fencing, windowsills, exterior shelves and, waterproofed with a transparent primer, shower-room walls.
Wallpaper* especially loves the row of three, huge and almost comically low-tech raffia roller blinds hung above a sliding door outside the dining room, their basic rope mechanisms lashed to the exterior wall like a wayward spinnaker.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Spanish design studio Masquespacio's new HQ is a historical mansion bursting with colour
Design studio Masquespacio presents its new home and office, a bold and unique space in a beautifully refurbished historic villa near Valencia
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Surreal, uncanny, seductive: step into Graham Little’s world
Scottish artist Graham Little presents his first US retrospective at The FLAG Art Foundation in New York
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Junya Ishigami designs at Maniera Gallery are as ethereal as his architecture
Junya Ishigami presents new furniture at Maniera Gallery in Belgium (until 31 August 2024), following the series' launch during Milan Design Week
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
MOCA is a self-sufficient mobile home offering freedom to work (and roam)
MOCA (Mobile Catalyst) is a sustainable mobile home designed by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, and taking remote working to a new level
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Low-energy house in Catalonia minimises its footprint to make the most of its site
Alventosa Morell Arquitectes’ low-energy house in Catalonia nestles into the landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Hortensia Herrero Art Centre puts Valencia on the contemporary art map
Hortensia Herrero Art Centre launches in Valencia, offering a home for contemporary art to sit side by side with archaeological treasures
By Blaire Dessent Published
-
Collective, Hong Kong and Spain: Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2023
With bases in Hong Kong and Spain, Collective joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Nicolás y Nicolás, Spain and Ecuador: Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023
With offices in Spain and Ecuador, Nicolás y Nicolás is part of the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2023, our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This light-filled Spanish house is defined by openness and geometry
A Spanish house by Arquitecturia Camps Felip is designed around its courtyards and its six volumes’ bold geometry
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Extraordinary escapes: where would you like to be?
Peruse and lose yourself in these extraordinary escapes; there's nothing better to get the creative juices flowing than a healthy dose of daydreaming
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Spain’s Casa Primitiva is ruled by simplicity
The pared-back Casa Primitiva by Hanghar fits in perfectly in its semi-rural Spanish context
By TF Chan Published