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.

Imagen Subliminal - Photography
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
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Inside the fantastical world of performance artist, Darrell Thorne
Performance artist Darrell Thorne straddles multiple worlds, telling stories through transformation, reinvention and theatrical excess
-
Mostly armless: life with the Roborock Saros S70 and taking a (shallow) step into the future
The arm-equipped Roborock Saros Z70 robot vacuum dusts, mops and even cleans up your messy household. So why did it feel like adding a demanding new family member?
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Summer holidays are here, with Wallpaper* editors jetting off to some exceptional destinations, including highly recommended Mérida in Mexico. Then it’s back to work, or, for one editor, back to school…
-
In Santander, a cotton candy-coloured HQ is a contemporary delight
Santander’s Colección ES Headquarters, a multifunctional space for art, office work, and hosting, underwent a refurbishment by Carbajo Hermanos, drawing inspiration from both travels and local context
-
This Madrid villa’s sculptural details add to its serene appeal
Villa 18 by Fran Silvestre Architects, one of a trilogy of new homes in La Moraleja, plays with geometry and curves – take a tour
-
This striking Spanish house makes the most of a tricky plot in a good area
A Spanish house perched on a steep slope in the leafy suburbs of Barcelona, Raúl Sánchez Architects’ Casa Magarola features colourful details, vintage designs and hidden balconies
-
This brutalist apartment in Barcelona is surprisingly soft and gentle
The renovated brutalist apartment by Cometa Architects is a raw yet gentle gem in the heart of the city
-
A brutalist house in Spain embraces its wild and tangled plot
House X is a formidable, brutalist house structure on a semi-rural plot in central Spain, shaped by Bojaus Arquitectura to reflect the robust flora and geology of the local landscape
-
Antoni Gaudí: a guide to the architect’s magical world
Catalan creative Antoni Gaudí has been a unique figure in global architectural history; we delve into the magical world of his mesmerising creations
-
The case of Casa Batlló: inside Antoni Gaudí’s ‘happiest’ work
Casa Batlló by Catalan master architect Antoni Gaudí has just got a refresh; we find out more
-
Bodegas Faustino Winery celebrates process through its versatile vaulted visitor centre
Bodegas Faustino Winery completes extension by Foster + Partners in Spain, marking a new chapter to the long-standing history between the architecture practice and their client