María González Aranguren, Architect and Lecturer in Architecture
Over the past five years, the Yamuna River Project Advanced Research Studio at the University of Virginia School of Architecture has perfected a methodology, combining urban and architectural research with design proposals. This studio, open to undergraduate and graduate students in pursuit of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning degrees has been co-instructed by YRP co-founders, Inaki Alday and Pankaj Vir Gupta. In the fall of 2018 María González Aranguren began co-teaching the studio with Pankaj Vir Gupta, extending her knowledge of architecture and urbanity in India to expand on the program’s existing success.
María González Aranguren is an architect and urban planner who graduated with a Bachelor + Master in Architecture degree from the Technical University of Architecture of Madrid (NAAB Substantial Equivalency Accreditation), with Honorable Mention in 2014. Further, she obtained the ERASMUS Scholarship in Technische Universität Berlin for one year, where she studied a Postgraduate Master in Advanced Architectural Projects to complement her knowledge in Architectural Theory. She spent a year teaching at the Technical University of Madrid as “mentor” professor to graduate students in their Master Thesis Projects and in January 2018 she joined the University of Virginia, School of Architecture where she currently teaches Design and Research Studios to undergraduate and graduate students.
Since 2014, she has combined teaching with professional practice in the renowned office Aranguren&Gallegos architects, working as design architect on national and international projects, including the ICA New Contemporary Art Museum in the Design District of Miami, the “Oak House” or the new Housing Towers of Valdebebas among others. In early 2019 she became partner of the Office.
Throughout her education and work in professional practice, she has been interested in the field of cooperation, traveling and researching urban and architectural solutions for cities in India, Mexico, Morocco etc. Her work on the design and construction of the school of Zaachila, in Mexico, or the new houses that being built in Ecuador after the 2016 earthquake exemplify her social commitment as an architect.
She transmits an urgency and excitement for complex urban and architectural issues to the students, challenging them to understand, iterate, design, and represent unique and appropriate propositions. The Fall 2018 YRP Advanced Research Studio titled “A Piece of the City” in Delhi, India received the coveted Architect Magazine Studio Prize in 2019, which celebrates excellence in design education by recognizing thoughtful, ethical studio courses from accredited architecture schools in worldwide. In addition, several students from Fall 2018 YRP Studio in Delhi, and the Fall 2019 YRP Studio in Jaipur have been awarded for their projects by platforms including World Architecture Community, Architecture Masterprize, Society of Registered Architects New York, amongst others.