Laura Martínez de Guereñu

Laura Martínez de Guereñu is an architect, historian and design critic with expertise in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe and its relationship with the transatlantic world. Her research focuses on study of modernism’s traces in pre-fascist Europe and its diaspora, the impact of pedagogical legacies on built heritage, as well as the effect of changes of ownership in the life and endurance of buildings.

Laura’s essays have been published in a number of periodicals, including Architectural Histories, Architectural Record, Arquitectura Viva, Charrette, Docomomo Journal, Massilia. Annuaire d’Etudes Corbuseennes, RA. Revista de arquitectura, and Revisiones. Chapters have appeared in several edited volumes: Les arts et la diaspora basque XIX-XXI siècle (2018); Transferencias culturales y redes artísticas de la Barcelona contemporánea (1888-1992) (2018); Mies van der Rohe-Barcelona 1929 (2017); MoMoWo: Women Designers, Craftswomen, Architects, and Engineers between 1928 and 1945 (2017); Josef Albers: Minimal Means, Maximum Effect (2014). Her work as an editor encompasses Rafael Moneo: Remarks on 21 Works (2010).

Laura has received many grants and fellowships for her scholarly work, including the Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture (Mies van der Rohe Foundation), a Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators (BBVA Foundation), a Scholarship of Excellence (Rafael del Pino Foundation), several Travel Subsidies (Fritz Thyssen Foundation) and a Writer in Residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. Laura has lectured widely, including at Harvard University, Seoul National University, and University of Illinois/ Urbana Champaign-Paris.

In her recent research, Laura has linked the Bauhäusler with Spain through their travels, products’ transport and creative exchanges, and has demonstrated the critical influence of Lilly Reich and Mies’s Barcelona Exhibits on the architecture of Germany’s representative Pavilion, showing an embraced dialogue between tradition and modernism. Current projects comprise the research and installation design Re-enactment: Lilly Reich Occupies the Barcelona Pavilion, the direction of the conference Bauhaus In and Out: Perspectives from Spain (AhAU, 2019), as well as a book on the impact of the Barcelona undertaking on Mies’s and Lilly Reich’s Bauhaus teaching and work.

Laura holds a Master in Design Studies with Distinction (History and Theory of Architecture) from Harvard University, where she was later a Visiting Fellow, and a PhD in Architecture and a Professional Degree with Thesis Award of Excellence from University of Navarra. At IE University, Laura teaches in and coordinates the architecture history theory sequence and the first year bachelor, while conducts the international mobility program. Laura has supervised several PhD dissertations and is a frequent member of PhD dissertation committees.