ISABEL MARTINEZ ABASCAL, FOUNDER LANZA ATELIER

Isabel is a Madrid-native who I often seen biking around my neighborhood of San Miguel Chapultepec. She's someone whose style I've always admired from afar and then I had the opportunity to meet her when she worked on the renovation of Adeline's stunning home in La Roma. The office she founded in 2015 with her partner, Alessandro Arienzo, is right down the street from our studio and it was a delight to visit it. Lanza is one of the few firms that still works with paper models and each of these felt like a piece of art in its own right, you'll see below. 

Hi Isabel! Tell us a bit about your background. Where were you born and how did you end up in Mexico City?

I was born in Madrid and after living in different places I ended up moving to Mexico more than ten years ago because of the first architectural project I designed together with my husband, who is also my partner [in Lanza] and from Mexico City.

How did growing up in Spain shape/form your aesthetic/taste?

I love natural light, being outside, how shapes from thousands of years ago encounter contemporary geometries, the smell of trees and flowers and any body of water: a river, a pond, the sea. All these things that touch my soul are finally connected to the city I grew in—a place with a Roman and also a very strong Arab heritage— and to Mediterranean culture.

What other countries have you lived in? Can you describe each place you've lived in one word?

As a student I spent time in Tokyo and Berlin and as a just-graduated architect I moved to São Paulo and lived there for six years. I'd need more than one word for each.  

What kinds of projects do you work on at Lanza?

We work on cultural spaces, exhibition design, residential projects, retail, restaurants, everything that comes our way. We've done huge public infrastructure projects and recurrently keep working on object design, tables, chairs, or a watercolor box.

Is there a word that you think describes the aesthetic of your company? 

Whenever we think we have arrived to something good we say, this is "very LANZA", so I guess that's the word.

Is there a word that describes the way you like to work? 

I'm not sure, empathetically, maybe.

Is there a word that describes where you find inspiration? 

Everyday-life.

What are the challenges of working as an architect in Mexico? What are the benefits?

In Mexico there is a lot to be done so naturally young architects find places of opportunity but there are also very few public competitions and social housing projects that are open to everybody.

How do you like to dress? How would you describe your style? How would your husband describe your style? How would your kids describe your style?

I get dressed very fast, never try out different looks, just think of something that matches my mood that day and go for it. To be able to do that I have several basics—white, grey, black—I can mix. And then I might add very colorful pieces with patterns. I'm not sure how my husband would describe my style or if I have one, but at least once a week we end up dressed in the same color or combination of colors and only realized once we are on the street, which is really funny. Maybe white jeans and a white shirt or fully black. My kids don't pay much attention to my clothes but they love to wear a pair of red high heels I bought at a second-hand store in Berlin twenty years ago and my necklaces.

Did you like what you wore for this shoot?