Natalia Sanz LaviñaCEO, YSLA Architects

Spanish architect holds a master’s degree from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Worked as project manager for Kengo Kuma and Associates in both Tokyo and Paris offices from 2008 till 2018 before opening YSLA architects in Tokyo. Her firm designs for public and private clients and her work spans from exhibition design to residential, hospitality and office buildings. Awarded among others with the DesignArt Tokyo 2019 for the exhibition Garden of Eden at Spiral Aoyama and the Good Design Award 2021 for the Shinjuku hotel conversion amid the pandemic. Among her academic activities, she has organized the cross-cultural workshop “Mediterranean blind and Japanese Sudare” and has been invited to lecture on Environmental Architecture at Chuo University Faculty of Science and Engineering.