Maria Rius Ruiz is a PhD architect and designer. Her work delves into the interplay between space, collective life, and environmental care. Maria’s PhD research, titled ‘Utopia Inhabited,’ reexamines radical neighborhood designs from the 1960s with the aim of enhancing social connectedness. In 2013, she co-founded NUA arquitectures, an architecture and design studio which has consistently been recognized as one of the emerging young studios in Spain and Europe. NUA operates across diferent scales, addressing social and climate changes in contemporary cities and territories, while striving to minimize and optimize the use of natural resources. NUA has been selected in the FAD 2018 Awards, was finalist in the 14th Spanish Biennial of Architecture, and nominated for the European Contemporary Architecture Award - Miesvan der Rohe 2019 awards, among others. NUA’s projects have been extensively published and exhibited, including the XV Venice Biennale of Architecture. Maria has taught at several institutions, such as the Bracelona School of Architecture (UPC), the Reus School of Architecture (URV), the Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (ELISAVA), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).