Maria is our fourth opinion piece author with her series "Harmonious Inhabitation: Architecture in the Climate Emergency".
Sustainability is a growing agenda for architects, with many practices now making commitments to go beyond sustainability and look towards regenerative design that has a net positive impact on the environment.
As an architect at global architecture practice Grimshaw, Maria has experience working on projects ranging from major infrastructure, to cultural projects, to one-off residential. She is fascinated and inspired by how we can bring sustainable and regenerative thinking into the spaces we inhabit, from the macro to the micro-scale. She is a registered architect in the UK, but has been working in Grimshaw's Melbourne team since 2019. In this role she has worked locally and internationally, getting the opportunity to widen her understanding of environmental and political challenges around the world.
Maria has a passion for understanding the intersection between sustainability, health and holistic wellbeing, much of which she documents through Bode Studio - her passion project and virtual resource on Instagram for ideas, projects and products that inspire her in her work. This year she is pushing this area of interest further and is working towards certifying as a WELL Accredited Professional, a building standard that aims to achieve healthy buildings. This complements her experience and training working on Passivhaus projects, which she gained at her first workplace with Architype in the UK. The Passivhaus standard for buildings is based on high energy efficiency and excellent thermal performance, and her training in this area has given her a strong motivation to champion sustainable design principles across all her work.