Al Borde
Al Borde is an architecture studio based in Quito, Ecuador, founded in 2007 and led by Maríaluisa Borja, Esteban Benavides, David Barragán, and Pascual Gangotena, all graduates of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. The studio’s work has received international recognition, including the Bancastato Swiss Architecture Award (2024), the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2013), and the Schelling Architecture Prize (2012).
Their projects have been exhibited at major international platforms such as the Venice Biennale (2016, 2025), the Sharjah Architecture Triennial (2023), Building Optimism at the Carnegie Museum of Art (2016), the Chicago Architecture Biennial (2015), and Réenchanter Le Monde at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris (2014).
Alongside practice, members of the studio are active in academia, teaching undergraduate and graduate design studios and leading workshops and lectures at universities worldwide, including Columbia University, ETH Zurich, Tongji University, and UNAM.
Al Borde’s practice engages the human dimension of space through minimal resources, approaching architecture as both an aesthetic and political act. Their work is grounded in what they describe as an “intimate discourse of place,” beginning with the “intelligence of the common” and fostering community exchange through participatory processes and shared spatial experiences.
