HABITABLE studio
DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE / ART
info@habitable.studio
t. (+1) 530 507 8896
DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE / ART
info@habitable.studio
t. (+1) 530 507 8896
PHILOSOPHY
Economy + Ecology + Elegance
A Habitable space is
one that changes
just as our lives change.
Habitable spaces emphasize precise proportions and a sense of spatial freedom.
We believe that design contributes to ecology, health, and economic progress. In our projects, nature and architecture coexist in a symbiotic relationship.
MISSION
Habitable Studio creates
transformable environments
for living, working, and playing.
HABITABLE emphasizes flexibility and elegance across projects of multiple scales.
Our designs embody thoughtful simplicity, meticulous materiality, and adept play with light and proportion.
DESIGN SERVICES
︎ Dynamic Co-working Spaces
︎ Flexible Living Environments
︎ Joyful MicroLiving
︎ Online Design Consultations
ARCHITECTURE / ART / URBAN DESIGN
Our work introduces an adaptable form of architecture. To transform your space, we will act as an emissary between the building's potential and your needs and wishes.
We carefully study the natural and cultural context before developing our ideas. With our culturally rich perspective and decades of design experience, we are skilled in infusing your environment with efficiency, harmony, and joy.
“Marta’s expertise of maximizing small spaces is without compare.” Jay Marroquin, client.
FOUNDER
“I promote healthy living through harmonious proportions, sustainable materials, and biophilic design. My journey from Tokyo to Paris has fueled a passion for joyful micro-living, intergenerational design, transformable furniture, and human-centered urban design.”
MARTA RODRIGUEZ
PH.D. ARCHITECTMARTA@HABITABLE.STUDIO
Marta Rodriguez started her career as an architect in 2004 at OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture)/Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam. She was part of the team that won the international competition to design the New Court Rothschild Bank in London.
In 2006, while working at an Engineering company (Ingenor) in Madrid, she won the first prize in the competition for designing the new University Library of the South Campus of the UPM in Madrid. From 2007 to 2009, Marta collaborated with Lahoz Lopez Architects in designing and developing schools and hospitals, including the expansion of the Toledo National Hospital of Paraplegics and San Gil Abad Public School in Cuenca.
In 2008, she initiated her own practice in Madrid, winning several awards in public architectural competitions. These included the first prize in a competition for designing a University Research Center for the University of Valladolid (2010), the second prize for designing a research & classroom building facility for the UVA (2009), and the second prize in the architectural competition for building Affordable Housing for Young People in Cordoba (2008).
In 2013, after extensive studies at UC Berkeley and Science Po in Paris, and research in Tokyo, Marta earned her Ph.D. in Architecture (ETSAM), specializing in Japanese architecture and French Design. Interview
Subsequently, she moved to Houston in 2014, where she became an Associate Professor (tenured since 2020) at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. Currently, she teaches the "Intergenerational, Compact, Communal Living" architectural design studio, and the "Design for Dignity and Ethics for the City" seminar. Her research primarily centers on collective housing, small living, and inclusive human-scale urban design.
In 2020, Marta founded HABITABLE Studio, a design firm focused on creating healthy, sustainable, inclusive, and transformable environments, indoors and outdoors. HABITABLE operates worldwide to bring well-being, creativity, and joy to projects of various scales in a subtle, non-intrusive way.
Marta's research-driven design approach has received accolades, earning her invitations to lectures and conferences worldwide. Her work has been featured in numerous design and architecture publications. In 2021, she authored a book on Charlotte Perriand and Kazuyo Sejima, a manifesto reflecting her philosophy that advocates bringing a more humanistic and ecological sensitivity into the built environment. Marta has also created an online journal, Habitable City, which promotes a more egalitarian, connected, safe, and livable city.
HABITABLE TEAM
+ Marta RodriguezFounder & Principal - Architect, Professor, Author, and Architecture & Design Consultant.
+ Michael Lindemann
Architectural Designer.
+ Collaborators since 2008:
Lené Fourie, Alejandra Velazquez, Dijana Handanovic, Tuan Mai, Ghazal Saliman, Ingrid Selse, Emine Canak, Eirik Erstad, Marta de las Heras, Alejandro Sanz, Rafael Ureña, Natalia Varela.
HABITABLE studio
DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE / ART
info@habitable.studio
t. (+1) 530 507 8896
PUBLICATIONS
MEDIA
︎ Instagram
︎ Linkedin
︎ Habitable CityPromoting a more egalitarian, connected, safe, and LIVABLE city.
︎ Subtle RevolutionSMALL is not only beautiful but sustainable and has enabled architectural subtle revolutions beyond borders and times.
︎ Linkedin
︎ Habitable CityPromoting a more egalitarian, connected, safe, and LIVABLE city.
︎ Subtle RevolutionSMALL is not only beautiful but sustainable and has enabled architectural subtle revolutions beyond borders and times.
LET’S TALK!
info@habitable.studio t. (+1) 530 507 8896
HABITABLE
DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE / ART
Valladolid University Research Center
Valladolid, Spain (2010)
AWARD: Second Prize - Public Architectural Competition
How do you bring the outside in while allowing the inhabitant to be both a part of and apart from nature? It is this tension I seek to explore.
It is a building with soul: "that intangible atmosphere that permeates everywhere." Filtered light reaches the interior, favoring the sensation of being under the treetops. The courtyards also bring vegetation inside the building, favoring the dialogue between nature and culture.
The ground floor expands towards the garden, appropriating it and qualifying it. 3 curve areas cut the rectangle shape allowing the exterior to “blatantly” penetrates the interior.
It is a flexible and adaptable building, which structural clarity providing spatial freedom and functional elegance. The area of the laboratories on the upper floors allows for incremental spaces from 50, 100, 150, 200, and 600 m² to a continuous space of 1500 m², favoring the multifunctionality of the entire structure.
I used the slope of the site to offer different levels of interaction with the body: the same slope creates areas to sit down outside, to work inside, or to sit down in the auditorium.
YOUNG TALENTS I Awards I Competition for designing the Building for Science I University of Valladolid I Second Prize: Marta Rodriguez. El Norte de Castilla newspaper
Project team: Marta Rodriguez
CONTACT
info@habitable.studio
t. (+1) 530 507 8896