Based between Madrid and Sydney, GRANDEZA STUDIO (Amaia Sánchez-Velasco, Jorge Valiente-Oriol and Gonzalo Valiente-Oriol) is a collective of architects and artists founded in Madrid in 2011. Their work studies late-capitalism’s spaces and narratives to identify –through critical analysis– and challenge –through political imagination– the mechanisms that veil and normalize structural forms of violence against bodies and territories.
GRANDEZA STUDIO’s work hybridizes methodologies that entangle research with critical spatial practices, design, performance, live arts, film, writing and pedagogy.
In 2024, they received a one-year Situated Research grant at Medialab Matadero and were the curators of “Espejito Espejito (Mirror Mirror)”, an exhibition at the Museum of America as part of the Biennial of Architecture and Design Mayrit 2024.
Their work “Pilbara Interregnum: Seven Political Allegories” was exhibited at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2023 (“The Laboratory of the Future”, curated by architect and writer Lesley Lokko). The work was subsequently exhibited at the Luleå Biennial (Sweden) and at Dilalica Gallery in Barcelona, and has been a finalist for the Arquia/próxima 2024 award. Their film “Strata Incognita” (co-directed with Locument) was curated for “Foodscapes” - the Spanish pavilion at the same edition of the Venice Biennale. The film was premiered at the DocLisboa (Lisbon) and Zinebi (Bilbao) film festivals, and received two honorable mentions at CineEco (Portugal) and Corto e Fieno (Italy). In addition, the Museu del Disseny Barcelona has acquired a copy of “Strata Incognita” for the permanent collection of the Museum, where it will be exhibited until 2028 as part of “Matter Matters” exhibition (curated by Olga Subirós).
In 2019, together with Miguel Rodríguez-Casellas, GRANDEZA STUDIO were appointed as Curators and Creative Directors of the Australian pavilion for the XXII Trienale di Milano (“Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival”, curated by Paola Antonelli). The pavilion, titled “Teatro Della Terra Alienata,” received the Golden Bee award for the best national pavilion. “Teatro” was acquired in 2021 by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) for its inclusion in the museum’s permanent collection of Contemporary Design and Architecture. The project was re-exhibited at Bureau Europa (Maastricht) and at Melbourne Design Week. Coinciding with the acquisition, the book “Teatro Della Terra Alienata: Reimagining the Fate of the Great Barrier Reef” was published with Bartlebooth Publishers.
GRANDEZA STUDIO’s work has been widely presented or published in Germany (Bauhaus Dessau in 2014); USA (1st Chicago Architecture Biennial 2015, University of Colorado Denver 2024, Rice School of Architecture 2024/2025); Chile (XX Chilean Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2017); Spain (XIV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism 2018, Arts Santa Monica 2022, Mayrit Bienal 2024, Casa de la Arquitectura 2024, Galería Dilalica 2024, DHub 2025); Italy (XXII Triennale di Milano 2019, 18th Biennale Architettura di Venezia 2023); the Netherlands (Bureau Europa 2019, The Berlage 2023, International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam 2024); Australia (Tin Sheds Gallery 2018, Australian Design Centre 2018, MADA Gallery 2020, National Gallery of Victoria 2022, Powerhouse Museum 2023), Canada (Canadian Centre for Architecture 2024), Denmark (Copenhagen Architecture Festival x FILM 2024), Sweden (Luleå Biennial 2024), and Portugal (Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2024).
