María Arana Zubiate (b. Bilbao, 1976) is an architect from the School of Architecture of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (San Sebastián), a researcher, and a curator. She is a founding member of Urbanbat, a social initiative cooperative dedicated to research, the design of participatory urban regeneration processes, and the production of critical culture on urban transformations. Through her work, she promotes social innovation and citizen creativity to foster a culture of participation that contributes to the care and improvement of the environment.
She has curated projects and events for the Azkuna Zentroa-Alhóndiga Bilbao, served on the curatorial committee of the 5th Culture and Citizenship Conference, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, and has been co-director of URBANBATfest, the annual festival of architecture, urban planning, and social innovation in Bilbao, for 13 years. Since 2021, she has curated Mugak/International Architecture Biennial of the Basque Country.
She has developed cultural and mediation projects related to the territory for the CICUS in Seville, the Oiassso-Irun Museum, La Térmica in Malaga, the Basque Institute of Architecture, and Matadero Madrid, among others.
She has coordinated, together with the Bilbao City Council, the local participation in the European Human Cities project, which led them to collaborate with the Talling Design Festival, Aalto University, and the University of Architecture of Ljubljana, among other European institutions linked to design.
She has given lectures at various forums and conferences in Spain and Europe, such as the Burgos Culture Forum, the FAD Awards in Barcelona, Entropía in Zaragoza, Bizkaia Design Week, the Carlos III University of Madrid, the Madrid School of Architecture, the Gernika Peace Museum, the Pontevedra Architecture and Childhood Biennial, and Talling Design Week.
As a teacher, he is part of the teaching team for the Master's Degree in Design for Change at the Kunsthall European Institute of Design and has taught courses in the Master's Degree in Practice and Theory in Contemporary Arts and Culture at Azkuna Zentroa-Alhóndiga Bilbao and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
