Melina Guirnaldos. Doctor in Architecture from the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University – Russell Group (UK). Master of Science (MSc) in Architectural Restoration and Urban Recovery of Historic Cities, Roma Tre University (Italy), Columbia University, New York (USA), and Paris-Belleville (France). 2008 Talentia Postgraduate Fellowship (Spain). Master in Architecture (M.Arch) from the School of Architecture of Granada (ETSAG), Spain.
Founding partner of W + G Architects practice, where she co-authored the Landscape Intervention and Restoration of the Palace of Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos and the Jesuit Cathedral in Danqaz, Ethiopia, funded by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency (AECID); the Urban Intervention at Lalla Yeddouna Square, Fes (Morocco); and the AECID Pavilion at ARCO 2010, the International Modern Art Fair of Madrid (Spain); as well as the competition for the urban regeneration of Santiago de Chile Government Area (3rd prize); and the restoration of the Oratory of the Partal Mosque in the Alhambra, awarded in 2019 with the prestigious Grand Prix Europa Nostra 2019 and Europa Nostra 2019 Awards.
Architect member of the Project Management Team for the Restoration of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome (2nd c. AD), Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma. Architectural Heritage Consultant of the Cultural Department of the Andalusian Regional Government, Spain.
She is the First Year Director and a Lecturer in Architectural Design at the WSA – Cardiff University (UK). She also works regularly as an architectural contributor to international architectural journals such as aU: Arquitetura e Urbanismo in Brazil and ArteOficio in Chile, as well as coordinator of international architectural events, such as the Italo-Spanish Seminar on Contemporary Architectural Intervention on Heritage, held at the Alhambra (Granada, Spain).
Her research interests revolve around the search for design principles outside mainstream heritage studies to better address the issue of heritage value, including questions of tangibility and politics in conservation practices, with a particular focus on urban post-industrial heritage from a multiscalar approach. She is also interested in exploring how female designers contribute to its understanding and to the social construction of its significance.
Her practice, W+G Architects, was founded in 2007 together with Federico Wulff. The practice has been awarded ten first prizes in international architecture competitions. His projects have addressed a wide range of issues, from public spaces (Eras, Forum) and heritage (restoration of a 14th-century mosque in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Alhambra, Spain) to cooperation projects in developing countries (Ethiopia, Morocco), funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).
