URLO Studio is an architecture practice founded by Natalia, Francisco, and Diego in Quito, Ecuador in 2017, born from the convergence of diverse paths, geographies, and visions. Natalia, born in the Andean highlands, and Francisco, raised on the Mediterranean coast, met in New York while working at UN-Habitat. There, they contributed to the New Urban Agenda, inspired by the idea that architecture can improve cities. Shortly after, they were joined by Diego, an economist completing his master's degree in urban planning in London, who brought a strategic and analytical perspective that would prove essential to their future work. Together, the three partners formed a multidisciplinary team that blurred the lines between architecture, planning, construction, and social impact.
From the beginning, geography has been much more than a backdrop to their story: it has been a driving force shaping their way of thinking, designing, and building. Whether working in dense urban centers or open rural landscapes, they adapt to the physical, social, and cultural conditions of each place. They believe that architecture should emerge from the territory it inhabits, responding to its climate, its people, and its rhythm of life. Years later, their growing team of architects, engineers, designers, and financiers continues to contribute perspectives from different corners of the world. How is this reflected in their design process? They don't design for a single place or use a single style; they learn, adapt, and build according to the unique characteristics of each site and its people.
URLO Studio is a family of nonconformist, pragmatic, visionary, and innovative professionals who seek to mark a turning point in urban development, always through coherence and rigor in their ideas and designs, ranging from the scale of architectural detail to the broadest urban scale. They understand architecture and urban planning as a creative and continuous learning process, in which, together with different actors and multiple disciplines, they try to find justified and optimal solutions for space.
