Ensamble Studio

11/08/2026

We are thrilled to announce that "The Paper Log: Shell and Core," our collaborative project with MIYAKE DESIGN STUDIO for ISSEY MIYAKE, is returning to Japan as a site-specific installation at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT Gallery 3 in Tokyo. Running from August 13 to September 13, 2026, the exhibition reimagines the Paper Log, a compressed roll of pleated paper that acts as an industrial byproduct of the house's original garment pleating technology.

Following its debut in Milan, the project explores two process-driven approaches to this material, inspired by its circular marbling that resembles the growth rings of a tree. Our contribution, the "Shell" series, features objects of memory sculpted from delicate sheets peeled from the log, stabilizing ephemeral creases into an autonomous skin. This is presented in dialogue with "Core," a series of furniture prototypes investigating the dense mass of the material. For this first presentation in Japan, the exhibition introduces a rearranged layout with new pedestals, elevating the respective qualities of both the delicate shell and the solid core.

The exhibition is free to attend and is accompanied by a documentary detailing the making processes behind the works. We invite you to explore this work and collaboration at the gallery. To find out more, visit the link below-https://2121designsight.jp/en/gallery3/the_paper_log/

15/07/2026

We are pleased to share that The Cloud at Les Jardins de Médongaule has been featured in the latest issue of AV Proyectos.

Currently under development in Yangpyeong, South Korea, this project serves as both the entrance and visitor center for a magnificent 170,000-square-meter garden. Designed to symbolize the entrance to paradise, The Cloud is a hybrid structure—part architecture, part landscape—that levitates above the terrain, allowing light, air, and water to become active materials in its construction. The project is featured in the issue's "In Construction" section and follows other works around the globe that showcase unique glass skins.

Read the full feature on Arquitectura Viva at the link below to explore how this piece of infrastructure blends into the Korean landscape, acting as a prelude to the gardens beyond.
https://arquitecturaviva.com/obras/the-cloud-en-les-jardins-de-medongaule-en-construccion

14/07/2026

We are thrilled to be a part of the latest edition of a+u (Architecture and Urbanism) magazine, reflecting on why "Prefabrication Matters", alongside colleagues and practices featured in the issue, including ELEMENTAL, SUMMARY and People's Architecture Office, whose diverse architectural approaches collectively enrich this global discourse.

This publication highlights our ongoing cross-disciplinary research at the intersection of art, science, and industrialized building systems. Inside the issue, Antón García-Abril and Débora Mesa contribute an essay titled "What Future(s) for Prefabrication." The text explores the foundational philosophy behind WoHo (World Home) and the urgent need to address contemporary environmental and social challenges by integrating design, engineering, manufacturing, and assembly into a single, cohesive system. It is a reflection on returning architecture to its roots—managing material transformation while leveraging the most advanced technologies of digital manufacturing to create equitable, high-quality spaces.

The feature beautifully illustrates this trajectory through a selection of our pivotal projects. It spans the development of our own manufacturing laboratory, Ensamble Fabrica, to the recent residential construction of Parla 5x in Madrid, and extends to our latest material explorations in "The Paper Log: Shell and Core" for Issey Miyake in Milan. Together, these works represent our commitment to advancing the field through both pragmatic and experimental means.

You can explore the full publication by purchasing a copy of the magazine at the link below
https://au-magazine.com/shop/architecture-and-urbanism/au-202606/

29/06/2026

We are pleased to announce that Débora Mesa will be participating in "ENCUENTRO," a special dialogue session organized as part of the exhibition "REGENERACIONES: China y España en el espejo" in Barcelona.

Scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 11:00 AM, this international encounter brings together prominent architects and scholars from China and Spain to share diverse experiences and perspectives on urban regeneration. The panel will discuss innovative ways to approach inherited architecture and reshape contemporary cities in direct response to global sustainability challenges.

Débora will join an esteemed panel of speakers, including Iñaki Carnicero, Li Xiangning, Manuel Blanco, Xu Tiantian, Philip Feng Yuan, Shui Yanfei, Elena Orte, and Benedetta Tagliabue. Together, they will explore how cross-cultural insights can foster new strategies for heritage preservation, community revitalization, and adaptive reuse.

The event will take place at CASA CUPRA RAVAL (Passeig de Gràcia 109, Barcelona). We invite everyone to join this vital conversation.

26/06/2026

We are pleased to share that the exhibition "REGENERACIONES: China y España en el espejo" continues its journey. After a highly successful run at La Casa De La Arquitectura in Madrid, this traveling showcase has now arrived in the heart of the Barcelona 2026 World Capital of Architecture. Curated by Manuel Blanco, Héctor Navarro, and Li Xiangning, the exhibition brings together a selected number of projects that demonstrate how architects from both countries are developing innovative ways to intervene on buildings, neighborhoods, and landscapes. It highlights a shared, powerful conviction: that the future of our cities relies more than ever on the actions of reusing, rehabilitating, and regenerating existing spaces.

The exhibition addresses urban regeneration as a vital strategy capable of combining sustainability, innovation, and the preservation of built heritage. At the same time, it emphasizes the importance of revitalizing local communities, reclaiming latent opportunities, and strengthening the profound bond between people and the places they inhabit. Our contribution to this dialogue is through Can Terra, our research project that transforms an abandoned sandstone quarry in the island of Menorca, challenging traditional conservation dogmas and infusing new, sustainable life into a forgotten landscape.

You can now visit the exhibition at CASA CUPRA Gallery in Barcelona, until July 18, 2026. We invite everyone to experience this collective vision of the future of the built environment.

17/06/2026

We are excited to share that Débora Mesa will be visiting the di Torino tomorrow, Thursday June 18th, as a speaker and guest critic for the SOL Interdisciplinary Studio final reviews.

She will join the faculty to discuss and celebrate the second-year students’ final projects. Later in the afternoon, at 17:30, the events will shift to the historic Castello del Valentino, where Débora will deliver a lecture titled “Radical Logic”. The talk will delve into Ensamble Studio’s cross-disciplinary practice at the intersection of art and science, presenting how we challenge architectural conventions, expand the agency of the architect, and integrate off-site manufacturing in architecture to improve the quality and ecology of housing globally.

We look forward to an inspiring day of academic exchange and celebration in Turin!

18/05/2026

We are pleased to share that Débora Mesa will be a featured speaker at the Future of Construction Symposium 2026, hosted by ETH Zürich from May 20 to 23, 2026. This year’s symposium explores the convergence of AI, extended reality, robotics, and advanced fabrication within the AEC landscape, examining how emerging technologies are reshaping architectural practice and redefining the future of the built environment.

Débora will participate in the panel “Industrialising Construction” on Thursday, May 21, 2026. The panel explores how design technologies, construction management intelligence, and new modes of industrialized production are opening alternative pathways for architectural practice, fostering new relationships between creativity, efficiency, and construction.

Débora’s contribution will reflect on the evolving role of the architect within these emerging technological and business frameworks, arguing how architects can redefine practice between human intuition and technological advancement, using industrialization not to standardize architecture, but to expand its creative and constructive possibilities.

For additional information on the symposium, you can visit: https://futureofconstruction.ethz.ch/

23/04/2026

We are pleased to share that our work is featured in the upcoming exhibition "RADICAL REHAB. Architecture and heritage in Spain (1975-2025)," hosted at La Casa De La Arquitectura in Madrid.

The exhibition features our work on Can Terra, to illustrate a new paradigm in architectural intervention. It embodies the experimental recovery of a building's latent capacities. By transforming a former sandstone quarry in Menorca into a space for living, the project challenges traditional dogmas of conservation, showing how the traces of the past can inspire a radical transformation that is both creative and sustainable.

The exhibition design uses these physical models as a landscape of architectures that negotiate and transform pre-existing structures, highlighting how our work treats heritage as a dynamic, living resource rather than a static monument.

You can visit the exhibition from today, 23rd of April 2026, at La Casa de la Arquitectura, Paseo de la Castellana, 67, Madrid.

23/04/2026

16/04/2026

We’re honored to be featured in the April 2026 issue of Domus (1111) for our ongoing collaboration with Miyake Design Studio on Paper Log.

The project investigates the architectural potential of the paper used to protect fabrics during the pleating process. Shell & Core frames this inquiry as a dual exploration: Shell, our contribution, and Core, developed by Miyake Design Studio, establish a dialogue between skin and skeleton, lightness and mass.

Shell transforms this industrial byproduct into a thin, autonomous architectural skin—a surface that envelops objects like a garment. By stabilizing ephemeral folds and wrinkles, we develop a series of lightweight yet structured furnishings, where the material’s memory becomes the catalyst for form. In parallel, Core examines the compressed interior of the paper rolls, revealing their latent density and structural potential.

Shell & Core is presented on the global stage of Milan Design Week through an immersive installation at the Issey Miyake Milan Store.

Blending intuition with scientific precision, the installation reflects on materials as an intermediate layer between the body and the environment—capable of taking on multiple forms and living multiple lives.