I’ve always loved creating something from scratch. Whether it’s sketching the lines of a house or decorating a room with intention, my process usually begins with inspiration. I revisit the work of the architects and designers who shaped my visual language: Tadao Ando’s meditative spaces, Toyo Ito’s fluid structures, the organic beauty of Burle Marx’s landscapes, the raw honesty of Le Corbusier, Norman Foster’s futuristic clarity, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s deep harmony with nature.

After immersing myself in their worlds, I begin mine.

This approach reminds me of one of my earliest experiences as an intern. I was working in a small architecture studio, and the lead architect—Brazilian, but trained in Italy—handed me and the other intern a stack of design magazines before we even touched a pencil. “Start here,” he said. His message was simple: great projects begin with observation.

He didn’t use the computer at all. But I’ll never forget how, in just a few minutes, he would create the most beautiful hand-drawn perspectives—A3 paper, colored pencils, and pure mastery. Watching him work was like watching music flow through lines and colors.

And whenever I had doubts, he would push a chair beside mine, sit down calmly with a nanquim paper, and draw out every detail by hand. His sketches weren’t just instructions—they were lessons. He helped me understand how to translate those details into AutoCAD, and in doing so, he gave me a deeper understanding of how things are built and expressed.

I loved working for him. I learned so much. It was a very rich experience—one that still echoes in how I approach design today.

Sometimes my own process begins with a concept sketch. Other times it’s just a feeling—a color palette, a material, a certain atmosphere. Slowly, one decision leads to another until the project takes shape. This back-and-forth between reference and imagination is where I feel most alive as a designer.

Creative work, to me, is never about copying. It’s about learning, interpreting, and expressing through my own lens. It’s a dialogue between generations of design.

📩 Email: office@mariapiacruz.com