Alec Mahar

An architect by profession, María de la Paz began her career as an interior designer, working for 15 years in residential, commercial and hospitality projects in her native Costa Rica, while also becoming a passionate promoter for visual arts in Costa Rica and Central America, through her work in the Bienal Centroamericana de Artes Visuales, as a member of the Latin-­American Aquisitions Comittee for the Tate Modern, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Fundación Pro-­Museo de Arte y Diseño Contemporáneo, and as an enthusiastic collector, focusing on costarican and latin american contemporary artists. She has also experimented in ceramic art, sculpture and 'site-­specific' pieces, which  are in dialogue  with nature and in direct interaction with their natural surroundings and living entities.  

In  2008,  Maria  de  la  Paz  opened  her  architecture  studio,  taking  on  only a  few  small  scale  residential projects  at  a  time,  with  the  intention  of  further  exploring  the cultural,  spiritual,  environmental, experiential  and  ethical  aspects  of  the  built  environment.

Through  her  practice,  she  aims  to  re-­interpret  ancestral  building  traditions,  to  enhance and   promote   local   craftsmanship   and   economies,   while   delivering   projects   of   essential simplicity  and  cultural consciousness.  One  of  her  main  intents  is  to  create  spaces  that  will benefit  the  client  emotionally  and spiritually  just  as  much  as  it  does  aesthetically.