A practicing architect from Lima, Peru, Maria Paula Saavedra is in her final year of pursuing an M.F.A. degree in interior design at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design. She is a recipient of the school’s coveted Welch Fellowship. Hear from Saavedra about her design inspiration, personal values and why Georgia State is the right place to pursue her degree.
“My philosophy is to design high-quality spaces that meet people’s and community needs that adapt well to their cultural and ecological context."
Saavedra earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) in Peru, 2018. She started working as an independent designer before graduating from her undergraduate studies. Her design projects include the Gift Shop redesign at the Contemporary Museum of Art in Lima (MAC), a break room office in Lima’s Jockey Plaza Mall and a re-usable trade fair stand for Johnnie Walker, among other projects. She is also part of ‘El Macetero’, a startup whose mission is to design gardens and parks with vegetation adapted to Lima’s climate.
Saavedra currently serves as a research assistant on interior and architectural design sustainability topics.
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