Pizarro Juanas, María José

María José Pizarro is an architect, graduated from the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM) in 1995, and holds a PhD from ETSAM, awarded in 2013.

Since the 2001–02 academic year, she has been teaching at the Madrid School of Architecture. From 2016 to 2024, she served as Academic Secretary of the Department of Architectural Design. She is currently an Associate Professor and has been awarded three six-year research periods (sexenios) officially recognized by the Spanish National Research Agency.

She is currently a member of GIVCO – Research Group on Collective Housing and was a member for ten years of PROLAB – Contemporary Architectural Design Research Laboratory.

She leads ProtoPIA – Pedagogical Prototypes for Innovation in Architecture, an educational innovation group that has been awarded numerous Educational Innovation projects through UPM calls. She has also participated in conferences and seminars on architectural education and innovation, including the JIDA – Jornadas sobre Innovación Docente en Arquitectura.

Since 1996, she has worked professionally in partnership with Óscar Rueda, with whom she founded Rueda Pizarro Arquitectos. Their work has been published in numerous national and international media.

Their work was shortlisted for the 10th Spanish Architecture Biennial (2009) and has received numerous awards, including the 2006 National Housing Award, in the category of publicly subsidized housing; First Prize in the 4th Ibero-American Architecture Biennial (2004), in the category of architects under 40; and COAM Awards in 2005, 2011, 2013 and 2024, as well as the 2024 Asprima Award.