Aranguren López, María José

María José Aranguren López (Madrid, 1958) graduated as an architect from the Madrid School of Architecture (ETSAM) in 1983, ranking second in her graduating class with an Extraordinary End-of-Degree Award. She received her PhD from ETSAM with Cum Laude honors in 1987. She is currently a tenured professor of Architectural Design at ETSAM.

She has taught courses, led master’s programs, and delivered lectures, seminars, and classes at various universities, including Yale University, the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia, the Escola da Cidade, and the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo de São Paulo, among others.

Regarding her research activity, she co-directs—alongside her partner—the "Proyectar el habitar" (Designing Dwelling) research group at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and the "Madrid City" Master’s in Architecture program at the Fundación CEU San Pablo.

She served as Commissioner and Director of the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2002, alongside José González Gallegos. Both were responsible for Architectural Design and Compositional Elements in the Architecture Section of the Centro de Estudios San Pablo CEU from 1988 to 2002. They were also the architects in charge of the European Union Presidency Summit—the "European Union – Latin America and Caribbean" summit—held in Madrid in May 2002.

Since 1984, she has developed her professional career in collaboration with José González Gallegos. Together, they have built and developed numerous projects spanning various architectural programs, including public facilities, residential buildings, and renovations. Their work has been recognized and exhibited at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Venice Biennale (Italy), the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (France), the IV Lima Architecture Biennial (Peru), Yale University (USA), the III Salon International de l'Architecture in Paris (France), the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London (UK), and Tongji University in Shanghai (China), as well as in various exhibitions in cities including Rome, London, Paris, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Mexico City, Istanbul, Oran, Belo Horizonte, Cartagena, Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville.

Simultaneously, their projects have received numerous awards, most notably the Europan prizes in 1988 and 1996, the National Award from the Spanish Higher Council of Architects' Associations (CSCAE) in 2005 for the best residential solution, and the National Award for Fine Arts in 2009, granted by the Ministry of Culture.