About
Forms of Living is a research and design practice founded in 2019 by architects and researchers Dr. Lola Lozano Lara and Dr. Elena Palacios Carral. Based in London, the practice engages with existing structures and explores the relationship between built form and use, with a particular focus on the political role of architectural design. They work from the principle of developing material strategies of minimal intervention that can produce transformative social and spatial effects.
Their approach is tested through the design of systems, furniture, exhibitions, and buildings, as well as through teaching, drawing, and writing. Grounded in history, feminist and postcolonial theory, their work draws directly on the research developed through their doctoral studies. Lola’s PhD investigates the typology of the vecindad in Mexico City, situating this disappearing form of collective housing within indigenous traditions of domesticity, Spanish colonial urbanism, and republican reforms. Her research argues that domestic architecture provides a framework for understanding the city’s history and social fabric while pointing to the urgent need for alternative housing models beyond industrialized paradigms. Elena’s PhD examines the typology of the artist’s studio as a precarious space that merges domestic life with intellectual work. She defines this process as the “studioification of the home,” highlighting how economic and architectural forces have normalized precarity for home-based workers. She is also developing research on the life and work of British-American architect MJ Long and Mexican architect Ruth Rivera Marín.
In 2023, Forms of Living curated and designed Portraits of a Practice, an exhibition at the Architectural Association’s main gallery (October–December). They are now developing a toolkit for the exhibition to travel within the UK and internationally. Ongoing projects include the refurbishment of a home in Walthamstow and the design of an art gallery in Mexico City.
Teaching and writing are integral to their practice. Together, they have led design studios at universities across the UK for more than a decade and currently teach at the University of Cambridge and the Architectural Association in London. Lola also lectures on the Interior Architecture programme at Leeds Beckett University, while Elena tutors dissertations at Central Saint Martins. Collectively, they bring over twelve years of practice experience, having worked on projects ranging from furniture to large-scale housing and cultural developments for public and private clients in the UK and abroad. Before founding Forms of Living, they contributed to practices in London and Mexico City including Squire and Partners, Morris+Company, Serie Architects, and Forensic Architecture.
Collaborators past and present:
Isabella Synek Herd
Contact
Unit 5H Stamford Works
3 Gillett Street
London N16 8JH