IMSTUDIO MI/LA | FIRM PROFILE

IM STUDIO Milano/Los Angeles, founded by Ilaria Mazzoleni, focuses on issues related to sustainable architecture and building technologies at all scales of design. Using new concepts, ideas and techniques, derived from bio-inspired investigation, the office is committed to intervening in the built environment with a sustainably-minded approach, privileging ecologically responsible design and construction. At the building scale, the practice’s ongoing research examines how organisms have evolved and adapted to their environment, and applies that knowledge to designing dynamic, flexible and performative building façades. IM STUDIO uses design as a vehicle to promote awareness about endangered species and emphasizes the importance of biodiversity in different regions around the world.

IM STUDIO advanced research in biomimicry uses design innovation that is inspired by the processes and functions of nature. Collaborating with biologists and other scientists from top research institutions, the projects delve deeply into understanding ecosystems in order to inspire sustainable urban planning strategies that address solutions for issues of global climate change.

IM STUDIO further explores the formal capacities of these organic systems, using analysis and data to execute variable models in both digital and material ways. The studio’s existing buildings can be found in California, Italy and Ghana. Using an analytical approach, the firm’s built body of work investigates material processes, forms, geometries, and structural patterns.

IM.PRINT is a think tank where Ilaria and her collaborators explore the interrelationships between the natural and built environment. While the main dedication of IM STUDIO is executing multi-scalar designs, IM.PRINT transverses beyond the boundaries of a traditional architectural practice, primarily through written research, promoting cross-disciplinary discourse.

IM.PRINT often works in parallel with IM STUDIO, offering a broader research platform with multiple formats for exchange. IM.PRINT works have been published online (i.e. Abitare, Domus), and presented at several academic and professional conferences, as a means to disseminate the existing discoveries and developments of its research. Ilaria Mazzoleni has recently been appointed as the Los Angeles correspondent for the new Abitare magazine.