Passion, discipline, and dedication drive the work of our team, led by Colombian architect Verônica Molina, who is based in Brazil. In 2010, Verônica joined Estúdio Penha as a coordinating architect, becoming a partner in 2016 when she began managing the office alongside Vitor Penha. In 2022, with Vitor leaving the partnership to work on personal projects, Memola Estúdio was born.
The chosen name, Memola, comes from the word "mola" (spring). Initially, it refers to the adaptable hinge, as well as being an ancestral craft technique originating from indigenous women in Colombia and Panama, based on several colorful layers of fabric, made for special occasions such as the birth of a child, a wedding, or even community celebrations. In Spain, the expression means "I love it." With all these references, the name Memola Architecture Studio was created, bringing a new meaning consistent with our successful trajectory and communicating this transition, while making it clear to everyone that the essence and passion for what we do have not changed.
We are located in São Paulo, a city that motivates us to have the wisdom to transform what is not good. In architecture, in contrast to São Paulo, we need to be enchanted by the whole and discover the details little by little. São Paulo may not enchant as a whole, but it enchants as one discovers each corner and each encounter. We like to think that within such a large and dense city, there is space for everyone to be who they want to be.
We have a line of thought, a philosophy, that we are constantly maturing and refining, but at the same time we don't have a single concept. There are several factors that we have to consider when we delve into a new project, each client, each story and program of needs. We believe that the general concept that permeates this entire process is our dedication. What drives us is the recognition of collective work, the union of forces, and that together we are stronger. We work on this philosophy internally at the Studio and in our relationships with all our partners. We know that in addition to having this strength, we need to spread it, we need people to be infected by this desire to make things happen. We build relationships with our partners to have the freedom to position ourselves according to what the project needs, and at the same time we are open to learning what they can teach us.
We believe that architecture is made for people; it's a work of art with interaction, so it needs to consider the human scale, objectives, desires, and how that space will incite certain behaviors and reflections. We need to think about the truth of the materials and what sensations and memories we want to create and evoke.
We believe that the future is not about inventing new things; we need to reinterpret, tell the story in a different way, give new meaning to spaces and places.
