Mozambique: Maria Gabriela Carrilho Aragão

Born in Maputo, Mozambique, Maria Gabriela Carrilho Aragão is the founder and principal architect of A OFICINA — Design e Arquitetura, E.I., a micro design and architecture studio based in Maputo, Mozambique (2018–). She holds a bachelor’s of architecture (Hons.) from the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa (2006), and is a licensed professional architect with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession, South Africa (SACAP, 2011–).  She also holds a certificate in translation from the Associação Portuguesa de Tradutores in Lisbon, Portugal (2023), and furthered her education in creative art criticism and writing with a course from the NODE Center for Curatorial Studies in Berlin, Germany (2024).

Aragão began practicing architecture in South Africa in 2007, and since 2016 has been based in Mozambique, where she continues to practice in addition to her work as an architectural storyteller, researcher, and curator. She was a guest lecturer at the School of Architecture, Planning, and Geomatics at the University of Cape Town (2021), where she also held the roles of an external examiner (2013–2015) and teaching assistant (2010–2011) for the BAS Design and Theory Studio.

Her illustrated essay “TRAVESSIA — Impressões de Viagem / Field Notes” was originally published in contribution to the Archive of Forgetfulness project curated by Dr. Huda Tayob and Bongani Kona with support from the Goethe Institut in Johannesburg, South Africa (2021). An audio-narration of the essay was incorporated in the “Watery Stories” component of Tayob’s project Index of Edges, showcased at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2023). Aragão also contributed her essay “Who Will Bear Witness?” to Disembodied Territories, a project co-organized by the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics in London, England and the Flanders Architecture Institute Online (2022). She has translated multiple works from Portuguese to English, including the monthly magazine Revista Xonguila (2020–2023); the book Maputo, Para Lá da Pele / Maputo, Beyond the Skin by Professor Júlio Carrilho (2019); and an article titled “When History is Suspended” by Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa, which was published in Chimurenga Magazine  (2011).