The Practice
Built slowly, on purpose.
Founded in London in 2009, AETERNA keeps a deliberately small studio so a partner carries every commission from first sketch to final handover.
Material honesty, and nothing that needs explaining.
We begin with the site rather than the sketch. Orientation, weather, the way a street behaves at seven in the morning — these are the constraints that give a building its character, and we would rather work with them than around them.
Our palettes stay short. Three materials, well detailed, will outlast a dozen chosen for effect. The result is architecture that ages into its setting instead of dating against it.
The studio now numbers thirty-two people across London, Copenhagen, Kyoto and Lisbon, with forty-one completed commissions.
History
Studio founded in London by Elena Vasquez.
First Nordic commission; Copenhagen office opens.
Lumina Pavilion completed in Kyoto.
Six offices, forty-one completed commissions.
In Their Words
“Their restraint is their greatest strength. They don't fill space; they curate the experience of being within it.”
Julianne Veller
Artistic Director, Veller Gallery
“Four years on, the house still feels newly finished. Every detail was drawn twice and built once.”
Henrik Sund
Private client, Zurich
“They understood our operation better than our own consultants did, and the design never once fought the brief.”
Marta Oliveira
Managing Director, Terra Verde Hotels