Stephanie Aya Pastrana
Architect - Antropologist
Colombia.
Architect and urban designer holding a Master of Science in Urban Strategies and Design and an Advanced Master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies, Stephanie specializes in bridging the gap between spatial practice and critical social inquiry. Her academic and professional trajectory is rooted in the study of space, memory, and power, exploring how cultural narratives influence the built environment.
Over the past seven years, she has developed projects at the intersection of architecture, urban research, and community-based processes, focusing on public space as a site of negotiation, representation, and collective meaning. Her work engages with questions of social justice, spatial inequalities, and the role of design in addressing historically rooted forms of exclusion and marginalization.
By integrating anthropological methods such as qualitative research and participatory fieldwork, Stephanie develops a deep understanding of local knowledge systems. This perspective allows the Collective to move beyond purely technical or formal responses, fostering design processes that are highly attentive to context, identity, and the plurality of voices involved.
Her interest lies in exploring how architecture and urbanism can contribute to the construction of critical narratives, particularly in regions marked by contested histories. Through research, teaching, and project development, she seeks to support spatial practices that are both reflective of their environment and transformative for their communities.