Episode Description

Iker Gil is a founding partner of MAS Studio and editor in chief of the nonprofit MAS Context. Trained in Spain and the United States, he brings two decades of experience spanning practice, curation, publishing, and education, with roles including 2024 Morgenstern Visiting Chair at IIT, Associate Curator of the U.S. Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, and co-curator of Exhibit Columbus 2020–2021. His work has been recognized with grants and awards from organizations such as the Chicago Architectural Club, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and the Graham Foundation, as well as honors from Architect Magazine, Newcity’s Design 50, i4design Magazine’s Suite Sixteen, and a Presidential Citation from AIA Chicago for Dimensions of Citizenship.

Iker’s story begins in Spain, where he grew up surrounded by design through his parents’ eye for furniture and admiration for thoughtfully made objects. Even though they were not architects, that environment cultivated an early sensitivity to design, and he decided at a young age that he wanted to become an architect. Drawn to a broader understanding of architecture as more than just buildings, he moved to Barcelona for his undergraduate studies, where school and city alike presented opportunities to explore architecture from multiple perspectives urban, cultural, and experiential. Those formative years sharpened his interest in how conversations of architecture can always extend beyond conventional boundaries.

During his undergraduate studies, fellowship brought him to Chicago, where he not only broadened his professional and cultural perspective but also met his future wife. He eventually decided to make the city his home after returning to Spain to finish his thesis and working in architecture outside the academic setting, reflecting on what kind of practice he wanted to build. He later pursued his masters degree in Chicago and began his professional career at SOM, working within a global firm on urban design projects at multiple scales. While immersed in practice, he continued to cultivate a parallel interest in research and curating exhibitions, becoming increasingly focused on curating conversations and asking questions that could trigger dialogue about how architecture is communicated.

“We move through cities, so we see things that those who grew up there might miss.”

MAS Studio emerged from the idea that there is more than architecture as traditionally defined, a desire to explore ideas that cross between design, research, and cultural production. Through MAS Studio, Iker began to work on smaller scale projects where research could be applied in real time and where architecture could be challenged and reimagined. A book on Shanghai became a catalyst for this approach, opening up questions about cities, perception, and translation across contexts. “We move through cities, so we see things that those who grew up there might miss”, he reflects. In this way, practice becomes a way of seeing and connecting, not just producing individual objects or buildings.

“I was very interested in how we communicate architecture? How do we talk about architecture? How do we bring other people that do things differently as a starting point for a dialogue to see the other ways of practice, their other types of work that are interesting. Let’s present that work, but present it always with the idea it has to introduce a conversation that sets up a dialogue with other people.”

MAS Context grew out of MAS Studio as a distinct platform for publications, curated conversations, and exhibitions. While MAS Studio focuses on architectural practice, MAS Context is a nonprofit space for discovering and remaining curious about ideas around design, intentionally structured to challenge and expand the field. “I was very interested in how we communicate architecture? How do we talk about architecture? How do we bring other people that do things differently as a starting point for a dialogue to see the other ways of practice, their other types of work that are interesting. Let’s present that work, but present it always with the idea it has to introduce a conversation that sets up a dialogue with other people.” MAS Context creates opportunities for designers to share perspectives, for architecture to operate in different places in Spain and the United States, and for audiences to access new forms of practice.

Throughout the conversation, Iker emphasizes that there is no single path into or through architecture. “Not everyone has the same career. Not everyone has to follow the same path. Not everyone has the same background, the same needs, the same experience… You have to create your modes of practicing.” His trajectory from Spain to Barcelona, Chicago, and back again; from global firm work to small scale practice, research, and nonprofit publishing embodies that philosophy. By weaving design, curation, editing, and education into a coherent practice, he shows how architecture can be understood as a network of interventions, conversations, and platforms. His work with MAS Studio, MAS Context, and the SOM Foundation underscores the power of creating spaces, physical and discursive, where architecture is not only built, but also questioned, communicated, and continually reimagined.