Ms Melina Guirnaldos Diaz

(she/her)

Biography

Melina Guirnaldos Díaz is a qualified Architect and Lecturer in Architecture Design at the Welsh School of Architecture (WSA). Her research interests evolve around the search for design principles outside mainstream heritage studies to better address the issue of heritage value, including questions of tangibility and politics in conservation practices with a particular focus on urban Post-industrial heritage from a multiscalar approach. She is also interested in exploring how female designers contribute to its understanding and the social construction of its significance. 

Prior to joining the WSA as a Lecturer, Melina worked as a Heritage conservation consultant for the Andalucía Regional Government in Spain and the research project Euro- Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology (EMUVE), funded by the European Commission under the programme Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, aimed at the search for innovative design methodologies to re-activate urban landscapes in crisis. In 2007, Melina co-founded W+G Architects, where she has developed international projects such as the Landscape Intervention and Restoration of the Palace of the Emperor Susenyos and the Jesuit cathedral in Ethiopia, the competition for the urban regeneration of Santiago de Chile Government area (3rd prize) or the restoration of the Oratory of the Partal mosque in the Alhambra awarded in 2019 with the prestigious Grand Prix Europa Nostra 2019 and Europa Nostra 2019.

Professional memberships

• The International Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) member
• Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) member