Amann Cánovas Maruri
Amann Cánovas Maruri is a Madrid-based Spanish architecture practice founded in 1998 by Atxu Amann Alcocer, Andrés Cánovas Alcaraz, and Nicolás Maruri Mendoza.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Amann Cánovas Maruri is a Spanish architecture practice established in Madrid in 1998 by the architects Atxu Amann Alcocer, Andrés Cánovas Alcaraz, and Nicolás Maruri Mendoza. The firm works across architecture, housing, public buildings, and urban-space design, with a body of work noted for its combination of strong visual identities, collective housing expertise, environmental considerations, and responses to specific cultural or historic settings. The practice is particularly associated with experimental and socially oriented architectural work. Its projects often use expressive forms, vivid colors, and materially distinctive façades while addressing practical questions such as housing density, climate, circulation, and public use. This approach is visible in the firm's colorful housing project in Madrid's Carabanchel district, completed in 2009, and in the Monteagudo Museum in Monteagudo, Navarre, completed in 2010. The latter reflects the practice's engagement with cultural and civic architecture as well as with the interpretation of place and heritage. Amann Cánovas Maruri gained broad international visibility through its design of the Pavilion of Spain for Expo 2020 Dubai. Located in the Expo's Sustainability section, the pavilion used a group of distinctly colored conical volumes to promote air movement and help moderate internal temperatures. Its domes incorporated recyclable materials including wood, iron, and fabric, while the overall design connected traditional insulation concepts with contemporary architectural and environmental techniques. The project presented Spanish architecture through a combination of symbolic form, climate responsiveness, and material experimentation. The firm's work has also been documented in architectural criticism and publishing. Its collective-housing work was the subject of the volume "TA 18—Collective Housing—Amann-Cánovas-Maruri," and the practice was discussed by Carmen Espegel in an article examining the work of its three founding partners. These publications place the office within contemporary Spanish architectural discourse, particularly in relation to housing and the development of architectural form. Publicly available reference material identifies the practice's Madrid origin, founding partnership, selected projects, and international pavilion commission, but does not provide reliable detail on its current staff size, legal structure, revenue, ownership, or independent corporate subsidiaries. Accordingly, this profile treats Amann Cánovas Maruri as an architecture and professional-design practice rather than as a listed industrial company.
History
Amann Cánovas Maruri was established in Madrid in 1998 by Atxu Amann Alcocer, Andrés Cánovas Alcaraz, and Nicolás Maruri Mendoza. The office's identity is closely tied to the collaboration of these three eponymous architects and to a practice that moves between residential architecture, cultural buildings, public projects, and urban environments. The firm's work has been associated especially with collective housing and with an architectural language that can be visually assertive while remaining attentive to social and environmental conditions. Its 2009 housing project in Madrid's Carabanchel district is characterized in reference material as a particularly colorful residential building. The project illustrates the practice's interest in using façade treatment and architectural expression to give collective housing a clear civic and urban presence. In 2010, the practice completed the Monteagudo Museum in Monteagudo, Navarre. This commission expanded its profile in cultural architecture and demonstrated its engagement with buildings whose meaning is shaped by local history and public use. Alongside built projects, the office's housing work became the subject of the publication "TA 18—Collective Housing—Amann-Cánovas-Maruri." Architectural scholar Carmen Espegel also wrote about the three architects and their work in an article published in Oris in 2007, helping situate the practice within contemporary architectural criticism. The firm's most internationally visible commission is the Pavilion of Spain at Expo 2020 Dubai. The pavilion was placed in the Expo's Sustainability section and used a composition of strongly colored conical volumes. These forms were intended to assist air circulation and contribute to temperature moderation in the pavilion's hot-climate setting. The project also included domed structures made with recyclable materials such as wood, iron, and fabric. Its design combined references to traditional insulation techniques with contemporary architectural and environmental strategies. Through these projects, Amann Cánovas Maruri has developed a profile based on the intersection of architecture, public representation, housing, material experimentation, and climate-aware design. The available reference material does not establish detailed information about later organizational changes, staff numbers, ownership, revenue, or a formal corporate group. Its documented history is therefore best understood through its founding partnership, published architectural work, and selected completed commissions.
- 2020
Pavilion of Spain designed for Expo 2020 Dubai
[1]The practice designs Spain's pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai, using colored conical volumes and recyclable-material domes in the Sustainability section.
- 2010
Monteagudo Museum completed
[1]The Monteagudo Museum in Monteagudo, Navarre, is completed.
- 2009
Carabanchel housing project completed
[1]The office completes a notably colorful housing building in Madrid's Carabanchel district.
- 2007
Practice discussed in Oris
[1]Carmen Espegel publishes an article examining the work of Atxu Amann, Andrés Cánovas, and Nicolás Maruri in Oris.
- 1998
Practice established in Madrid
[1]Atxu Amann Alcocer, Andrés Cánovas Alcaraz, and Nicolás Maruri Mendoza establish the Amann Cánovas Maruri architecture practice in Madrid.
Products and positioning
Contemporary architectural practice combining expressive design, collective housing expertise, public architecture, and environmentally responsive solutions.
Exhibition pavilion · 2020
Pavilion of Spain at Expo 2020 Dubai
Designed for Spain's presentation at Expo 2020 Dubai, the pavilion was located in the Sustainability section. Its composition of strongly colored conical volumes supported air circulation and temperature moderation. Domes made with recyclable wood, iron, and fabric combined references to traditional insulation methods with contemporary environmental and structural solutions.
Collective housing · 2009
Carabanchel housing project
This Madrid residential project, completed in 2009, is recognized for its unusually colorful architectural treatment. It represents the firm's work in collective housing and its use of a strong visual identity within a dense urban neighborhood.
Museum and cultural architecture · 2010
Monteagudo Museum
Completed in Monteagudo, Navarre, in 2010, the Monteagudo Museum is a cultural building associated with the practice's interest in public architecture and projects shaped by local historical and geographic context.
Recent events
- 2020
Amann Cánovas Maruri designs the Pavilion of Spain for Expo 2020 Dubai[1]
Product launch · Other
The practice designed Spain's pavilion for Expo 2020 Dubai. The building was located in the Sustainability section and used colored conical volumes, domes, recyclable materials, and passive environmental ideas to address the site's climate.
- 2010
Monteagudo Museum completed in Navarre[1]
Product launch · Other
Amann Cánovas Maruri completed the Monteagudo Museum in Monteagudo, Navarre, adding a cultural and museum project to its portfolio of public architecture.
- 2009
Carabanchel housing project completed in Madrid[1]
Product launch · Other
The practice completed a residential housing building in Madrid's Carabanchel district, noted for its highly colorful exterior treatment.
Sources1 sources
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