maan is a research-driven architectural practice that investigates the cultural, political, and material conditions shaping the contemporary environment. It was founded by Maximillian Nowotka.
Working between Maracaibo and Mexico City, the studio operates across architecture, design, curatorial practice, and communication, developing projects that range from exhibitions and editorial systems to spaces, buildings, objects, and spatial strategies. Each project is conceived as a tool for producing meaning and activating context, merging critical thinking with material execution. Rather than defining a fixed disciplinary boundary, the practice approaches architecture as a medium through which realities are read, questioned, and constructed.
Founded in 2015, the studio positions itself as a platform for experimentation—one in which architecture is understood as an active cultural practice, capable of articulating ideas, spaces, and narratives.
Maximillian Nowotka (1986) is an architect and independent curator. He graduated in Venezuela (LUZ, 2009), pursued postgraduate studies in architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC, 2011), and later completed a postgraduate program in Ephemeral Space at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC, 2022).
He is a co-founder of the curatorial architecture platform IAC (2009, formerly Distopíalab). In 2016, he co-curated the Venezuelan Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale with the exhibition Urban Forces. Between 2017 and 2018, he served as director of LIGA—Space for Architecture in Mexico City. From 2018 to 2022, he was part of Arquine, where he worked as a content editor and digital strategy coordinator, while also leading communications for the MEXTRÓPOLI Architecture and City Festival. In 2019, he joined the Venezuelan curatorial team for the Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BIAU) in Asunción. Since 2022, he has been National Director of Communications at the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, where he has also taught architecture since 2025.
In 2025, he was invited by Carlo Ratti to participate in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. His work has been exhibited in cities including Venice, Madrid, São Paulo, Berlin, Mexico City, Rotterdam, Huizhou, and Caracas, among others.
He has lectured, taught as a visiting professor, and served as a juror at academic and cultural institutions across Latin America and Europe. His work has been published in international platforms and journals such as Arquine, AU, Harvard Design Magazine, Architectural Record, Divisare, Atlas Mundial de Arquitectura del Paisaje (Braun Publishing), Boundaries Magazine, Revista Escala, Actar Publishers, and Patio Magazine (GSAPP, Columbia), among others.
Selected Exhibitions, Lectures and Participations:
2025 — Extraordinario, organized by Proyector in collaboration with re:arc Institute as part of Abierto de Diseño CDMX, Mexico City.
2025 — Intersections Congress: Toward a Planetary Habitability, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago.
2025 — 14th International Architecture Biennial of São Paulo, Brazil.
2025 — 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Italy.
2024 — Edumeet: Ecotopias, International Congress on Architecture and Transdisciplinarity, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain.
2024 — Jury Member, 20th Peruvian Architecture Biennial.
2024 — Schlossaneignung, Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK), Berlin, Germany.
2024 — Nahui Olin, Acto 1: La mirada, by Rozana Montiel — video installation edition, Mexico City.
2023 — Time Space Existence, European Cultural Centre, Palazzo Mora, in collaboration with Tecnológico de Monterrey, Venice.
2022 — Magenta Landscape Design Festival, Kaunas European Capital of Culture, Lithuania.
2022 — MEXTRÓPOLI Architecture and City Festival, Mexico City.
2021 — RAW Exhibition, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
2021 — Lima Architecture Biennial, Peru.
2020 — Ottica Contemporanea, Naples, Italy.
2019 — 12th São Paulo Architecture Biennial, Brazil.
2019 — Member of the Venezuelan curatorial team for the Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism, Asunción.
2017 — Xinguang Lab: Reimagining the Forgotten Buildings of Xinguang Village, Huizhou, China.
2016 — Co-curator of the Venezuelan Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Italy.
2016 — Nominator, Oscar Niemeyer Award.
2016 — Pan-American Architecture Biennial of Quito.
2016 — Selected to represent Venezuela at the Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism.
2016 — Uneven Growth: Tactical Urbanism for Expanding Megacities, Museum of Modern Art.
2015 — Obras y proyectos en Iberoamérica, Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia.
2015 — Young Artists Salon, FIA – Ibero-American Art Fair.
2015 — Panorama, Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia.
2014 — Idea, Proyecto y Obra, Centro de Arte Los Galpones, Caracas.
2014 — Acciones sobre un pabellón cerrado, Venezuelan Pavilion, Venice.
2012 — 7th European Landscape Biennial – Rosa Barba European Landscape Prize, Barcelona.
2012 — SUB40: Emerging Architecture in Venezuela, Centro Bellas Artes.
2011 — From Paradigm to Paradox: On the Architecture Collectives of Latin America, Harvard Graduate School of Design / Harvard Design Magazine.
Selected Awards and Recognitions :
First Prize, in collaboration with AGA Estudio, for the design competition of the Multipurpose Pavilion at the Andrés Bello Catholic University, Caracas (2023). Honorable Mention in the competition for the curatorial project of the Chile Architecture Biennial (2022). Finalist in Ciudades Brillantes, organized by Fundación Espacio in collaboration with the Red Nacional de Espacios Americanos, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Universidad Central de Venezuela, and the Fulbright Program of the United States Government in Caracas (2022). Finalist in the international competition of the Concéntrico Architecture Festival, Logroño, Spain (2022–2021). Finalist in the International Rammed Earth Competition, organized by Creative Center Platform, Outsider Magazine, and the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union and the Republic of Slovenia (2021). Research Grant for Critical Inquiry awarded by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia (2020). Finalist in Reimagining the Forgotten Buildings of Xinguang Village, organized by the British Council, Shenzhen Architects Association, Azuco, and Hello Shenzhen, China (2017). Honorable Mention in the international competition Utica Junction Pavilion, organized by the City of Roseville, Michigan (2017). Second Prize in the international urban design competition for the second phase of Parque Metropolitano Vereda del Lago, organized by the Government of Zulia, Venezuela (2016). Winner of the Permanencias Artist Residency in Cuenca, Spain, supported by the University of Castilla–La Mancha and the European Regional Development Fund (2015). Latin America Scholarship awarded by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (2010). Honorable Mention in the National Social Housing Award in Venezuela — Eugenio Mendoza Prize (2009).
Collaborations and Commissions:
The studio’s approach to the challenges facing architecture, design, culture, and the environment has led to partnerships and commissioned work with a range of national and international institutions, including the European Capital of Culture, the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union, the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the British Council, Azuko, Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab, Hello Shenzhen!, the Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation, the City Council of Cuenca (Spain), Magenta Landscape Festival, MEXTRÓPOLI, Arquine, Het Nieuwe Instituut, the College of Architects of Lima, the Oscar Niemeyer Award, Permanencias, the University of Castilla–La Mancha, the Museum of London, Lamosa, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Zulia, Centro Bellas Artes, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, TECHO, the Government of Zulia, the Municipality of Maracaibo, Fundación Maracaibo Posible, Andrés Bello Catholic University, Narodowe Centrum Kultury, Rozana Montiel & Calli Ollin, and AGA Estudio, among others.
Collaborators (2010–2026):
Maria Betina Rincón, Jessica Torres, Natalia Rincón, Silvia Atencio, Gustavo Rincón, Wallis Urribarri, Andrea Guisandes, German Olivares, Andrea Nones Kobiakov, Malena Melendez, Simon Arends, Alessandra Triggiano, Andrea Rangel, Simon Gonzalez, Ivanna Zachmann, Vicente Gonzalez, Andrea Molero, Victoria Bauer, Maria Paola Manzano, Claudia Gonzalez, Manuel Beltrán, Carlos Noetzlin, Andrea Moreno, Paola Gomez, Gloriana Rada, Juan Portillo, Darianna Urbina, Sofia Paz, Elsy Finol, Odalis Laviera, Carol Gonzalez, Jeniffer Carmona, Olivia Pratt.
Bureau
Ciudad de México & Maracaibo
Prensa
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Contacto
info@maan-taller.com
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Mexico City
Calle General Juan Cano 90
San Miguel Chapultepec
[+52] 55 3928 2051
info@maan-taller.com
Maracaibo, Venezuela
info@maan-taller.com
Opportunities
For job applications or internship inquiries, please refer to the available positions on this page.