ABOUT MAZi

Despoina wanted to be a painter, tried to be a photographer and succeeded as a professional nomad architect.

She studied Architecture and Urban Planning at the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, GR before moving to Delft, NL where she was awarded an MSc in Architectural Engineering from Delft University of Technology in 2011. Her graduation project Exit Through the Prison has received a Dutch Archiprix preselection nomination and a special mention on the Greek Annual Theses Awards (greekarchitects.net).

Between 2012 and 2014 she worked as a Lead Design Architect at the acclaimed architectural practice b2ai, in Brussels, BE, where she participated in a wide range of educational, civil and commercial projects including The One, a high rise office building and a nuclear waste lab and participated in competitions with winning proposals including the World Architecture Festival shortlisted A la Croisée des Chemins Primary School and Kindergarten and a new typology for a penitentiary institution for the New Prison in Haren, BE.

Between 2014 and 2016 she joined the design team of Foster+Partners based in California, US, working on the pioneering Apple Campus 2 (The Spaceship) in Cupertino as a member of the Workplace Team focusing on interior office space design, specialized Software Labs, on-site work etc.

After that, she moved to Gothenburg, SE, where she joined Kanozi Arkitekter, working on major educational and commercial projects of the city from concept to realization.

In 2015, Despoina was part of a group painting show, visual energy, at D. Rivera Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute and in 2017 she self-published a travel photography book, ecume akoma, with photos taken from her road trip from San Francisco to New York. ecume akoma was presented in 2018 at Tabya Art Gallery in Thessaloniki, Despoina's hometown.

In 2019 she moved in London and co-founded MAZi ARCHITECTS. Vagabond life is over.

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Katerina was always good at telling stories but she didn't know how to make a living out of that. She became an architect accidentally and realized she can tell her stories through her buildings/architecture.

She studied Architecture and Urban Planning at Democritus University in Xanthi, GR before moving to Rotterdam, NL where one of her dreams came true as she joined OMA*AMO in 2011. For the next two years Katerina worked there on a variety of inspiring infrastructure, master-planing and cultural projects including the Parc des Exposition in Toulouse that has recently been completed. She also worked along side the AMO team conducting architectural research for a number of publications.

Between 2012 and 2013 she enrolled on the educational program of "Strelka institute for urbanism, architecture and design" in Moscow, RU. She joined the (Re)Charge Information studio where she conducted research on 'smart cities' and urban data phenomena following her interest in public space and digital/contemporary living.

In 2013 she moved to London, UK and joined Grimshaw Architects where she participated in a number of high profile UK rail projects focusing on urban realm design, interdisciplinary coordination, stakeholder engagement and team managing. In Grimshaw architects Katerina has worked on a number of design stages and has grown into a confident and reliable team leader and mentor for younger colleagues.

Katerina determination to be a good leader reaches outside the office. She frequently participates in industry mentoring sessions, she has been a coach for Future Frontiers and has been engaged with RIBA and their Future Leaders seminar.

At her spare time she writes plays that she one day hopes to produce and trains for charity boxing fights she one day hopes to win.

She recently co-founded MAZi ARCHITECTS because she came to believe that the best stories are the ones you share.

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