Loreto Lyon and Alejandro Beals established the studio BEALS & LYON ARQUITECTOS in Santiago, Chile in 2012. An independent practice distinguished by careful attention to context, materials and details, their approach to architecture combines research with a strong focus on making, and aims to contribute to the lives of people who inhabit their projects, providing meaningful and memorable experiences in them.
Their practice has been recognized with various design awards, like Archdaily’s Building of the Year Award and the Oscar Niemeyer Award for Latin American Architecture, both for the project New Town Hall in Nancagua. Their 2016 monograph Beals Lyon Arquitectos: Public Voids (Ediciones ARQ) features a selection of works about public architecture. In 2023, they exhibited at the Venice Biennale within the Chilean Pavilion’s “Moving Ecologies.” They have been visiting professors at Cornell University’s College of Architecture Art and Planning, Università Iuav di Venezia, Scola da Cidade in Sao Paulo, and Universidad Católica del Perú. They currently teach at Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad San Sebastián.
LORETO LYON received the title of Architect from PUC (Chile) in 2005, and a Master of Science degree (MSc) in Environmental Design and Engineering from the Bartlett, University College of London (UCL) in 2011.
ALEJANDRO BEALS received the title of Architect from PUC (Chile) in 2011 and a Master of Philosophy degree at the Royal College of Art (RCA), London in 2012.
