From Mendoza to Zaha Hadid: the architects behind OF Studio

In London, yet still grounded in Mendoza, Valentina Cerrone and Sebastián Andía develop an architectural approach that crosses scales, cultures, and contexts. Since 2017, they have led OF Studio, a space where design is conceived as an open process: conceptual, sensitive, and in constant dialogue with its surroundings.

The duo boasts a strong background in international studios such as Asymptote Architecture and even Zaha Hadid Architects. At the same time, the Mendoza natives maintain an active connection with their home province, where they promote their own projects combining art, landscape, and technology. Works like the Brutal Honesty residence encapsulate this pursuit: an architecture that is not only built, but integrated, lived, and felt.

OF Studio: thinking architecture through concept and experience

Andía grew up surrounded by unavoidable references: the son and nephew of architects (Carlos and Gerardo Andía, respectively), his connection to art, drawing, and form appeared early on. Cerrone was also shaped within that world of plans and models—architecture was part of everyday life at home.

Both studied at the University of Mendoza and completed a master’s degree at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. For the past eight years, they have operated as an international studio with a flexible, collaborative approach, exploring architecture, art, and human experience to generate meaningful change at both local and global levels.

At OF Studio, everything starts from a clear idea: concept as the backbone. “The conceptual aspect of projects is very important to us. It’s something captured from the beginning and must remain true until the end,” they explain.

This emphasis translates into projects that seek balance between context, identity, and symbiosis. “We always talk about a triangulation between the sociocultural, technology, and the sensory. We design for the contemporary world, considering the user of the space and its social impact,” they add.

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Their background within Hadid’s universe is evident, especially in their use of curiosity as a driving force. “Every day is about trying to do something that hasn’t been done before—something you’re proud to see all the time. The impossible is our everyday currency,” they say with a laugh.

One project that best synthesizes this vision is Land Mark, in Dubai Creek Harbour—a sand plaza that integrates desert symbols into curves that seem carved into the ground. “The challenge was to create a space that worked as a meeting point for a culture that wasn’t ours, but the process was the same: thinking about how people become part of the place and how they’ll use it. We always seek identity—something relevant to the place and its people,” Cerrone summarizes.

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Brutal Honesty: where landscape and architecture merge

Although based in London, Cerrone and Andía maintain a constant connection with Mendoza. They return every year and observe the province from a dual perspective: as both insiders and visitors. “We feel proud when we see something new—we love Mendoza. There’s huge potential, and we want to be part of its growth because we believe we can contribute,” they note.

This connection translates into projects focused on sustainability and local innovation—from high-altitude homes designed in dialogue with their environment to a boutique hotel in the Uco Valley. Among their most notable works is Brutal Honesty, a residence in Chacras de Coria that has gained international recognition in China, Australia, Turkey, and Taiwan. “It received a lot of exposure, and that makes us very happy,” they admit.

The house encapsulates their design approach from an international perspective, yet with a local and authentic identity. Its earth-toned walls emerge from the ground like rock formations, continuing the mountainous landscape. Rather than imitating nature, they integrate into it through a contemporary logic, where the organic and the inhabitable coexist without artifice. In this pursuit, each project is understood as something broader than a single work.

“What you design transforms the experience of an entire community, and every project is a collective construction,” say the creators of OF, where architecture is conceived and built collaboratively—a constant intersection of ideas, disciplines, users, and perspectives.

Zaha Hadid: a global legacy reaching Buenos Aires

Cerrone and Andía’s trajectory is also connected to the studio of the renowned Iranian-British architect Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize (2004), thanks to a body of work that redefined space through curves, movement, and a logic that challenges traditional rigidity.

That vision has also left its mark in Buenos Aires: at the corner of Avenida del Libertador and Bullrich stands L’Avenue Libertador, a 38-story tower where glass and concrete combine in undulating forms that engage with the surrounding environment.

The building, the posthumous debut of Zaha Hadid Architects in South America, also acts as a meeting point between that global scene and the trajectory of the Mendoza-born architects.

And so, between London and Mendoza, between the global and the intimate, the work of Cerrone and Andía becomes a bridge. At OF Studio, each project is an opportunity to rethink how we inhabit the world today—with identity, awareness, and a perspective that never loses sight of either its origins or its future.