THE PROFILE
IN A NUTSHELL
Omayra Maymó is a Spanish architect and designer occupied in the creation of furniture, lighting and objects, through which she explores the narrative andemotional potential of our material world. After spending a long period of time living and working in Copenhagen, where she founded her design studio in 2016, she is currently based in her hometown, Madrid, from where she collaborates with differentcompanies on an international level.
THE APPROACH TO DESIGN
OBJECTS OF TIMELESS HONESTY; TELLING STORIES THAT TRANSCEND FUNCTION
Her work is centred in creating timeless, honest and meaningful objects that aim to evoke emotional bonds with their owner, and therefore last a lifetime beside them, appealing to the most sentimental aspects of sustainability. She sees herself as a storyteller and conceives the object as a form of expression, as the language of an intention or a meaning that wants to be transmitted beyond the object’s functionality and aesthetics, in order to move people.
WORKING ON A SPECTRUM
In addition to her work with industrial products grounded in a large-scale production context, her more speculative projects, which often result in unique, experimental pieces, make up an important part of her work and approach. Her projects often search for ways to merge these two seemingly opposite frameworks into one, exploring the natural potential of materials and their limits and reconsidering how they are processed, with the aim to bring new perspectives into the design industry and approach more meaningful and human ways of manufacturing.
THE NEW CHAPTER
NOW AVAILABLE: DESIGN PIECES CONCEIVED WITH ESSENCE AND MADE WITH CONSCIENCE
Omayra has recently taken an exciting new step in her creative journey by independently producing a collection of her own original stories. These small yet meaningful works are the result of her personal vision and dedication, and they mark a new chapter in her artistic expression. Each story reflects her unique perspective and thoughtful approach to storytelling. Now, these exclusive pieces are available for purchase only on this website, offered alongside a carefully curated selection of other designs developed for different collaborators.
HAND-MADE PRODUCTION AND SMALL-SCALE MANUFACTURING:
These independently produced designs highlight Omayra’s commitment to craftsmanship and artistic integrity. Every item is made in reduced quantities by small-scale fabricators and skilled traditional artisans who bring each piece to life through their experience and dedication to their craft. This approach ensures that every creation is infused with character, quality, and the human touch that sets handcrafted work apart from mass production.
CIRCULAR AND SUSTAINBLE:
Moreover, sustainability is at the heart of this project, placing a strong emphasis on sourcing only the finest materials that are ethically and responsibly obtained. Whether it’s wood, metal, or other components, each material is chosen with care to ensure minimal environmental impact while maintaining exceptional quality. Through this thoughtful blend of creativity, collaboration, and conscious production, these pieces not only tell stories but also embody values of sustainability and respect for traditional techniques.
THE ONLINE STORY
DISCOVER THE PIECES
THE BIO
& THE CREATIVE JOURNEY
Born in Madrid, Omayra studied a BA & MA in Architecture at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of Madrid.. After graduating she worked as an architect until she moved to Denmark in 2014, where she studied an MA in Industrial Design at Designskolen Kolding, graduating with honours in 2016.
Omayra established her design studio in 2016 in Copenhagen, where she spent the first 4 years of her practice working exclusively for Danish design brand ferm LIVING. In 2020 she initiated her way back to Madrid, where she is currently based, which marked the start of her independent work as a furniture designer.
Her professional career has been recognized both nationally and internationally with renowned awards in the field of design. Among the most notable are the “Fuera de Serie – Design & Innovation Award” by Fuera de Serie; the “Best of Spain” recognition by AD España; the “Young Talent of the Year Award 2021” by Interiores; and “New Designers Award 2019” by Neo2. Outside Spain, her work has also been acknowledged with several nominations for the prestigious Design Awards in Denmark.
Her work has been exhibited in New York, Milan, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Brussels. She has been a guest lecturer and juror at numerous institutions and universities across Spain and internationally. Presently, she teaches regularly at IED Madrid and Universidad Nebrija.
AWARDS AND HONORS
- 2024 Nominated for ‘Best Furniture of the Year’, Design Awards, DK.
- 2024 Winner of a ‘Fuera de Serie. Design & Innovation Award’, Furniture category, ES.
- 2023 Selected as one of ‘30 Brilliant Minds 2023’ by Arquitectura y Diseño, ES.
- 2023 Nominated to a ‘Scandinavian Design Award’ in the ‘Tableware’ category, DE.
- 2021 Winner of ‘Young Talent of the Year’, Interiores Awards, ES.
- 2021 Selected as ‘Best of España’ by AD España, ES.
- 2020 Granted a 2-month residency by the Danish Art Workshops, DK.
- 2019 Nominated for ‘Best Furniture of the Year’, Design Awards, DK.
- 2019 Winner of a ‘New Designers Award’, Home Design category, by Neo2, ES.
- 2019 Winner of ‘Heineken Special Award’, granted by Heineken, ES.
- 2017 Nominated for ‘Young Talent’, Danish Design Awards, DK.
- 2017 Selected among ’50 years, 50 voices of design’ for DSKD Golden Book, DK.
- 2016 Nominated for ‘Best Lamp of the Year’, Design Awards, DK.
EXHIBITIONS
- 2025 ’+Ke LUZ’. Kutrix Gallery. Madrid Design Festival, ES.
- 2024 ‘HOME MADE. CREATE, PRODUCE, LIVE.’. CID Grand-Hornu museum, Hornu, BE.
- 2023 ‘MADRE NATURA’. Centro Cultural de la Villa. Madrid Design Festival, ES.
- 2022 ‘CASADECOR’. Space by Plutarco and Estudio Reciente. Madrid, ES.
- 2022 ‘DULCE AGUA’. Centro Centro, Madrid City Hall, ES.
- 2021 ‘THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR’. Adorno. NYCxDESIGN, US.
- 2020 ‘KILÓMETRO ZERO’. Collective virtual exhibition, ES.
- 2020 ‘NEO2 HOME’. Monkey Garage. Madrid Design Festival, ES.
- 2019 ‘SISTERS’. OX Poblenou, Barcelona, ES.
- 2019 ‘MUJER, FLORERO’. Dimad, Matadero Madrid. Madrid Design Festival, ES.
- 2018 ‘GRADO ZERO’. Palo Alto. Barcelona Design Week, ES.
- 2018 ‘MOLTO MOLTO FUORI’. Casabanchel, Madrid, ES.
- 2016 ‘EFFEKT – Meet the new designers’. Koldinghus, Kolding, DK.
LECTURES, PANELS & JURYS
- 2025 Lecture, M.A. in Interior Design & Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2024 Lecture, Appartamento Spagnolo by Elle Decor Italia & Interiors From Spain. Palazzo Castiglioni, Milano Design Week 2025, IT.
- 2024 Lecture, M.A. in Interior Design & Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2024 Lecture panel discussion ‘Archidesigners’, COAM, Madrid Design Festival, ES.
- 2023 Lecture, M.Des. in Product Design, European Institute of Design (IED), Madrid, ES.
- 2023 Lecture, M.A. in Interior Design & Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2023 Panel discussion, ‘There is no planet B’, PRO Conference Madrid Design Fest., ILE, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, Design Club, Nebrija University, Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Guest juror, final thesis, 4th-year, B.Des. in Product Design, IED, Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Guest juror, final thesis, 4th-year, International Program in Design + Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, TH.
- 2022 Guest juror, final projects 1st-year, International Program in Design + Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, TH.
- 2022 Lecture, Design Conference 2022, Toledo Art School, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, M.Des. in Product Design, European Institute of Design (IED), Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, M.A. in Interior Design & Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, B.Des. in Product Design, ESNE, Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, Experimental Workshop, B.A. in Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, B.Des. in Product Design, European Institute of Design (IED), Madrid, ES.
- 2022 Lecture, Madrid Design PRO Professional Conference, ILE, Madrid Design Fest., ES.
- 2021 Lecture, M.A. in Interior Design & Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2020 Lecture, M.A. in Interior Design & Architecture, ETSAM, Madrid, ES.
- 2020 Guest juror, final projects 1st-year, International Program in Design + Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, TH.
PRESS
Architectural Digest (ES) Architectural Digest (FR) Architectural Digest (DE) Ark Journal (DK) Arquitectura y Diseño (ES) Bo Bedre (DK) Bolig Magasinet (DK) Corriere Della Sera Living (IT) Danish TM (DK) Designlines (DE) Design Milk (US) Design Stories (FI) Dezeen (UK) Domus (IT) Elle Decor (IT) Elle Decoration (ES) Elle Decoration (DK) Elle Decoration (UK) El Duende (ES) El Mundo (ES) Estilo Propio (ES) Form (DE) Frame (NL) Fuera de Serie (ES) Identity (UK) Ignant (DE) Interior Design (US) Interiores (ES) Leibal (US) L’Observatoire (FR) Mad & Bolig (DK) Marie Claire Maison (ES) Milk Decoration (CA) Neo2 (ES) Nordic Notes (UK) Nytt Rom (NO) Pasajes Arquitectura (ES) ROOM Diseño (ES) RUM (DK) RUM International Edition (DK) Sight Unseen (US) Wallpaper (UK) Wohnrevue (CH)
Her work is centred in creating timeless, honest, meaningful and beautifully simple objects that aim to evoke emotional bonds with their owner, and therefore last a lifetime beside them, appealing to the most sentimental aspects of sustainability. She sees herself as a storyteller and conceives the object as a form of expression, as the language of an intention or a meaning that wants to be transmitted beyond the object's functionality and aesthetics, in order to move people.
In addition to her work with industrial products grounded in a large-scale production context, her more speculative projects, which often result in unique, experimental pieces, make up an important part of her work and approach. Her projects often search for ways to merge these two seemingly opposite frameworks into one, seemingly opposite f exploring the natural potential of materials and their limits and reconsidering how they are processed, with the aim to bring new perspectives into the design industry and approach more meaningful and human ways of manufacturing.
Her work has been recognized with several awards and honours and has been exhibited in New York, Milan, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Brussels. She has been a guest lecturer and jury member at numerous institutions and universities across Spain and internationally. Presently, she teaches regularly at the Product Design programme at IED Madrid and at the Industrial Design Engineering programme at Universidad Nebrija.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
+ 2024 - “Design Awards - Best Furniture of the Year” nomination for the Tenon Lounge Chair for New Works. Granted by the three major Danish lifestyle magazines.
+ 2024 - Winner of a “Fuera de Serie - Design & Innovation Award” in the Furniture category for my design Porta Armchair for Omelette Editions, granted by the Spanish lifestyle magazine Fuera de Serie.
+ 2023 - Selected as one of "30 Brilliant Minds" in the category of Emerging Talent by the Spanish design & interiors magazine Arquitectura y Diseño.
+ 2023 - Nomination to a “Scandinavian Design Award” for the Pleat Pitcher in the tableware category, granted by the German design media Nordic Wannabe.
+ 2021 - Winner of “Interiores Awards - Young Talent of the Year”, granted by the Spanish design & interiors magazine Revista Interiores.
+ 2021 - Selected as "Best of España" by the Spanish edition of Architectural Digest, AD España.
+ 2020 - Granted a 2-month residency by Statens Værksteder for Kunst (Danish Art Workshops, Copenhagen).
+ 2019 - “Design Awards - Best Furniture of the Year” nomination for the Rico Lounge Chair for Ferm Living. Granted by the four major Danish lifestyle magazines. Developed during my time at Ferm Living.
+ 2019 - Winner of a “New Designers Award - Home Design”, awarded by the Spanish design & fashion magazine Neo2.
+ 2019 - Winner of “Heineken Special Prize”, awarded by Heineken among all 2019 Neo2 Awards winners.
+ 2017 - Nominee for the "Danish Design Awards - Young Talent", granted by DDC, Danish Design Center, and the trade association Design Denmark.
+ 2017 - Selected as one of ’50 years, 50 voices of design’ for the Design School Kolding Golden Book, featuring 50 of their most prominent alumini on the occasion of their 50th anniversary.
+ 2016 - “Design Awards - Best Lamp of the Year” nomination for the Carronade high floor lamp. Granted by the four major Danish lifestyle magazines. The lamp was developed for Le Klint during my time at Markus Johansson Design.
+ 2016 - Recipient of a Gudrun og Erik Kauffeldts Fond Grant, Denmark.
+ 2016 - Graduated with honours at Design School Kolding, Denmark.
EXHIBITIONS:
+ '+KE LUZ'. Collective exhibition with light as the protagonist. Curated by Teresa Herrero and Ciuco Gutiérrez, at the ephemeral Kutrix Gallery, located in a construction warehouse in Madrid, as part of Madrid Design Festival. February 2025.
+ 'HOME MADE. CREATE, PRODUCE, LIVE.'. Collective exhibition exploring self-production featuring works from masters like Enzo Mari, Ettore Sottsass, Hella Jongerius and Erwan Bouroullec among others. Curated by Chloé Braustein-Kriegel and Fabien Petiot, at CID Grand-Hornu museum in Belgium. Oct. 2023 - Feb. 2024.
+ 'MADRE NATURA'. Collective exhibition exploring sustainable prospects, curated by Teresa Herrero, at Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, as part of Madrid Design Festival. Feb-April, 2023.
+ 'CASADECOR'. Collaboration with 2 pieces on the space designed by Plutarco and Estudio Reciente. Madrid. Spring, 2022.
+ 'DULCE AGUA'. Collective exhibition exploring the subject of water, curated by Ana Domínguez Siemens. Centro Centro, City Hall of Madrid. Spring, 2022.
+ 'THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR'. Collective virtual exhibition. A selection of Spanish design curated by Ana Domínguez Siemens for Adorno as part of NYCxDESIGN. November, 2021.
+ 'KILÓMETRO ZERO'. Collective virtual exhibition. July, 2020.
+ 'NEO2 HOME'. Collective exhibition at Monkey Garage, as part of Madrid Design Festival. March, 2020.
+ 'SISTERS'. Collective exhibition at OX Poblenou, Barcelona. March, 2019.
+ 'MUJER, FLORERO'. Collective exhibition at Dimad, Matadero Madrid, as part of Madrid Design Festival. Feb-March 2019.
+ 'GRADO ZERO'. Collective exhibition at Palo Alto, as part of Barcelona Design Week. June 2018.
+ 'MOLTO MOLTO FUORI'. Collective exhibition at Casabanchel, Madrid. April 2018.
+ 'EFFEKT - Meet the new designers'. Collective exhibition at Koldinghus, Kolding. June-October 2016.
+ 'HOMELESS DESIGN', Collective exhibition at Salone del Mobile de Milan. April, 2012.
Omayra Maymó is a Spanish architect and designer occupied in the creation of furniture, lighting and objects, through which she explores the narrative andemotional potential of our material world. After spending a long period of time living and working in Copenhagen, where she founded her design studio in 2016, she is currently based in her hometown, Madrid, from where she collaborates with differentcompanies on an international level.
