Marina Cervera is a landscape architect and urban planner from Barcelona, Spain. She is the CEO of NABLABCN, Executive Director of the International Landscape Biennial of Barcelona and part part-time teacher at UPC-BarcelonaTech.
Marina holds comprehensive dual professional qualifications in both landscape architecture and urbanism. She completed a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and a Bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture at UPC-BarcelonaTech, followed by a Master's in Landscape Architecture in 2003 and a Master's in Urbanism Research in 2014. This integrated training across disciplines informs her approach to territorial and urban design, bridging scales from site-specific interventions to metropolitan planning.
Before establishing her own practice, Marina worked at Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris and at the UPC Research & Landscape Projects Center under Rosa Barba. She founded NABLABCN in 2003, which has grown into a highly recognised practice with numerous competition wins and international awards. The practice's work on Barcelona's urban transformation has received significant recognition, most notably winning the New European Bauhaus Prize in the 2025 WINNER CHAMPIONS category for the Green Axes and Squares of Barcelona's Eixample project. This transformative work, which includes the Girona Street Axis, was selected for the Premi Espai Públic CCCB and received the Premi Catalunya d'Urbanisme Manuel de Solà-Morales ex aequo, awarded by the Catalan Society for Territorial Planning in 2023. These projects exemplify innovative approaches to retrofitting historic urban fabric with ecological infrastructure and reimagining public space for contemporary urban life.
Marina has coordinated the Barcelona Landscape Biennial since its 4th edition and currently serves on both its Executive and Scientific Committees, playing a pivotal role in its evolution from a regional academic event to an internationally recognized professional platform. She teaches at UPC-BarcelonaTech and has been invited as guest lecturer, moderator, and jury member at universities and institutions worldwide. Her work has been recognized with prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the Mies van der Rohe Foundation Fellowship, the Caixa d'Arquitectes Scholarship, the Villa LeNôtre Fellowship in 2016, and the Luigi Einaudi Chair at Cornell University in 2019. Marina's practice bridges professional innovation, academic research, and institutional leadership, contributing to the articulation and advancement of landscape architecture across scales and through international discourse.
Between 17 and 21 November 2025, the 13th International Landscape Biennial of Barcelona will take place under the motto Natural Intelligence. Since its beginnings in 1999, the Biennial has become one of the most significant international platforms for landscape architecture — a space where practice, research, and education converge. We spoke with Marina Cervera, executive […]
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