House for María / Metriq Estudio

María’s House was born without a budget, in an adverse context, but with a clear purpose. Located in the working-class neighborhood of La Gatazo, in southern Quito, it emerged in the aftermath of the pandemic as a response to the neglect and vulnerability of an elderly woman whose home was on the verge of collapse. The project was conceived as an exercise in empathy, understood not only as design, but as action, self-management, and social commitment.