Iker Gil is the founder and partner at MAS Studio. Educated and trained as an architect in Spain and the US, Iker has two decades of experience in architecture and the cultural practices around architecture and the built environment. Throughout his career, he has designed new buildings, interior renovations, and architectural installations. He has also developed his work as a curator, exhibition designer, editor, writer, educator, and an administrator.
Since founding MAS Studio, he has worked on projects of multiple scales and typologies, including single-family and multifamily residential projects in Chicago, New Orleans, and Spain; signage standards for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin; architectural installations across Chicago; new bike routes linking Chicago neighborhoods; and an exploration of the potential of the Chicago Pedway. Prior to MAS Studio, Iker practiced at SOM, Carlos Ferrater, b720, and UrbanLab.
Iker is the 2024 Victor A. Morgenstern Family Visiting Chair in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) along with architect Michel Rojkind. He has also previously taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), and the Escola da Cidade (São Paulo). In addition, he was the co-director of the Chicago Expander program at Archeworks with Antonio Petrov.
He is the editor of the books Radical Logic: On the Work of Ensamble Studio (MAS Context, 2021), Chicago Concrete Map (Blue Crow Media, 2018), and Shanghai Transforming (ACTAR, 2008). In 2018, Iker co-edited the book Art in Chicago Neighborhoods (City of Chicago) documenting the 50×50 Neighborhood Arts Project created by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
Iker was the Associate Curator of the US Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale that took place in 2018 and the co-curator of Exhibit Columbus 2020-2021. He has co-curated or curated the exhibitions Poured Architecture: Sergio Prego on Miguel Fisac at the Graham Foundation, Nocturnal Landscapes at the Instituto Cervantes of Chicago, BOLD: Alternative Scenarios for Chicago included in the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, a gallery as part of the exhibition Chatter Architecture Talks Back at the Art Institute of Chicago, Shanghai Transforming at the Chicago Architecture Foundation and Virginia Tech, and Synchronizing Geometry held at S.R. Crown Hall (IIT).
He has received several grants and awards for his work, including the 2010 Emerging Visions Award from the Chicago Architectural Club, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation grants, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts grants, Ruy de Clavijo grant by Casa Asia, and PICE grant by AC/E (Acción Cultural Española). He has been selected as one of “Fifty Under Fifty: Innovators of the 21st Century” by a jury composed by Stanley Tigerman, Jeanne Gang, Qingyun Ma, and Marion Weiss. He has been named New Progressive by Architect Magazine, included in the Hall of Fame in Newcity’s annual Design 50 as well as in i4design Magazine‘s 5th annual Suite Sixteen that recognizes “the Midwest’s most innovative design pros who are pushing old boundaries, exploring new concepts and making a difference in design with the work that they do.” He received a Presidential Citation by the American Institute of Architects Chicago for his work as part of Dimensions of Citizenship.
