Architectural Journeys: Spaces We Call Home
- Ana Villamizar
- May 11
- 3 min read
What is a home?
Is it a place, a feeling, or the memories we carry with us? For me, home has never been a single structure. It has been a series of spaces, landscapes, and experiences that shaped how I understand architecture, belonging, and myself.
Venezuela: The Foundation
My first understanding of home began in Venezuela, surrounded by mountains, warm weather, and the closeness of extended family. Home was never just the house itself—it was movement, gathering, and imagination.
As a child, I remember wondering if our three-story house held secret passages, inventing stories while looking out the window at endless greenery. Long car rides to visit relatives became part of childhood, where the backseat transformed into forts made of blankets and imagination. Those journeys taught me early that home was not confined to one place—it existed wherever family, comfort, and memory traveled with us.
Venezuela gave me my first understanding of space as emotion.
Puerto Rico: The Embrace of the Sea
Puerto Rico was where I was raised for most of my life, and where my connection to the sea became part of who I am. The beach was never just a destination—it was a way of living, a rhythm, a constant source of peace and joy.
Having lived in different corners of the island and later studying architecture in San Juan, I experienced Puerto Rico through many perspectives. Coastal communities, urban life, sunsets, greenery, and the warmth of everyday life all shaped my understanding of place.
But Puerto Rico also taught me resilience. Living through Hurricane Maria, earthquakes, and part of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way I see architecture forever. I experienced firsthand how fragile buildings can be, but also how strong communities become in adversity. Architecture stopped being only about aesthetics—it became about protection, adaptation, and survival.
This is where architecture became personal.
United States: Seattle — The Architecture of Possibility
Spending a year in Seattle during high school while learning English introduced me to a completely different world. It felt modern, experimental, and deeply connected to nature. Seattle showed me a different architectural language—one shaped by innovation, but never at the expense of nature. I was drawn to the way the city embraced both technological progress and the natural environment, creating spaces that felt both inspiring and grounded.
I was fascinated by the city’s architecture and landscapes—the parks, the water, and the greenery that seemed woven into everyday life. Visiting Chihuly’s glass installations, the EMP Museum, and later being amazed by the Amazon Spheres expanded how I understood design. Architecture could be expressive, futuristic, and immersive.
Seattle showed me architecture as a creative outlet.
Spain: Madrid — Architecture in Motion
Madrid is where I am now, and perhaps where my understanding of home feels the most layered. It is a city that allows me to live architecture daily—not only through buildings, but through movement, transport, public space, and walkability.
I love being able to walk almost everywhere. I love that life here does not happen only indoors. Running through the city’s parks and public spaces has become one of the ways I experience Madrid most intimately, allowing me to connect with its rhythms, landscapes, and changing seasons. Volunteering here has also deepened my relationship with the city, helping me experience not only its spaces, but its communities and human connections.
Retiro Park has become one of my favorite places in every season, while spaces like Parque de La Gavia and Valdebebas remind me how much I value openness, greenery, and breathing room within urban life.
Every place we visit leaves an imprint on how we understand space, beauty, and belonging. This collection captures some of the cities and architectural moments that have inspired my journey—historic skylines, dramatic landscapes, and contemporary landmarks that remind me architecture is not only something we inhabit, but something we experience and carry with us.
What started as a temporary chapter became something much deeper. I fell in love with the country, its spaces, and the beauty of everyday urban life.
The Essence of Home
If this journey has taught me anything, it’s that home has never been fixed.
It was childhood imagination in Venezuela, beach days and resilience in Puerto Rico, inspiration in Seattle, and the rhythm of daily life I’ve built in Madrid.
Home is not one place. It is every version of ourselves shaped by where we’ve been.
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