Catarina Gill de Barros Leonel
I was born and raised in Barbados. Outside of academics, I love getting into discussions about holistic living and community-focused initiatives. Learning about different cultures and how they embrace sustainable living is truly eye-opening for me and this is what fuels my drive to make a positive impact on the world.
“Food is a perfect opportunity for community and a binding agent for people.”
Sowing the seeds of change
Catarina Gill de Barros Leonel is currently pursuing a Master in Architecture at IE University and is nearing the end of her studies. For her final project, Catarina is emphasizing the importance of rediscovering the origins of our food and understanding its journey to our tables. In her opinion, food is not only sustenance but also a powerful means of building community and forging connections among people.
While she enjoyed the hustle and bustle of living and studying in Madrid, it’s no secret that Catarina’s time in Amsterdam was a truly “enriching experience”. Following on from this, her current goal is to transform how we perceive food and its impact on our lifestyles. She’s leading the charge for new conversations surrounding food and is committed to redefining the relationship between people and the food they eat.
The main challenge for Catarina is incorporating her vision into architectural design. She acknowledges the longstanding issues of food accessibility and sustainability and is determined to find innovative solutions. She was inspired by her peers and professors in Madrid and Amsterdam to pursue cutting-edge initiatives in sustainability and circular living. These experiences pushed her to translate her ideas into tangible architectural designs that address these pressing issues.
“The biggest challenge at the moment is how do I make new architecture to address the issue of how we approach food.”
While in Amsterdam Noord, Catarina was also inspired by projects that used water as a central theme, reflecting the city’s unique landscape. One notable project she took part in, called “Showmanship,” exemplified the principles of community living and circularity to offer a holistic approach to sustainable living. Catarina believes in architecture’s capacity to positively change our surroundings and has observed firsthand how these ideas are practically applied in real communities.
Through her academic pursuits, she has demonstrated IE University’s core values of innovation and sustainability time and time again. Her project is a testament to challenging conventional thinking and creating meaningful change in the world. As she continues to explore new avenues in architecture and design, leveraging the Master in Architecture’s emphasis on business and entrepreneurship, Catarina is more focused than ever on her vision of a more sustainable and interconnected future.
