Clara San Millán

Clara San Millán is a Master Architect, illustrator, and designer working between Zurich and Madrid. In 2025, she was awarded a scholarship from the Ministerio de Cultura de España for the development of a comic project, and in 2023 she received the IBK Grant for Cultural Creators in the comics category. 

After several years of professional practice as an architect in international firms, she transitioned into illustration and design, driven by her passion for drawing and storytelling. She began working as an illustrator and designer for the Swiss publishing house HelveLq, and since 2021 has dedicated herself fully to an independent career. Her work has since spanned editorial and commercial illustration across multiple countries, collaboraLng with clients such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Domus, Süddeutsche Zeitung, El País, the Rietberg Museum, and the FIFA Museum. In parallel, she has published fanzines and comics, and her work has been exhibited at fesLvals and publishing fairs in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Spain. 

She has also contributed as a guest reviewer in the Bachelor in Architectural Studies program at IE University and has been invited to speak at the School of Architecture at the University of Thessaly and at Aula Mimaster in Editorial Illustration Studies in Milan. Additionally, she worked as a Visual Designer, providing live illustrations for the Future Visions for Swiss NaAonal Parks workshop series within the Planning of Landscape and Urban Systems (PLUS) department at ETH Zurich in 2018 and 2021. 

She is currently an adjunct professor at IE School of Architecture and Design, where she teaches Graphic CommunicaLon and Experimental Workshop. 

Corporate Experience

• Freelance illustrator and Designer, 2021–Present 
• illustrator and Designer, HelveLq, Switzerland, 2021–2022 
• Project Architect, Dürig AG, Switzerland, 2013–2020 
• Project Architect, SLETH, Denmark, 2012–2013 
• Intern Architect, Espegel-Fisac Arquitectos, Spain 2010 

Academic Experience

• Adjunct Professor, IE University, Spain, 2024–Present 
• Speaker, University of Thessaly, Greece, 2022 
• Speaker, Aula Mimaster, Italy, 2022 
• Visual Designer / Illustrator within the department Planning of Landscape and Urban systems - PLUS, Federal InsLtute of Technology - ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2018, 2021 

Academic Background

• MArch und BSc Universidad de Valladolid, Spain, 2003–2011  
• Diploma at ETSAM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain  
• Erasmus grant at Università degli Studi Roma Tré, Italy. 2005–2006