Carmen Fiol-Costa studied architecture at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. She earned a Título de Arquitecto, E.T.S.A. Barcelona (1981), and at this time became a member of the Collegi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya. She attended the G.S.A.P.P. at Columbia University, New York, receiving a Master in Architecture and Building Design (1986). In 1994, she has been an Associate Professor of Urbanism at the E.T.S.A. Barcelona. In 2007 she got the title of PhD Doctor Europeus in Urbanism at the UPC in Barcelona. In 2014 she was appointed Droga Architect in Residence by the Australian Institute of Architects and developed her urban design approach by means of a case study project for Liverpool, NSW.
From 1981-1988, Carmen was one of the leading architects in the Urban Design Department of the City of Barcelona. Illustrative of Carmen's ability is her design for the Fossar de les Moreres (1989), a plaza and memorial adjacent to the cathedral Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona. Carmen's expertise also includes leftover spaces at the periphery of the city, requiring the design of public space as a catalyst for the recovery of identity and urban presence in fragmented and dislocated territories. This strategy of urban reconstruction is especially evident in the Parc del Molinet (1987) where a previous decayed site was transformed into a piece of urban landscape.
Carmen's breadth of experience has continued to instigate powerful architectural works and public spaces in her partnership with Arriola & Fiol. This partnership, along with a diverse lineage of significant public spaces to their credit, have won numerous national and international design competitions, including IULA award in 2007; Prince of Wales Prize in Urban Design, Harvard University in 1990; 1st Prize in Parc de la Villette in Paris, 1981. Carmen has successfully married this large scale work with the design and production of a series of urban furniture and lighting fixtures.
Carmen’s professional profile focus on the importance of public realm: Urban Civic Projects. That is, urban regeneration founded on the principles of design excellence, social well-being and environmental responsibility.