The Architect

Mara Veld, & the Axis practice.

Eighteen years of building quiet, durable architecture — and a way of working that keeps one architect close to every detail.

Biography

An architect who stays on the drawing board.

I founded Axis in 2008 after a decade in larger studios, where I learned how easily a good idea is lost between the competition render and the finished building. Axis exists to close that gap: I lead every project myself, from the first site walk to the last site visit.

Trained in Oslo and Zurich, I work across housing, workplace, and cultural buildings, with a recurring interest in how daylight, mass, and material can make ordinary moments feel considered. The studio stays deliberately small — a handful of projects at a time — so that care never becomes a luxury.

Today Axis works internationally from a studio in Oslo, with completed buildings across nine countries and a quietly growing shelf of awards.

Philosophy

Four principles behind every project

They are simple to state and demanding to honour — which is exactly the point.

Light first

We design the section before the plan, because how daylight enters a space decides how it feels to be there.

Honest material

Concrete, timber, stone and steel are left to read as themselves and to weather gracefully with age.

Of its place

Each building answers its site, climate and context rather than importing a fixed signature style.

Restraint

We remove until only what is necessary remains — detail in service of calm, never of decoration.

Experience

A practice over time

  1. 2008 — Present

    Founder & Principal Architect

    Axis · Oslo

    Leading all commissions personally across residential, commercial, cultural and urban work, with completed buildings in nine countries.

  2. 2004 — 2008

    Senior Architect

    Brandt & Co · Zurich

    Led the design of two award-winning cultural buildings and a mixed-use city block from concept to completion.

  3. 1999 — 2004

    Project Architect

    Holm Studio · Oslo

    Delivered private houses and a public library, developing the detailing rigour that still defines Axis today.

  4. 1993 — 1999

    Education

    Oslo School of Architecture · ETH Zurich

    Diploma in Architecture with distinction; exchange year at ETH focused on structure and material.

Recognition

Awards & honours

  • 2024House of the Year, Finalist — Slate HouseNordic Architecture Prize
  • 2023Public Building Award — Civic LibraryEuropean Concrete Society
  • 2022Housing Design Medal — Quarry TerracesRIBA International
  • 2021Urban Vision Award — Harbour MasterplanWorld Architecture Festival
  • 2019Emerging Practice of the YearArchitizer A+ Awards

Let's design something lasting.

If the way Axis works sounds like the right fit for your project, I'd be glad to hear about it.

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