BASE Milano and MAYRIT, Madrid’s Biennial of Design and Architecture, are pleased to announce a new curatorial residency with Saúl Baeza. The residency will support the research and development of a curatorial project to be presented as part of MAYRIT 2026, which will take place under the conceptual framework (Super)Models, developed by Mohammad Salemy and Eduarda Neves.
During his residency at BASE, Baeza will work on a proposal that responds to the themes and provocations introduced by Salemy and Neves. (Super)Models explores models as generative agents that mediate complexity, balancing theoretical fidelity with the constraints of application. These frameworks do not merely represent but perform—opening new ways to think, act, and imagine the role of design in contemporary life.
Baeza’s research investigates the use of identity prostheses as tools to critically reframe contemporary surveillance systems, and explores the material cultures that shape and are shaped by socio-technical infrastructures. In Milan, he will engage with cultural institutions, visit regional collections of decorative arts, and initiate dialogues with Italian artists, designers, and researchers. The residency will culminate in a public presentation of VISIONS BY PEOPLE ABOUT MATERIAL CULTURES, a biannual critical platform on materiality that he leads as editor-in-chief.
This collaboration reflects MAYRIT’s continued commitment to experimental curatorial formats and BASE’s role as a catalyst for cross-disciplinary cultural production.
BIO
Saúl Baeza is Creative Director at DOES, founder and Editor-in-Chief of VISIONS BY, and co-director of the Master in Design for Emergent Futures (MDEF) at IAAC and Elisava. His work integrates speculative research, design, and critical inquiry, and is developed in close collaboration with institutions such as TU Eindhoven and Elisava Research. Saúl’s international teaching experience includes positions as lecturer and researcher within prestigious institutions, including Harvard GSD, Central Saint Martins, London College of Communication, RMIT University and Rhode Island School of Design.
(SUPER)MODELS IS A RESIDENCY DEVELOPED WITH
The Mayrit Biennial is an event that merges design, architecture, and contemporary art, held every two years in Madrid. Through exhibitions, installations, and activities throughout the city, Mayrit positions the Spanish capital as a creative hub for emerging talent.
AND SUPPORTED BY
This project is supported in part by a grant from Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), a state agency.