b.1972 in Spain
www.braakliggendterrein.nl

Almárcegui lives and works in Rotterdam. Her practice is concerned with the planned and unplanned use of urban space. She focuses on rediscovering abandoned or overlooked sites such as preserving wastelands that have remained undeveloped for many years. Noted projects include the renovation of the Gross Market just days before its planned demolition in San Sebastian in 1995 and the renovation of a train station, which she temporarily turned into a free hotel -the Hotel Fuentes de Ebro, Zaragoza – in 1997. More recently, in 2003, Almárcegui performed an invisible archaeological investigation by excavating the floor of the Sala Montcada, Barcelona, and then restoring it to its original state, all before the opening of her exhibition. Almárcegui often produces guides to the spaces she wishes to highlight, these include a guide to the empty lots of Amsterdam, Sao Paulo and the Bilbao River Estuary, as well as a publication on abandoned buildings in the Netherlands that contains 154 examples of modern and contemporary constructions that include a never accomplished museum, a luxurious hotel, a series of open-air swimming pools and bridges and a lighthouse. 

Almárcegui’s projects have been exhibited and produced by Lunds Konsthall, 2005; Sao Paulo Biennale, 2006; Sharjah Biennale, 2007; Momentum, Gallery Ellen de Bruijne Projects, Amsterdam, 2008 and Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, 2008