Ayla Azizova is a Rotterdam-based architect and researcher, and the founder of Atelier Azizova.

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Her work explores spatial strategies and informal architecture as tools for activism and mediation in social, geopolitical, and environmental crises.

She works across scales—from art projects, and installations to spatial strategies and theoretical research—and has 8 years of experience in the Netherlands contributing to multidisciplinary projects in urbanism, architecture, and landscape.

Ayla has worked with offices including Marcel Lok Architecten, MASA Architects, MADMA Urbanism + Landscape, and Niels Olivier Architecten. 

 

She holds an MSc in Architecture from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, complemented by studies

in Azerbaijan and Portugal.

Her master’s thesis, Space of Coexistence: Informal Market as a Peacebuilding Tool, investigates how architecture can foster dialogue and rebuild trust in regions affected

by long-term frozen conflict, using informal marketplaces as catalysts for peaceful interaction.

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Ayla is also engaged in peacebuilding initiatives such as Bright Garden Voices and is an active member of the Architectural Climate Action Network (ACAN NL).