Graduated at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), with a one-year stay at Roma Tre University (Italy), Xabier Artola Amonarriz (Irura, 1996) completed his studies at the School of Architecture of San Sebastián (ETSA) in 2020, obtaining the highest mark for his Master's Thesis. During his degree, he combined his studies with an intense career as a dantzari, winning three consecutive editions of the Basque Country solo dance championship and performing with prestigious companies such as Kukai, Artxipielagoa and Arineketan. Beyond the impact of dance on his identity, he also considers growing up in a rural environment to have been a determining factor, providing him with a vision linked to the environment and a strong sense of community.

He began his professional career in Tolosa before completing his degree, participating in residential, commercial and industrial projects for three years. This stage was followed by a two-year collaboration with Juanjo Arrizabalaga, where he experimented with geometric freedom in large-scale single-family homes. In 2024, thanks to the Basque Government's Global Training grant, he moved to Mexico to join Tatiana Bilbao's studio, where he collaborated on a parish centre in Monterrey, among other projects. This was a project with strong community roots, which allowed him to delve deeper into issues such as light, geometry, form and materials, and to get closer to contemporary Mexican architecture, still marked by craftsmanship and honesty.

As these projects were not signed under his name, they are not included in his application. Instead, Xabier presents his Master's Thesis accompanied by a selection of his own work, developed in parallel with his Mexican collaboration, which anticipates his vision of architecture and marks the beginning of an independent career.