Luis M. Mansilla was born in Madrid in 1959. In 1982 he graduated as an architect from the Madrid Polytechnic University's School of Architecture (ETSAM), where he has been a lecturer in the Architectural Projects Department since 1986. He has also been a visiting lecturer at the Frankfurt Städelschule, the Navarra School of Architecture, the Puerto Rico New School of Architecture, the Barcelona International School of Architecture, the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Emilio Tuñón Álvarez, also born in Madrid in 1959, graduated as an architect from the Madrid Polytechnic University's School of Architecture (ETSAM) in 1981. He has lectured at the ETSAM, the Puerto Rico New School of Architecture, the San Pablo CEU Architecture Foundation, the Frankfurt Städelschule, the Navarra School of Architecture and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. In 1990, he founded the Mansilla & Tuñón Architects Studio with Luis M. Mansilla.
The projects designed by Mansilla & Tuñón include the Zamora Archaeology and Fine Arts Museum, the Madrid Region Documentary Centre in the former El Aguila Brewery, the Castellón Fine Arts Museum, MUSAC in León and the Cantabria Museum, awarded the Mies van der Rohe Contemporary Architecture Prize in 2007. In 2008, Mansilla & Tuñón designed the Flor modular bench in conjunction with Escofet. The two sizes of this radial biomorphic design are connected in a subtle play of similarities and differences. In 2010, they joined Escofet once again to produce the Blow-Up bench in its two and three-seater versions.
