Olivia Haynie Lara is an architect, explorer, and cultural preservationist whose work explores design, anthropology, and adventure. A licensed pilot, she flies to some of the most remote and extreme environments on Earth, immersing herself in disappearing architectural traditions and indigenous ways of building while reimagining their relevance for the future.

Educated at Cornell University, she began her career at leading design firms in New York City,contributing to major cultural and public projects. During this time she completed her licensure process and is a licensed architect in the United States registered in Florida.

Seeking deeper alignment with her values, she left NYC for Marrakech, where she founded an independent practice devoted to regenerative design, sustainability, and cultural preservation. Her work challenges modern approaches to architectural design, instead seeking instead to preserve and evolve the knowledge embedded in the world’s oldest and most resilient structures.

Spanning architecture, hospitality, beauty, and aviation, each a facet of a broader mission: to design systems and experiences that regenerate cultural and natural ecosystems, celebrate and preserve the evolved knowledge of cultures, and create more beauty in the world.

She is developing a boutique hotel collection inspired by vernacular architecture, a beauty brand reviving ancient rituals, an expedition-based research initiative exploring architecture’s adaptation to extreme environments, and a flight club pioneering new forms of adventure aviation.

Olivia’s work bridges past and future, tradition and technology, and permanence and impermanence. Her work creates opportunities for innovation while respecting the deep heritage of place and culture, offering transformative spaces that spark connection and inspire discovery.