ABRA STUDIO
PROFILE
Coralina Meyer is a Miami and Brooklyn based Architecture, Interiors and Urban Designer whose interdisciplinary experience spans 20 years inventing, developing and building urban habitats and hospitality experiences in NYC and internationally. Her approach to intimate interiors is from the perspective of an urban designer who nurtures collaboration across teams to deliver inspiring spaces and thriving community-centered environments. Creating skyscrapers, parks, restaurants, hotels, brands and homes while university teaching; her work stretches beyond design into community organizing and public advocacy. She has launched international brands for Fortune 500 clients and pioneering startups. Coralina's concept design consulting work and award-winning built projects have been published in the NY Times, Architectural Record, Architectural Digest, LA Times and Metropolis Magazine.Coralina founded Abra Studio design in 2005 to enhance economic, ecological and emotional capital for cities and intimate spaces.
During Coralina's recent tenure as Architecture and Interior Design Manager at Masterworks Development (private equity owner, operator, developer); she collaborated with HFZ Capital, David Chipperfield Associates, Stonehill & Taylor and TG Nickel to erect a mixed-use minimalist skyscraper on Bryant Park NYC. Park Terrace Hotel & The Bryant Residences offer modern respite to the Midtown Manhattan business traveler. While leading several teams to realize this 5 year, expansive ground up construction project from Real Estate deal to design, development and opening; she was a guest lecturer at Parsons School of Design and board member of Retreet America. In addition to ground up construction projects for hospitality, Coralina's role at MDC
transformed the B2B Club Quarters traditional hotels (across18 disparate properties across the US and UK) into a cohesive, public facing brand to unify CQ Hotels. Coralina's urban design approach to an interiors challenge imagined the skyscraper hotel as a technologically seamless, soft city for the weary business traveler. Her design transformation prepared several properties in the portfolio for sale to Blackstone and other private equity companies.
Coralina's previous collaborations with SBE (Hyde Hotels) as an interior designer at ICrave Design included clients ranging from Bellagio, Live Nation and Sushi Samba. She has consulted with firms such as SDV architects, Local Office Landscape and Truisi Suk architects to produce innovative projects for her clients while transforming forgotten neighborhoods and buildings into thriving and diverse creative hubs. Her architecture design career began in luxury residential with Kraft Studio architecture, institutional design and planning working for The New School and mixed use development while at Standard Architects. Coralina found her passion for hospitality development in NYC working on projects ranging from luxury hotels to pioneering restaurants with JFD Studio that defined the Brooklyn aesthetic. Impacting design with economic, ecological and emotional capital; she begins projects by analyzing high yield characteristics of an investment while enhancing historic traditions, natural resources and enlightening experiences for the end user.
Coralina is a multi-lingual, Miami native hailing from generations of Andina chefs, environmental activists and boat builders. After sailing to over 25 countries during her childhood, she studied undergraduate painting at MICA and anthropology at John’s Hopkins, before completing her architecture bachelor’s degree at Parsons School of Design at the New School University (2004). She received an MFA in Combined Media at Hunter CUNY with a minor in Art History (2013). Her rigorous design philosophy was formed during research fellowships at Universitat der Kunst in Berlin studying utopian architecture and urban design (2011), Italian urban design and architecture at Syracuse University Florence Italy (2003), as well as the Museo de Sitio Machu Picchu & Museo Larco Lima Peru to explore Khipu Social Structures and Inca Urban Design (2012). Her work has been exhibited internationally at museums including the Corcoran, Smithsonian Museum, Kunsthaus Brethanien Berlin, Bronx Museum and Queens Museum. Coralina has received awards from NYFA, Young Arts, Oolite Arts and Foundation for Contemporary Art. She is an advocate for the marginalized community who raised her, a board member of ¡Solar Libre!, a mother, mentor and recent adjunct professor in urban design, landscape and architecture at FIU. Coralina is currently a scholar in residence at Miami Dade College Koubek Center (2022-23).
