Background

Common Dwells is a design studio with architecture studies at its foundation, though its services and expertise extends beyond conventional boundaries.

The studio was formed in 2020, when Swedish and Argentinian architects, Rebecca Norberg and Agustina García del Río, met in Copenhagen. What began as conversations — shaped by Rebecca’s Scandinavian background and Agustina’s South American heritage — evolved into a sustained dialogue across cultures, climates, and design traditions. Shared references, parallel curiosities, and a mutual interest in how people inhabit space laid the groundwork for a distinct way of thinking and working.

From the outset, Common Dwells was driven by a desire to develop new tools rather than replicating existing formulas. This pursuit led to the articulation of The Circadian Home — a conceptual and practical framework that places human biological rhythm at the centre of design. The idea became both the intellectual foundation and the operative method of the studio.

Today, with one part of the practice based on Bornholm, Denmark, and the other in Vancouver, Canada, Common Dwells operates internationally. The studio collaborates with private clients, cultural institutions, and design-led companies on projects across architecture, interiors, objects, and research — unified by a commitment to designing in alignment with the rhythms that shape daily life.

Founders

A woman standing near a glass door, with trees and a house visible outside, wearing a beige sweater and gold earrings.

AGUSTINA GARCIA DEL RIO

Agustina works as an Argentinian architect and designer, she also teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Agustina has spent the past fifteen years working across a diverse range of disciplines, including architecture, interiors, furniture, stage design, jewellery and photography. She also held a position as a professor at the University of Buenos Aires for eight years before relocating to Copenhagen and then moving to Vancouver, Canada where she’s currently residing.

Architect (Argentina)
B. Arch, M. Arch, M. Teaching Specialist in Architecture, Design and Urbanism.

A woman with short reddish-brown hair, wearing a beige shirt, sitting on a wooden chair with one leg crossed over the other, inside a room with light-colored walls and a wooden door, next to a tall floor lamp with a pleated shade.

REBECCA NORBERG

Rebecca works as a Swedish architect, designer and creative director.

Rebecca has spent the last decade working in different positions within the architecture and design industry. Now based on the island Bornholm in Denmark, she runs Common Dwells and Relief Gallery.
Rebecca has worked for globally renowned cultural institutions, design companies, associations, and on a diverse range of projects, these include but are not limited to The Danish Architecture Centre, The Audo, MENU (now Audo Copenhagen), SoHo House, and Ómós Guesthouse and Restaurant.

Architect & Designer (Denmark)
B. Landscape Arch., MA. Spatial Design.