Music Composer and Spatial Futurist
MARIA LORENA LEHMAN
Specialization
Maria Lorena Lehman, founder of MLL ATELIER, specializes in the design-composition of symphonic worlds:

Statement of Practice
Arkisymphonics: A Movement
I compose symphonic space. My creative process is the vehicle by which I travel to test my ideas and visualize their evolution. From such odysseys, I return with authored texts, sonic compositions, experimental art, and avant-garde design films as artifacts that tell immersive stories to uplift life in ways not yet imagined. I create at all scales: from small tools, to buildings, to cities in physical, virtual, and extended reality realms.
When we reach for what we can become, we see better ways to solve for what we have not yet been. For this reason, I orchestrate both sound and space as a composer, through a style and philosophy I call ‘Arkisymphonics’ — where form fuels growth. With science-fiction thinking, I unlock new frontiers of symphonic space at the nexus of neuroscience, emerging technology, and physics to reimagine how we, as a humanity, influence our own experience, and subsequent evolution. Thus, each of my compositions is made to help grow and actualize our highest human potentiality.
Since the earliest days of my education, I have been inspired and influenced by the Swiss-born German artist and violinist, Paul Klee. His teaching that “movement underlies the growth and decay of all things” has deep influence on my philosophy and practice of music and architecture. As he writes how “a line is a dot that went for a walk”, he teaches how a point or beat can grow to become a line or note, and how a line or note can grow to become a column or melody, and how a column or melody can grow to become a wall or a harmony. These early concepts still hold as I continue to ideate projects that focus on transformation and evolution.
For me now, movement is threefold: first, it is a physical action; second, it is a collective push toward a vision; and third, it is the stirring of the soul that ultimately fuels the previous two. With movement, we grow or decay. It is my hope that through my transcendent orchestrations of symphonic space, I use movement to inspire, nurture, and innovate beneficial growth that uplifts our world. In essence, I design and compose for the grand 'symphony' of humanity.
The Founder
Notable Awards
Commitment to innovation, creativity, and design for human potential has earned MLL ATELIER recognition globally.
2024
International Leonardo da Vinci Prize: The Universal Artist
2023
Harmony for Humanity: The Global Consciousness Art Prize
2023 - 2025
Fellow of the Professional Artist Association
2022
Boutique Design Firm of the Year for North America: THA Innovation and Design Award
2021
3D Design Firm of the Year for United States: THA Innovation and Design Award
2019
International Research builds the case for 'Interaction Narratives' based on the work of Maria Lorena Lehman | Buildings: Peer-Review Journal
2018
HP Mars Home Planet Competition Finalist: Hewlett Packard: Urbanization of Mars Rendering Challenge
2017
Silver Medal Nautilus Book Award Winner: Nautilus Book Awards: Creative Process
2016
Routledge Featured Author Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group
2015
JDR Industry Award Nominee: Best Blog in Architecture JDR Industry Blogger Awards
2004
Digital Design Prize Harvard University Graduate School of Design
1998
Juris Jansens Memorial Award: Excellence in Design Virginia Tech
1997
Michelle Currie Memorial Scholarship: Excellence in Design Virginia Tech


