A lifetime of learned beauty of proportion in Florence, architectural restraint in Milan, cinematic feeling in Los Angeles, and quiet precision in Tokyo.

A woman with dark hair wearing a beige sweater and matching beige pants standing in a minimalist room with framed black-and-white photos on the wall, a white vase with pampas grass, and a vintage marble fireplace.

Mélanie Murata, M.S.

An award-winning American architectural designer, art director, and professor, born in Lima to a family of Spanish Castilian and Venetian Italian heritage — descended from architects and engineers on her father's side and couture seamstresses on her mother's. She studied Classical and Renaissance architecture in Florence, then refined her practice in Milan under the mentorship of Piero Lissoni's studio, later deepening that work through a Medici Art Residency with Galerie Philia.

Her career has taken her from Gensler's Hospitality Studio in Los Angeles to NBCUniversal Hollywood, and today she runs KARU, her own design direction practice focused on hospitality and branded residences — advising developers, hospitality brands, royal families (including bespoke commissions for Her Royal Highness in Qatar), and private clients across Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. She's an LA Times 40 Under 40 honoree, has presented work at Milan Design Week, Frieze Los Angeles, Dubai Design Week, and Art Basel Miami, and has been featured in Architectural Digest and Interior Design.

She also teaches as a Professor in the School of Interior Architecture at Boston Architectural College, sits on Dean Denise Rush's Advisory Board there, and has served on the National Board of Directors of the American Society of Interior Designers since 2015. She's currently art-directing a New York capsule collection with Atelier Frigerio Mirva for BDNY 2026, and splits her time across Tokyo, Milan, Los Angeles, and Doha.

A woman sitting on a wooden chair, wearing a white sweater and beige pants, with dark hair and hoop earrings, in a room with plain walls.

Bringing Beauty to the World.

Florence gave her a mathematics for beauty, proportion so exact it feels inevitable. Milan taught her restraint. California taught her that a room can hold a story the way a film holds a cinematic feeling, long after the lights come up. And Tokyotaught her the hardest lesson of all: that the most powerful gesture is often the pause, the silence. What remains is a practice fluent in all four: precise, restrained, quietly cinematic.

A woman sitting on a wooden chair with her chin resting on her hand, wearing a cream-colored sweater, beige pants, and taupe ankle boots, in a minimalistic room with light wood flooring, white walls, a side table, and a staircase.

Mélanie is an incredible designer and architect. She really takes the time to understand and tune in to your aesthetic and needs. She did a stunning job with our project. Not to mention, her professionalism and efficiency were top notch. I highly recommend her to anyone. You won’t regret it.

—Peter Crone, Mind Architect