I was born and raised in Bogotá Colombia, and I am a licensed architect in Colombia, where I have a professional degree in Architecture from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. This is a RIBA recognized architecture school. I have a master’s in Planning and Urban Design & Management from the Institut Français d’Urbanisme, in France. Most of my practice experience occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I have lived for the past 22 years.  I am in the process of completing the 7 exams required to become a licensed architect in California, and I have recently obtained my LFA (living future accreditation).

For the past 6 years I have been working on schools: new construction and modernizations, design-build, and lease-lease back, modular and stick frame construction, private and public schools. I have experience with the process of documentation and permit with the Division of the State Architect. My prior experience includes mixed use multi-family housing, custom residential, remodels, interiors and finish carpentry.

I learnt English at the age of 11 when my father took my sister and I to London for his sabbatical year. He is now a retired Engineering Teacher. I learnt French by studying in Bogota, at the Alliance Française and continued my learning and practice while studying in Paris, where I lived for 2 years.

The concept of Sustainability was integrated into my architecture education, I believe, because of the fact that a country like Colombia  is forced to create a consciousness around resources (and lack thereof) and there is an awareness for the importance of thinking in terms of both lifecycle costs and value oriented design. My own personal values have also led me to be aware and prioritize the need for honoring the natural environment: the wilderness that buildings are replacing.

This is for me the point of being an Architect: to replace the wilderness with wisdom, endeavoring to design buildings that reproduce the feeling of wellness that Nature gives humans, and stand connected in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem.

Invite to question ourselves, speak the unspoken, and push forward established boundaries.

Architecture is both an art and a technical practical endeavor. Architecture is a social and cultural expression. For the architect, architecture is a challenge, to replace the nurturing harmony and beauty of the natural environment with a man made practical construct. In my opinion, good architects have grasped the poetic dimension of architectural design and practice, and have been able to create a balanced interaction between the existing site landscape and the vision they bring  to life with their inherent abilities: to be inspired by the place, to understand the harmony of materials, color, proportions, air, views and light, to orchestrate a team working as required to collectively materialize the vision.

Architecture is, in fact, a collective creation. Architects are leaders and planners and project managers, beyond that, I would say that good architects are also poets, artists, community leaders, who can see and materialize the emotional connection that humans have with their environment, in such a way that it allows both nature and people to coexist and replenish. The final product however, the built environment, is only possible thanks to the participation and skill of all involved in the process: clients, architects, structural, electrical, mechanical engineers, lighting, acoustical, interior designers, landscape designers, builders, tradesmen, craftsmen… all needed to materialize a vision.