CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS VOL. 2
Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, Hon. ASLA (Foreword Writer)
Carol Ross Barney, FAIA, HASLA has been in the vanguard of civic space design since founding Ross Barney Architects in 1981. With a career that spans nearly 50 years, Carol has made significant contributions to the built environment, the profession, and architectural education. From the early days in the United States Peace Corps planning National Parks in Costa Rica to recent collaborations with City Governments, Carol has relentlessly advocated that excellent design is a right, not a privilege.
Her body of work, being almost exclusively in the public realm, represents this ethos and occupies a unique place within the panorama of contemporary architecture.
Carol’s projects vary in type and scale, but always uphold a deep commitment to the quality of life. This commitment manifests into spaces that enrich the metropolitan experience; buildings that are environmental stewards, embodying and showcasing sustainability; and spaces that inspire young, curious minds to learn, invent, and break boundaries.
Monica Rodriguez, AIA
Monica Rodriguez is a licensed architect from Los Angeles, CA. She knew she wanted to be an architect at a very young age; with perseverance, drive, and her family’s support, she’s never looked back. She is the proud daughter of two wonderful parents from Tepetongo, Zacatecas, Mexico, and a proud sister of four supportive older siblings, Leticia, Martin, Laura, and Carlos. Her passion projects are low-income, multi-family projects. As a second- generation Mexican-American and LA native, Monica likes volunteering her time at a number of organizations to encourage and inspire children to pursue their dreams and shine their light.
In 2011, she co-developed a sixth-grade architecture mentorship program for Para Los Niños Elementary in LA. In 2020, Monica helped kickstart the current Architecture Mentorship Program that she and coworkers currently have with the Santa Monica and Mar Vista Boys & Girls Club, in the hopes to inspire BIPOC kids to be LA’s future architects. Community involvement is also important to Monica; she is the Board Architect of the Jefferson Park HPOZ. She enjoys exploring other forms of creative expression outside of work including pottery and stand-up comedy.
Katia McClain, AIA, NOMA, DBIA, LEED AP BD+C, LFA
As a Steinberg Hart partner, Katia fuses her expertise leading complex, innovative, and highly sustainable projects with her passion for championing an inclusive, people-focused culture across the firm. Over the last three decades, Katia has worked to create powerful environments that have a positive impact on the diverse communities they serve. Her work expands from private clients and large mixed-use developments to affordable housing and educational spaces in higher education institutions that embrace a culture of inclusivity and diversity.
She serves on the board of the San Jose Downtown Association, the board of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley, and is a founding member of AIA Silicon Valley’s Women in Architecture Committee. She is married to her husband Stephen and together with their dog Hunter, they love travelling the world, seeking new adventures, and learning about other cultures.
Patricia Algara
Patricia Algara is president and founding principal of BASE Landscape Architecture Inc., a visionary award-winning firm in San Francisco and Portland. She is a recognized leader in coalition building and community-driven design. She creates landscapes that immerse children and families of all backgrounds and abilities in learning, exploration, and play.
Patricia was born in central Mexico and has always had a passion for empowering the most vulnerable populations by including them in the design of their spaces. She has engaged Spanish-speaking communities as collaborators in projects from master plans to urban agriculture initiatives, schools, and parks. Her community involvement and advocacy expand the boundaries of traditional landscape architecture.
Patricia earned a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of California at Berkeley, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of Arizona. She studied the “Earth semester” at Columbia University, Biosphere 2.
Katherine Aida Serrano Sosa, AIA, NCARB
Katherine Aida Serrano Sosa is a NYS licensed architect who is native to El Salvador. Coming to the USA at the age of seven, she has set her roots in New York with a sense of respect and appreciation to her Salvadorean roots, as well.
Katherine graduated from the Spitzer School of Architecture in the Macaulay Honors College at CCNY in 2016, and in September of 2019 she became licensed in New York. With over eight years of work experience, she has worked on various types of projects at different scales and phases.
With her experience and knowledge, in 2021, she decided to create Rooted Architecture Studio as a gateway to help others understand the process of design and construction, as well as express her design language. To Katherine, design is spatial problem solving and each project is a resolution to the client’s seen or unforeseen problems/needs.
Outside of Architecture, Katherine enjoys spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys being in nature and being active. She loves lifting and has participated in powerlifting competitions. She currently plays on an adult kickball league, and enjoys occasional indoor rock-climbing, hiking and skiing.
Patricia Centeno, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA
Patricia Centeno, AIA, LEED AP, NOMA, is a principal with BAR Architecture & Interiors, a 75-person architectural, interior design, and planning firm, with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. For Patricia, creation of multifamily and affordable housing has been the primary focus of her career for over twenty years.
A San Francisco based, licensed architect in California, she has been instrumental in helping successfully realize numerous award-winning housing communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area that residents and the broader community embrace. A purposeful leader driven by team collaboration and integrated project management, Patricia has found that “bringing diverse voices to the table results in stronger, more inclusive and resilient design solutions.”
She currently serves on the AIA San Francisco Board of Directors and is an AIA SF Latinx in Architecture (LiA) steering committee member. She is an Executive Board Member and mentor for Arquitina, helping raise the 1% of licensed Latina architects.
Patricia received her Bachelor of Art in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.
Emmanuel Garcia
Emmanuel graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in architectural studies and obtained a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Emmanuel has worked for Wheeler Kearns Architects since 2016, leading institutional, commercial, and educational projects including the Purple Llama Coffee & Record Shop, Ednovate’s USC Hybrid High in Los Angeles, and the Chapel of St Joseph at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, IL— which has been awarded the Interfaith Design Award from Faith & Form and an Interior Architecture Award from AIA Chicago.
In 2021, Emmanuel helped transform a former bank building into a welcoming new headquarters for the North Lawndale Employment Network, a nonprofit on the West Side of Chicago whose clients include citizens returning from incarceration. NLEN was awarded The Driehaus Foundation Non-Profit Real Estate Development Award earlier in 2022.
Emmanuel is also an active leader in his community, serving as the current President for Arquitectos Inc. Most recently he has served as Biennial Committee Chair, AIA National Conference Chair, and Colectivos Chair.
Elizabeth Morales
Elizabeth Morales, Assoc. AIA, is an Architectural Associate at BDE Architecture Inc. in their Chicago satellite office. The firm’s headquarters is in San Francisco, California. BDE Architecture Inc. focuses on designing award-winning market rate and affordable multi-family, transit based and mixed- use projects while applying innovative site planning techniques. She has experience in retail, commercial, and Department of Defense design over the years. As an architectural associate and an Autodesk Certified Professional: Revit Architecture, she is determined to learning the evolving Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the profession to assist in producing quality and efficient drawings.
She is an Autodesk Revit Instructor at the College of Lake County and Waubonsee Community College in Illinois. She is dedicated to teaching architecture and BIM at the community college level to inspire students who are interested in the profession and build an awareness of the licensure process. Being an alumna of CLC, she feels a sense of duty to give back to the college by helping students navigate their options in pursuing architecture.
Elizabeth received her BArch with a minor in Sustainable Design from Iowa State University. While completing her BArch, she enrolled in the Army Iowa National Guard, where she recently retired as a Sergeant.
Patricia Elena Acevedo Fuentes, AIA, NCI CS
Patricia is passionate about creating an equitable approach to community and design. She understands that architecture is powerful and permanent. As an architect, she seeks to make the design and construction of places and spaces more inclusive.
She brings over twenty years of design expertise, cultural sensitivity, and a wild and wonderful wit to her work. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Patricia resided in New York, Florida, and Texas before making the Black Hills her home. She finds joy in adaptively reusing existing buildings and creating infill solutions that catalyze smart growth and renewal with a special love for rural and remote communities.
An engaged and passionate civic leader, Patricia is a 2021 Bush Foundation Fellow. During the fellowship, she is expanding her knowledge of public policy and social justice and her capacity for intercultural development to create a more equitable approach to architecture through policy, planning, practice, and participation.
Daniel Perez, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP
Daniel Perez founded Studio Perez, a San Francisco, California-based design firm in 2005, practicing architecture, interior design, and master planning in Northern California. The majority of his thirty years of professional experience have been on public projects ranging from education, convention, and cultural centers, transportation facilities, affordable multi-family housing, and a wide variety of commercial projects. He advocates for sustainable principles to design energy-efficient buildings that tread lightly on the environment and promote the health and well-being of building occupants. Daniel is a proponent of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in the architectural profession and the built environment.
Studio Perez is a mission-driven practice invested in helping communities and organizations achieve their goals. Many of the projects undertaken in the studio focus on serving underrepresented communities. Current representative projects include the rehabilitation of three existing buildings. The Digital Arts and Culinary Academy project in East Oakland provides learning opportunities for minority youth. The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco provides classes, performances, and programming for the Latinx community. 1005 Powell is a 65-unit residential SRO building in SF Chinatown that will preserve affordable housing for the Chinese community.
Daniel has served on the AIA San Francisco Board since 2016 and is currently serving as 2023 President.
Veronica Pochet, AIA, WELL AP, LEED BD+C, CDT
Veronica Pochet received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1998. As a registered architect, she has managed a wide range of projects that included academic, industrial, commercial, civic, federal, and corporate projects. She is licensed in New York, Florida, and Ohio, and has lived and worked in all three states.
She is an associate at Levin Porter Architects, A community focus design firm founded in Dayton, Ohio in 1960
Her career has included a major focus on sustainability. She is an advocate for sustainable architecture. She believes that good responsible design creates healthy spaces. Healthy spaces improve the experience of the people using the building and improves the local community.
Cristina Maria Gallo McCausland, AIA
Cristina Gallo, AIA, is an architect, co-founder, and President of Via Chicago, overseeing the careful execution of all design projects. She constantly forged new connections with the local community, industry partners, and future collaborators.
As a Colombian and Panamanian immigrant, Cristina drives the firm’s focus on projects in Latin America and within the Spanish-speaking communities of Chicago. She acts as a translator—often literally—between the client, architect, contractor, and DOB officials and brings a lifetime of cross- cultural experience to the design process.
Cristina is currently the Vice President of “Arquitectos,” a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide development, mentorship, and community assistance and further enrich the architectural profession through different cultural views and practices. She is also a mentor for “Arquitinas,” a leadership and licensure initiative for Latina/x women in architecture, working to reach above and beyond the current 1% mark of licensed Latina architects in the U.S. while creating equitable and inclusive opportunities in the profession.
Fabiola Yep, AIA
Originally from Lima, Peru, Fabiola Yep is a licensed architect that aims to enrich communities through her designs, mentoring, volunteering, and equity efforts. Her empathetic approach to design focuses on learning the core values and core needs of the client from the get-go to be prepared to guide and support them throughout the entire architectural process. She currently works at Wheeler Kearns Architects (WKA), a Chicago-based architecture firm. At WKA, she has led various educational and community-focused projects that serve communities in need. As an immigrant, she recognizes the importance of guidance and representation, which are the main drivers of her passion for mentorship. She is an active mentor in many different organizations, such as Big Brother Big Sisters, Ace Mentorship and Arquitina.
Patricia G. Alarcón, AIA
A Ratcliff’s Academic Practice leader, Patricia focuses on creating student-centered environments that elevate and transform the learning experience and build community.
With a career spanning twenty five-plus years, she has worked on new facilities and renovations on K-12 and higher education campuses. With an eye towards successful outcomes, she is committed to engaging broadly and listening deeply, recognizing the value of diversity of thought and experience and the institutional knowledge and insight her clients bring to each project. She is committed to designing for inclusion and fostering a sense of welcoming and belonging in the environments she helps to realize.
Patricia understands the big picture and is mindful of the day-to-day efforts required to meet project goals, budgets, and schedules. Skilled at managing projects of varying scales and complexity, she works closely with multiple stakeholders in all design phases, from early visioning to programming and planning, managing expectations and decision-making to keep projects on track.
Homer A. Perez, AIA, NOMA, LEED BD+C
A fourth-generation Mexican-American, Homer A. Perez was born in San Antonio, TX, in 1971. He grew up on the Inner West Side, one of the city’s most neglected areas. Excelling in his studies, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied architecture. After graduating in a recession, he moved back to San Antonio and joined the Design Team at HEB Grocery Company, a food retailer whose region was Texas. In 1996, HEB placed him in Mexico to design stores addressing the Mexican consumer. HEB and Homer introduced ADA to Mexico.
In 2001, he moved to San Francisco and continued in retail architecture, supporting brands such as Nike, Williams-Sonoma, and Sephora. He became a LEED Accredited Professional in 2005 and collaborated on the LEED for Retail Pilot Program. In 2010, he was named “Top 20 Under 40” by the Retail Design Industry.
Homer possesses thirty years of experience in retail and sustainable design. He is a licensed architect in California and Texas and a LEED AP with a Building Design + Construction credential. Homer has been a member of AIA National since 2001. He helped found the committee Latinx in Architecture in 2013 and supports the Chicano Architecture Student Association at the University of California at Berkeley. He is currently a Senior Store Design Project Manager at Sephora, the Luxury Beauty Company, and is Sephora’s LVMH Sustainable Store Planning Ambassador.
Alzira Maldonado Protsishin, AIA
Alzira Maldonado Protsishin, AIA, the AIA Chicago 2021 Young Architect Award winner, is a Senior Design Architect at EXP, where, for the past nine years, she has focused her career on work in the public realm to make design excellence accessible to all. She has been a key contributor to some of the firm’s highest profile / award-winning projects, including the Washington/Wabash Elevated Station, the 95th Street/Dan Ryan Intermodal Terminal Station, and the US Courthouse in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Alzira earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, and a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. She serves as a mentor in Arquitina, the AIA Chicago WING program, and the AIA Chicago Foundation diversity program.
Francisco Rodríguez-Suárez, FAIA
Francisco J. Rodríguez-Suárez, FAIA was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1970. He is currently the Director of the University of Illinois School of Architecture at Urbana- Champaign. Prof. Rodríguez-Suárez studied architecture at Georgia Tech, the Université de Paris, and Harvard GSD, where he earned a Master of Architecture with Distinction winning the AIA Medal, the Fulbright Fellowship and the Portfolio Award.
In 2017, he was elected president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), an organization that had previously recognized him as Distinguished Professor. As ACSA president, he lobbied for architecture to be included as a STEM discipline and organized an international congress in Madrid to discuss the future of architectural pedagogy. In 2019, he was inducted into the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows, and in 2020, his peers elected him Chairman of the ACSA College of Distinguished Professors.
During his tenure as director, Rodríguez-Suárez has transformed the Illinois School of Architecture’s curriculum and faculty, aspiring for a more diverse community with a sustained presence in Chicago and Barcelona. He organized the first all- female lecture series, as well as one totally dedicated to voices from the Global South. He is committed to facilitating the process for the ISoA to become a partner with communities within the state of Illinois, convinced that architecture could make a profound difference in their spatial and cultural environments.