G.P. Fu ‘15 MSRED
Born in China and raised in Miami. After graduating in 2015 from the MSRED program, Guangpeng returned to work in the Greater China area with a focus in Real Estate Development. Currently with different projects under construction in Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong Province, his firm specializes in boutique and high end residential projects. Vice-President of ZhongChen Investment Holding.

Regina Jiang ‘13 MSAAD

David Lee ‘02 M.Arch
With extensive experience in both the United States and abroad, David Lee, AIA specializes in complex commercial and civic projects. Through a combination of creative design and practical solutions, together with a commitment to collaboration and sustainability, David has a track record of award-winning projects, including the Giant Group Global Headquarters, Kaohsiung International Airport New Terminal, Kinmen Public Library and Arts Museum, and Delta Americas Headquarters, which recently obtained LEED Zero Energy certification. David joined JJP Architects & Planners in 2011 and served as its Director of International Affairs. David recently left the firm to embark on a new adventure.

AWARDS
Taiwan Architecture Awards, Finalist, 2022 Giant Group Global Headquarters

UC Berkeley CBE Livable Buildings Awards, Honorable Mention, 2017 Delta Americas Headquarters

Zhuo (Raymond) Zhang ‘11 MSRED
Raymond Zhang is a Senior Vice President, Head of Greater China & Southeast Asia at Heitman’s Client Service & Marketing group. In this role, he leads Heitman’s capital raising and business development activities in the region, enhancing Heitman’s market presence and delivering Heitman’s innovative investment solutions to investors and consultants in strategic Asia markets. Prior to joining Heitman, Raymond was a Managing Director and Partner at China Orient Summit Capital (COS Capital) and was responsible for investment and global business development. He previously worked at Gaw Capital, where he was responsible for investment in the Greater China region. Raymond started his career at B+H Architects in Toronto. Raymond received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from University of Toronto and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. He is also a LEED Accredited Professional.

GSAPP Memory
The highlight of my time at GSAPP to me was all the amazing asset tours arranged by various professors and the prestigious guest speakers invited to share their wisdoms at class.

León Duval ‘22 MSAAD
León Duval is a Chilean architect who works through the spatial possibilities of the discipline, engaging in inter and transdisciplinary relationships, and teachings, researching and design, both individually and collectively. He understands architecture as a political affair of the built environment and beyond the building itself. He stands that the Global South needs to be equally built and taught. In his practice, he cares for humans and more-than-human relationships, ecologies, and Latinx identities. His search focuses on counterpower images, extractive landscapes, Latin American identity, popular culture and domesticity.

León graduated as an architect in 2009. He holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design at Columbia GSAPP in 2022, where he was the recipient of the Avery Scholarship, the William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize, and the Honor Award for Arguments in Design. He also holds a Master’s in American Aesthetics from the Aesthetic Institute of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, graduating with maximum distinction in 2020. León co-founded the Chilean architecture firm Espiral in 2011 and co-founded the interdisciplinary applied-research collective Colectivo de Palabreo in 2022. Since 2022, he has been the coordinator of professional practices & alumni of the Architecture School of the Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), where he also teaches Design Studio and Research Seminar.

Founder, Espiral Coordinator of Professional Practice and Alumni, Architecture School of the Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile)

Samantha Pavic ‘19 MSAAD

Disha Grover ‘17 MSRED

Ritu Mohanty ‘99 MSAUD
Ms. Ritu Mohanty-Padora’s role as an independent consultant on urban scale projects focuses on matters of policy and strategy, enabling deeper commitment to quality design outcomes. She has 24 years of experience on diverse urban design and planning projects across the US and Asia; in both, public and private sector. Her commitment towards smart city master planning, mobility planning, infrastructure management, climate change and sustainability in the last decade is a step towards establishing a critical link between cities in the developing world and low-carbon transition.

By leveraging her international experience in city planning and urban design she plays a pivotal role in sharing her approach to pragmatic solutions with her team as well as cohort of students. She has won the INTACH scholarship for her dissertation on settlement planning in tribal Odisha, India. She is an AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) licensed Planner and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited professional.

Rocio Crosetto Brizzio ‘22 MSAAD
Crosetto is an Argentinian architect, co-founder of Balsa Crosetto Piazzi, an award winning architecture office based in Argentina and the US. Founded in 2017, their work has been recognized with awards in multiple design competitions and exhibited at the Venice Biennial, the Iberoamerican Biennial, the Argentinian Biennial, among others. The studio focuses on architecture across multiple scales, from the design and construction of projects; to research, writing and curatorial work.

Crosetto is an Architect from the School of Architecture, Urbanism and Design at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina; and holds a Master’s Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University. At Columbia, Rocio was admitted with a Dean Scholarship award, and she received upon her graduation the William Ware Prize for Excellence in Design and Saul Kaplan Travelling Fellowship.

Guillermo Hevia García ‘20 MSAAD
Architect from Universidad Catolica de Chile (2011) graduated with the Highest Distinction, receiving the School of Architecture Award and the Academic Excellence Award. In 2020, he obtained an MSc in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in New York, where he received the William Ware Prize for Excellence in Design and the William Kinne Prize.

Since 2012 he has been an Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture of the Catholic University of Chile participating in the XVIII Venice Architecture Biennale (2018) and in the III Seoul Architecture Biennale (2021). In 2023 he was Visiting Professor at Centro (CDMX, Mexico)

In 2019 Arquine (Mexico) published the monograph “Every Design Conceals an Order” which brings together his work and research. In 2023 Poiesis (Chile) published “Drawings are systems, systems are drawings) an editorial object about the work and drawings of Benjamín Ossa, where Hevia acted as editor and researcher.

In 2022, he obtained the Panamerican Award, Single-Family House for the House with Patio at the XXIII Bienal Panamericana de Quito (BAQ). In 2021 he received the Metropolis Future Award in New York and in 2017 he received the Young Architect Award from the Architects Association, which recognizes the outstanding career of an architect under 35 years of age.

He has lectured in the United States, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, and Chile, and his work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), at MoMA P.S.1, at the Center for Architecture in New York, at Columbia University, at the University of Navarra and at Mextropoli Mexico among others.

Andrea Jimenez ‘15 MSAAD
Andrea Jiménez is a licensed architect and professor from Lima-Perú. She studied Architecture in the UPC – Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas UPC where she received her Bachelor Degree with honors.

In 2015 she obtained a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University in New York, where she received the William Kinne Traveling fellowship from Columbia to research about: “Public Space as an extension of education.” Prior to founding her firm, she worked for both national and international architecture studios such as AJN Ateliers Jean Nouvel, as part of an interdisciplinary team designing big scale and mix-use projects. In 2014 she co-founds her first private practice Studio MD27 (2014-2019).

Andrea is currently based in Lima, where she leads her private practice OCTAVO (2020). As head of the Design Department , she has led different scale projects such as: Furniture and Objects Design, Residential Projects, Housing, Hospitality, Commercial, Offices, Refurbishment and Urbanism.

GSAPP Memory
GSAPP transformed the way I understand and relate to Design and Architecture, understanding the importance of raising the right questions when addressing a project or design challenge. This new lens allowed us to embrace design as a tool capable of generating relationships in different scales, time frames and contexts. Hence finding solutions that entangles the design result with other different realities that may seem not obvious at first.

Maria Julia Poratelli ‘94 MSAAD
Maria Julia Poratelli is an architect graduated from the University of Buenos Aires. She obtained a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in New York. She attended several postgraduate studies and programs on air transport in Argentina, UK and USA. She worked for the Terminal One project in JFK. Since 1998, she is the Infrastructure Planning Manager at Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 where she developed airport masterplans and managed modernization and expansion projects for the company´s more than 50 airports. She was speaker, delegate and panelist in numerous international conferences and seminars. She was honored with the Teaching Award at the University of Torcuato di Tella and the Special Mention Prize in the Architect of the Year Award in 2021. She´s been published in journals, magazines and newspapers.

Linda Cristina Schilling Cuellar ‘18 MSAUD
Linda is currently a PhD candidate at the Center for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, with a master’s in Urban Design from GSAPP, Columbia University, and an undergraduate degree in architecture from Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, in Chile. Her research focuses on the commodification of nature through the lens of environmental policy protocols like environmental impact assessments. Her research proposal Landscape Ledgers, engages in the visual regimes of analysis software inside Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA`s) that asses the environment in a transactional fashion by building baselines of items, ignoring the long-term implications of these ways of “seeing” the ecological relationships it makes invisible.

Dalal Musaed Al Sayer ‘10 MSAUD
Dalal Musaed Al Sayer is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Kuwait University. Her research lies at the intersection of architecture, environment, and development in the context of Arabia during the twentieth century. She is the co-author of Pan-Arab Modernism 1968-2008: History of Architectural Practice in The Middle East (Actar, 2021), the co-founding editor of Current: Collective for Architecture History and Environment, and is also the co-chair of the Architecture and Environment interest group at the European Architectural History Network (EAHN). She received her Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Kuwait University; a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University; a Master of Design Studies from Harvard University; and a Master of Science in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She was an Academic Visitor at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford for the academic year 2022-23.

Arjun Menon ‘18 MSRED
My career journey has been quite diverse, with a focus on investment management and development across commercial, residential, and industrial assets in both the UAE and the USA. In my current role as an Associate Director of Investments at Sweid & Sweid in Dubai, UAE, I’ve had the privilege of working in every aspect of the investment lifecycle, from sourcing and financial analysis to structuring deals and overseeing successful asset dispositions. I oversee underwriting, leading the due diligence processes and deal structuring. At Sweid & Sweid, I am solely responsible for securing all debt financing (over AED 850 million) and some of the key projects I worked on are Banyan Tree Residences, VISA CEMA HQ, 6 Falak, Sweid One in the US and multifamily developments in the Austin, Texas. Before Sweid & Sweid, I worker as Design Architect at P&T Architects & Engineers, from 2013 to 2017. In this capacity, I spearheaded five large-scale mixed-use projects in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Qatar. Five Palm Jumeirah was on the notable projects I worked on. My educational background includes a master’s degree in real estate development from Columbia University in New York City, USA, which I completed in 2018. Prior to that, I earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from SMVD University in India.

Irmak Turanli ‘22 MSAAD

Ruth Benjamin ‘10 M.Arch
Ruth Benjamin, RA, LEED AP, is the In-House Architect at Industry City – a massive manufacturing and distribution hub from the 1800s that is undergoing a large-scale adaptive reuse development in South Brooklyn. Since graduating from GSAPP, MArch 2010, she has worked on a variety of projects in New York City ranging from landscape design of an elevated park at the World Trade Center complex, affordable housing in the Bronx, institutional master planning studies for NYC DDC, commercial offices in midtown and is currently focused on working with an interdisciplinary team encompassing design, real estate development, and reformation. Ruth was a member of the GSAPP Alumni Board from 2017 to 2023 and served as Vice President and President from 2018-2022.

GSAPP Memory
My time at GSAPP was full of opportunities to pursue multiple avenues of design, connect with brilliant students and academics, and explore New York City - it was an amazing phase of my personal and professional career!

Steven Corsello ‘22 MSRED

Danny Danesh ‘15 MSRED

Rajiv Fernandez ‘10 M.Arch
Rajiv Fernandez is the AAA threat: Architect, Artist, and Activist. A practicing architect in New York, his drawings have built a range of projects from the Barclays Center with SHoP Architects to bespoke residences with his eponymous firm. As an artist he draws attention to the social and political issues that surround us today through humor and bold iconographic illustrations under the moniker Lil’ Icon. As an activist he co-founded Historicons to educate and empower kids (and their adults) about identity traits through telling stories of diversity. If you can see it, you can be it, and he is proud to create representation for the queer brown kids he wished he had. His entrepreneurial spirit was fostered by the GSAPP Incubator where he was a resident in 2018-2019. He has written for Forbes, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, Cool is Everywhere, and murals on billboards and buildings across the country.

Founder, The Rajiv, Inc.; Co-founder, Historicons

GSAPP Memory
Some fellow GSAPP-ers and I co-founded Green Builders at Columbia where we highlighted sustainability in architecture through things like Project Greenway, a published competition to design a sustainable accessory; a year-end gala; and a lecture series that was once heavily attended because James Van Der Beek from Dawson’s Creek showed up. This was a seed for my entrepreneurial pursuits that taught me if you creatively put your mind to something you never know who will show up to support you.

Joshua Gonzalez ‘21 MSRED
Joshua Gonzalez is an Assistant Asset Manager, Affordable Housing at Gilbane Development Company.

He has extensive experience in asset management as he previously worked at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) as a Senior Associate. At Gilbane, he manages the performance of the Manhattanville project, and collaborates directly with the development, property management and resident service teams.

Joshua received a bachelor’s degree in Geography and a master’s in Urban Planning and Applied Geography from Binghamton University as well as a master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Outside of work, Joshua finds inspiration in art, fashion and cinema, fueling his creative side.

Ricardo Hernandez ‘04 MSRED
Ricardo Hernandez is a multi-disciplinary real estate expert. With more than 30 years in the real estate industry, Mr. Hernandez knowledge includes design, financing, negotiations, deal structuring, acquisitions, dispositions, evaluating developments opportunities, financial modeling, and market research of all types of real estate properties.

Before becoming a Real Estate Developer, Mr. Hernandez was Vice President of Real Estate in the Mercantil Commercebank N.A. Special Assets Division. In his last years with Mercantil, Mr. Hernandez was responsible of the Bank’s OREO properties and Note portfolio disposition, selling over $200 million dollar worth of assets.

Mr. Hernandez holds a Master of Science degree in Real Estate Development from Columbia University; a Master’s Degree in Project Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture. Mr. Hernandez professional education also includes advanced courses from MIT Center for Real Estate and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

GSAPP Memory
Class of 2004 was the biggest class at the time. More than 90 students from all over the world spent a year together dreaming to be involved in real estate development. We are still in contact with each other and we try to meet at Alumni reunions at Columbia.

Jewelle Kennedy ‘14 MSRED
As the Development Director at Ensemble Real Estate Investments, Jewelle manages project schedules and coordinates required governmental approvals, entitlements and permits, and manages budgets throughout the design process. She is currently spearheading the first residential development to be built at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. She was previously with AvalonBay Communities, Inc. a multifamily REIT, offering project management and financial analysis support for the company’s new development activities and acquisitions in Southern California. Jewelle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate from Georgia State University and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University. She is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, NAIOP, and is the co-president of MSRED Alumni, Inc.

Kristin E. Niver ‘10 MSUP
Kristin has spent her entire career focused on affordable housing and community development, both as a real estate and commercial finance attorney and formerly as an urban planner with a focus on affordable housing finance and policy.

She has extensive experience in community development lending, impact finance syndications, and programmatic and policy issues related to affordable housing. In addition, she has a broad background in commercial real estate finance and development generally, with almost a decade of legal experience representing banks, insurance companies and debt funds in construction and permanent loans, debt restructurings and secondary market transactions, as well as working with market-rate and affordable housing developers and owners on financings, acquisitions and sales, joint venture arrangements, condominium regimes, and leases for all product types, including multifamily, retail, office and hotel, and frequently as part of complex mixed-use development and redevelopment, and master planning projects nationwide.

Niver provides legal advice to financial institutions, investors, lenders, community development entities, and profit and nonprofit developers engaged in community development lending, social impact investing, and tax credit finance.

“We are thrilled about the addition of Kristin to our team,” said Jarrod Sharp, Chair of Thompson Coburn’s Tax Credit Finance practice. “The affordable housing experience she brings to our team is going to benefit our community development clients extensively.”

Niver is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the New York Bar.

She earned her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, where she was the Howard & Irene Levine Distinguished Fellow for Affordable Housing in the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate, a member of the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law & Policy with a focus on affordable housing finance, and a full-time legal extern at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), where she worked on the RAD program. Niver also earned a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, as well as a master’s degree in social work with a concentration in affordable housing policy also from Columbia University. Niver holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago.

Niver has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate: Ones to Watch in 2023 and 2024.

Niver is a frequent speaker at conferences and extremely active in the D.C. commercial real estate industry and affordable housing and impact investing community nationally, and she is currently serving in the following capacities: • Women’s Leadership Initiative of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Washington, Steering Committee Member (2022-Present) • Affordable Housing Committee, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, Chair (2019-Present) • Commercial Real Estate Transactions Group, ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, Vice Chair (2023-Present) • District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, Co-Chair (2023-Present) • Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) D.C., Programs Committee, Co-Chair (2023-Present) • Journal of ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, Digest Contributor (2015-Present)

Lily Chishan Wong ‘15 M.Arch
Lily Chishan Wong is a registered architect in New York, adjunct assistant professor at Columbia GSAPP, and assistant professor of architecture at the University of Miami in Florida. Her research and practice are devoted to visualizing coloniality and designing new human-plant relationships through architecture and ecological thinking. She was awarded the Harry der Boghosian Fellowship at Syracuse University in 2022 and, prior to that, designed cultural projects with the architecture office Weiss/Manfredi.

Personal highlight My favorite memories are the enriching conversations at studio reviews which allowed me to find my own voice within the field.