CHAIR

Natasha Yordán, AIA, currently works at the San Juan Headquarters of Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón. In her eight years of experience, she has been Project Manager to many of AD&V®’s most prominent projects and has worked on all development phases of multi-family affordable housing projects, single-family and multi-family high end residential projects, hospitality, and mixed-use master planning projects. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico with a minor in urbanism. During her time as student, she collaborated with the MIT's CoLab.  In 2019 she was named associate partner at AD&V and in 2021, she was selected among Caribbean Business’ 40 Under 40, which recognized prominent young leaders in Puerto Rico. She currently leads the Studio Design Team and supports the firm’s leadership in firm wide management strategies.

VICE CHAIR

Estefanía Alejandro, AIA, LEED® Green Associate™, NCARB, with 10+ years of experience in the industry. Estefanía completed her professional degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University in 2012 and began her career at Lastra Power, PCS. Later on, she joined Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón as part of the design team working on institutional, wellness, multi-family and retail projects. Estefanía is currently a Design Architect and Firm Associate at Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón.

PAST CHAIR

Raphael Osuna- Segarra, AIA, is the current AIAPR Director of Associates and Chair of the AIAPR Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.  Raphael has served the AIAPR for the past 3 years as the former Secretary of the Board. He earned his undergraduate studies from the UPR School of Architecture and received his M.Arch., with a minor in Landscape Architecture, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Raphael is currently the Director of Programs of an NGO leading their recovery efforts on the Island as part of a $50M private grant and worked for nine years as project manager and designer at the Design & Construction Office of a local municipality.

EMERGING PROFESSIONALS’ LIAISON

Armando Rigau, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, is co-owner of D-Logic Studio, focused on residential and commercial architecture, and Tándem Concreto, an art and product design collaboration using concrete. For 10 years, he has been practicing and teaching architectural design locally and abroad. He worked at Perkins+Will Miami for over 4 years, where he was recognized firm-wide as a Next-Generation Emerging Designer. He has taught design, theory, and construction courses at Florida International University, Texas Tech University, and the Polytechnic University of PR. Armando Rigau holds a Master of Architecture I from Cornell University, where he received the Alpha Rho Chi Bronze Medal, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with minors in History and Hispanic Literature from Georgetown University.

BOARD LIASON

Nanechka Pagán Torres AIA, LEED AP BD+C is a registered architect in Puerto Rico with 13 years of experience and extensive knowledge in diverse and comprehensive aspects of program management, architecture, and construction management of varying scope, size, and use. She oversees end-to-end project stages, including concept, design, and construction processes. She has experience in educational, institutional, commercial, residential design, and government, including state and federal construction management. Currently, Nanechka assists the Horne Puerto Rico team by providing overall leadership and collaborative solutions to the housing and energy sectors for HUD CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT funded programs.

Nanechka obtained her BA in Environmental Design from the University of Puerto Rico and a MArch in Architecture from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

COMMS ADVISOR

Geraldine was born and raised in Puerto Rico. In 2014 she obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. After graduation, she participated as an active member of the Board of Directors of AIA-PR. She began her professional practice in 2014 as an associate architect for DDD Group. During this time, she has worked with various project types, such as commercial, industrial, residential, and federal projects, with a diverse client base and the most stringent practice standards. Her experience of almost six years specializes in working not only on traditional delivery projects but also on design-build projects. Her expertise in these different projects includes drawing and detailing, writing technical specifications, proposal writing, permit procurement, and aiding in the construction management phase. In addition, her design approach and knowledge include working with innovative technology tools such as Building Information ModelinG (BIM), MEP Modeling, and, more recently, Solibri. Currently, she is pursuing her architect license and LEED Green Associate Certification.

GRAPHICS & WEBSITE ADVISOR

Tomás J. Santiago Rodríguez, AIT, MArch, Assoc. AIA, CDT® is a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based Project Designer and Multimedia Artist with 10 years of experience in architecture, design & construction fields. After studying Fine Arts for a couple of years, Tomás joined the University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture, where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design (2011), a Pos-Graduate Certificate in Urban Studies (2012), and a Master’s Degree in Architecture (2013). Some of the most significant awards he received during his academic process, included being appointed as the Luis Sierra Honor Scholarship recipient (2011), and an Honorable Mention in the Urbanism category of the CAAPPR Proyectos de fin de carrera (2013) for his Thesis Project: “An Architectural Strategy of Recycling City Spaces for Art”. His professional career in Architecture has been progressing mostly around small firm environments.

He spent his first years working hand in hand with Office Principals in a variety of small to midsize projects. In 2017, he became a founding member of Atelier Ingenio LLC, a company created to serve residential, commercial, and community-scale clients in response to the efforts of recuperation from Hurricane María. Over the last few years, he has also been actively pursuing licensing requirements, collaborating as a team leader for residential projects at William Rosa Arquitecto, and as a Construction Contract Administration & inspection staff member for Fase 3 Arquitectura PSC. This year, he became CDT certified and received the Young Architect Conference Award 2022. Most recently, he is looking forward to growing more in the sustainability and wellness fields.

SPONSORSHIP ADVISOR

Ms. Ibarra-Garland is an architect from San Juan, who holds a BS in Civil Engineering and a MA in Architecture from the University of Puerto Rico, with 8 years of experience in buildings and infrastructure projects. Her capabilities spanning both engineering and architecture allow her to contribute to a broad variety of projects and roles where communication and integration are paramount to success. She has worked in the industry in Puerto Rico, New York, and Miami, since graduating from architecture school at several companies under the supervision of architects and engineers and just recently, as of February of this year, got her professional license as an architect. She has been able to partake in different roles throughout her years of experience, ranging from designing high-end kitchens to engineering and architectural project field inspections, project management, and the design and review of drawings and documents throughout all stages of a project. Her interests on sustainability, community outreach, responsible urban design, and nature are always present when participating in a project design.