Bio:

The Great designer, Originally from Venezuela, Daniela Márquez immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of eight. She received her B.F.A. in Interior Design from SCAD in 2017 and recently completed her M.Arch from Georgia Tech in 2020. She has worked as an interiors and architectural designer for the last 6 years and researches the intersection of disaster relief and design. She is passionate about humanitarian design practices and projects that amplify voices not often heard.

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How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?

My high school had a Drafting & Design program that I was a part of, which exposed me to architecture. However, when I started college, I chose interior de- sign for the focus on the human-scale in our work and paired it with a masters in architecture.

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What do you do?

I am an Architectural Design Professional at HKS in At- lanta, GA where I work on commercial mixed-use proj- ects. I also research with New Story the intersection of SRDR (Sustainability, Resilience, & Disaster Relief ) and design in Latin America.

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What excites you in the work you do?

At HKS, I love the collaboration with others and working towards amplifying the human experience in architectural projects. At New Story, I enjoy research- ing deeper into and learning about communities not often at the forefront of design discourse.

 

Who or what inspires you professionally?

I’m most inspired by witnessing other professionals and academics within our field advocate for their values and beliefs in the profession. This is something that has become more prevalent in the last few years and I hope continues to grow.

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What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?

I was really humbled to be awarded the IIDA GA’s b.o.b. Award for Social Relevance in Design for Fun- dación Integrar project in 2018. I really enjoyed the research component in that project and it was a great moment to share with others.

 

Featured Project Name: 

Fundación Integrar

 

Featured Project Location: 

Medellín, Colombia

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Featured Project Completion Date: 

Unbuilt

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Role in Featured Project: 

Designer

 

Featured Project Description:

Fundación Integrar is a proposed Children’s Autism Center in Medellín, Colombia focused on developing social awareness and acceptance of Autism (ASD) in the South American community. This mixed-use project offers on-site resources, research + development, and integrated models of lower education for those
with ASD. Community members, children (with and without ASD), and their families can feel at ease and supported as their children with disabilities are provided space to grow and thrive.

 

Photography Credit:

Daniela Marquez

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