FIU Department of Architecture

Architecture in Japan | Study Abroad 2026

As part of the Japan Program, students explored contemporary Japanese and international architecture through immersive site visits, cultural experiences, and conversations with professionals in the field.

The group also connected with FIU alumni in Japan, gaining valuable perspectives and insights from graduates who are making an impact in architecture around the world.

From inspiring spaces to meaningful connections, the experience highlighted the value of global learning and the opportunities that come from studying architecture beyond the classroom

Brian Schriner FIU CARTA FIU Office of Education Abroad

✨
Interior Architecture student, Destiny Moore, was selected as one of just 50 students from colleges across the country to participate in the exclusive NeoCon 2026 x Fulton Market Design Days and the IIDA National Student Design Competition in Chicago.


FIU CARTA Brian Schriner IIDA FlU Campus Center

Over two days, Destiny explored the latest innovations in commercial design through tours of MillerKnoll , Design Within Reach, and Design Days before competing in an intensive design charette.

Working in teams, participants had just 4.5 hours to design an 8,700-square-foot workplace—developing a concept, space plan, material palette, and sketches entirely by hand, using only inspiration gathered during Design Days.

Reflecting on the experience, Destiny shared that it was “something bigger than I thought.” Her team’s concept, inspired by a prism, centered on the idea of entering the workplace as an individual and leaving with a colorful sense of community.

Beyond the competition, the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from talented student designers from around the world made the experience especially meaningful. Congratulations, Destiny, on representing our program on the national stage! 🥳 👏

Congratulations to the Department of Landscape! 🤩👏At the ASLA Florida Chapter Annual Conference in Orlando, students from four Florida and Puerto Rico institutions proudly received 14 blind-juried Student Design Awards, including 6 Awards of Excellence, 5 Awards of Honor, and 3 Awards of Merit.
We are proud to share that our LAEUD students earned 5 of the 6 blind-juried Awards of Excellence:
* Celine Elie - Planning & Analysis
Category (Faculty: Gianno Feoli, GD3
Studio)
* Krystal Schneider & Celine Elie - Planning & Analysis Category (Faculty:
Manuel Sanchez-Ruiz, GD4 Studio)
* Maya Alawa - Climate Action Impact Category (Faculty: Gianno Feoli, Master’s Project)
* Andres Beltran - Planning & Analysis Category- (Faculty: Gianno Feoli,
Master’s Project)
* Andrew Higgins - Preservation & Conservation Category (Faculty: Gianno
Feoli, Master’s Project)

Our LAEUD students also earned 4 of the 5 blind-juried Awards of Honor:
* Allen Trujillo & Katherine Lanza - Climate Action Impact Category (Faculty:
Simone Stark, GD2 Studio)
* Vanessa Lasso & Stephanie Lopez-Planning & Analysis Category (Faculty:
Manuel Sanchez, GD3 Studio)
* Samantha Fajardo, ASLA - Research & Communications Category (Faculty:
Gianno Feoli, Master’s Project)
* Cesar Deschamps, MLA - Research & Communications Category (Faculty:
Gianno Feoli, Master’s Project)
Also congratulations to our students Brittney Silva, Cesar Deschamps, and Maya Alawa for receiving ASLA Student Honor Award certificates, and to Andres Beltran, Andrew Higgins, and Manuel Echeverri for receiving ASLA Student Merit Award certificates (faculty nominations judged by external jurors).

Congratulations to all! Ebru Ozer
FIU CARTA Brian Schriner

Congratulations to the FIU department of Architecture for representing the School of Architecture at the 2026 AIA Florida Convention! 👏

Student Awards

Merit Award
Ground and Stage
South Miami, FL
Andrea Rodriguez – Florida International University

Citation Award
Edge Library
Posada Miradas, Galipán, Venezuela
Gneiss Aramburu – Florida International University

Faculty Award

Citation Award
Staggered Gaps: Townhouse Porch Screens
Miami, FL
Jason Chandler, FAIA
Chandler and Associates, Architecture, P.A.

Alumni Award

Honor Award
Koupela University
Koupela, Burkina Faso
Jose Lobo (B.F.A. Architectural Technology, FIU, 1991)
Diego Lobo (Master of Architecture, FIU, 2026)
SOW Design Studio

Brian Schriner FIU CARTA AIA Florida


Faculty Panels
Marilys R. Nepomechie, FAIA, Professor and Associate Dean, led the educational panel: “Co-Designing the Space Between Academia and Application.”

Jason Chandler, FAIA, Chair and Associate Professor, participated in:
“Florida’s Missing Middle Housing: From Case Study Review to Policy Solutions.”

Congratulations to all of our faculty, students, and alumni on this outstanding recognition. Your work continues to showcase the excellence and impact of FIU Architecture.

FIU Architecture Master Project Awards 2026 ✨
Congrats to our recent grads! Read and swipe to learn more about their featured projects.

Cynthia Ottchen Studio:
Architect as Cultural Agent, Navigating Globaliztion in Miami’s Urban Fabric

Student : Nakeia Martin, NOIS Museum

The project originates from a data-driven exploration using a James Bond soundtrack [The world is not enough
- Garbage] as a generative framework. As a globally recognized tigure moving through culturally symbolic cities, James Bond becomes a reference for understanding how identity is constructed through environment. Miami, while equally recognizable, lacks a singular architectural figure that defines its cultural presence.
Rather than designing a symbolic object, the project extracts amplitude data from the soundtrack and translates it into spatial geometry...
Brian Schriner FIU CARTA


Student: Andrea Rodriguez
Motion of Becoming

This thesis claims that Miami is not a static city, but a dynamic one. Miami is constantly changing, with a high flux of people moving in and out. In designing a performing arts center, Miami’s dynamic culture and forward-looking spirit must be addressed. The building acts as a malleable form shaped and eroded by its surrounding cultural and urban landmarks, becoming a tangible representation of Miami’s dynamic spirit.
The form lifts off the ground and draws in the landscape, blurring the boundary between inside and outside. The two performance halls shift apart and are offset from one another, creating a central void, opening a central lobby that acts as the focal point of all programs...

FIU Architecture Master Project Awards 2026 ✨
Congrats to our recent grads! Read and swipe to learn more about their featured projects.

Claudio Salazar Studio: Global/Local Urban Movements
Student : Spencer Sant, Architecture at the Urban Edge

Architecture at the Urban Edge
This project explores the Miami River as a civic thresholdto the City. Positioned between the river and the infrastructural density of downtown Miami, the proposal reimagines the waterfront as a space of mediation between city, water, mobility, and public life.
Through a mixed civic program combining library, cultural, and public gathering spaces with housing, the project challenges the privatized and fragmented condition that has long defined the riverfront…

Brian Schriner FIU CARTA


Student : Brandon Linares, Public Plaza
This project proposes a public plaza añd youth center in Culiacán as a response to youth recruitment associated with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The design reclaims public space as a platform for opportunity, using architecture to support alternative paths through community, visibili-ty, and engagement. The project is structured around three core ideas: cultural preservation, collective memory, and active engagement….

Architecture in Barcelona | Summer Study Abroad 2026

Students explore the rich architectural landscape of Barcelona through immersive experiences, site visits, and hands-on learning led by Professors Thomas Spiegelhalter and Jaime Canaves. From historic landmarks to contemporary design, the program offers a unique opportunity to engage with architecture in one of the world’s most influential cities.

Brian Schriner FIU CARTA FIU Office of Education Abroad

FIU Architecture Master Project Awards 2026 ✨
Congrats to our recent grads! Read and swipe to learn more about their featured projects.

Eric Goldemberg Studio: The Radical Hive- Housing Amalgamations 

Fabiana Garcia

Reconstructing Genoa’s Lost Geography  
Can housing, conceived as an extension of ground, transform genoa’s reclaimed marina into an inhabitable artificial
terrain through topographic mass and
water-based
spatial organization?
This project responds to the disconnect between Genoa’s historic identity and its modern waterfront. While the city’s heart is defined by a deep, vertical relationship with the mountains, the reclaimed marina has become a neutral, horizontal plane. This thesis seeks to bridge that gap by bringing the essence of that missing geography back to the sea…




Camila Martinez
Reconstructing Genoa’s Lost Geography  
This thesis proposes housing in Genoa as an extension of the ground, transforming the reclaimed marina into an inhabitable artificial terrain. While the historic city is defined by its mountainous landscape, the marina exists as a flattened condition that has lost the essence of Genoa’s identity.
The project brings Genoa’s terrain back to the waterfront, reconstructing its lost geography through a continuous topographic mass. Rather than existing as separate buildings, housing, circulation, and public space are carved into a continuous terrain, subtly shaped and oriented by the presence of water.

Leah Edmondson-Wood, Fragmented Continuity: Reimaging Social Housing in Begato

Mass social housing, particularly in post-war developments across Italy, often prioritized efficiency and scale at the expense of social and spatial quality. The “Diga” complexes in Begato, Italy illustrate these failures, where large, monolithic structures have led to isolation, disconnection, and a weak relationship with the surrounding Ligurian hillside landscape.
This project proposes an alternative approach through fragmentation. Instead of a single continuous form, the design is composed of smaller, dispersed volumes that step down and adapt to the steep topography

Interior Architecture Graduate Two, Workplace Design Studio visited HOK Miami for an engaging “Ask the Designer” session focused on entry roles in the profession and deepening understanding of space planning in contemporary workplace environments.

In the Issue-Based Design studio, led by sammoshaver gabrielaluaces , students are exploring solutions to workplace problems.

A special thank you to our Distinguished Studio Mentor and the HOK team for their insight and generosity.

✨Fun fact: One of our own alumni, Carolina Gonzalez was part of the panel. A full-circle moment and powerful reminder of where design education can lead.

FutureDesigners

FIU Architecture Master Project Awards 2026 ✨
Congrats to our recent grads! Read and swipe to learn more about their featured projects.

Marcelo Ertorteguy Studio (UN) Build

Jorge Rumeo
NEW SUBURBIA (Master Project Super Jury First Award !🥇)
This rebalancing effort forces us to rethink two traditionally distinct environments and how they adapt to new circum-stances. On the ‘Brickell’ side, the landscape has evolved into a sprawling vertical farm, integrating food production directly into the existing functional architecture. Conversely, the floating district redefines the suburbs through radical density…




Emily Hernandez
Anderson’s Corner

Anderson’s Corner in the Redlands, Florida celebrates the agricultural identity and multifunctional dynamic of this fertile landscape.
By revitalizing the once treasured merchandise store and using it as a catalyst to reframe growth in the Redlands, the project explores the preservation of agricultural character while allowing for change that supports community and production.
Historically shaped by the Florida East Coast Railway, the area’s connection to movement and trade informs the use of repurposed shipping containers as a sustainable building strategy for the farmers market, linking past systems of distribution with contemporary reuse.

Their linear arrangement is also inspired by the organization of agricultural crop rows, where efficiency, circulation, and functionality shape the landscape…