Cintas Foundation

José BERNARDO (b. 1938, Havana): The winner of three Cintas fellowships, Bernardo was a designer with the architecture firm Harrison and Abramovitz in New York, where he worked on the master plan for Lincoln Center as well as on the U.S. Steel building in Pittsburgh. As an independent designer, he participated in projects at various museums, including the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Natural History. Bernardo is also a musician and a writer. He is the composer of La Niña, a musical tragedy based on José Martí's poem La Niña de Guatemala, which received an award from the National Opera Institute, (now National Institute of Musical Theatre), as well as Concerto Barroco, Taliesin Symphony, Concerto for Viola and Orchestra and Concerto For Piano, Cuban Dance Band, and Symphony Orchestra. Bernardo’s books include Silent Wing, The Secret of the Bulls and The Wise Women of Havana. He has a Ph.D. from Columbia University. (Cintas for architecture, 1969-70, and for music, 1970-71, 1972-73)

Luis CALZADILLA (b. 1957, Cienfuegos- d. 1997, Miami): A partner in the architecture firm Thomas & Calzadilla PA Metropolitan Architects in Miami, Calzadilla worked on projects throughout Florida, including the St. Louis condominium on Brickell Key, the Cypress Park recreation building in Coral Springs, the St. Petersburg Pier renovation and an addition to the Miami Country Day School in Miami Shores. An art collector and patron, Calzadilla was a member of the board of the Miami Art Museum, among other pieces. Calzadilla received his architecture degree from the Rhode Island School of Design. (Cintas for architecture, 1989-90)

Carlos E. CONCEPCIÓN (b. Havana) A graduate of Florida A&M University, Concepción has a master’s in architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he was also an instructor. He worked with Richard Meier and Partners and with Michael Feldman and Partners on nationally and internationally recognized projects such as the Bridgeport Center in Connecticut and the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art. He is the recipient of a grant by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and was a lecturer and participant in the VII Bienal de Arquitectura in Quito. He has lectured in universities in New York and Ecuador, and has held teaching positions at the Parsons School of Design. He practices architecture in New York with his own firm, Carlos E. Concepción, Architect. (Cintas for architecture, 1991-92)

Roberto DE ALBA: A designer as well as an educator, De Alba practiced architecture with I.M. Pei and Partners and taught architectural design at Yale University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. De Alba was also editor of Perspecta, the Yale Architectural Journal, as well as executive editor for architecture and design at Van Nostrand Reinhold and at Watson-Guptill Publications before moving to the field of interactive digital media. He is founding partner of Spliteye Multimedia, a New York City website and digital-media design firm that has clients in the fields of art, architecture, design, publishing and technology in the United States and Europe. He is author of Paul Rudolph: The Late Work (2003, Princeton Architectural Press, New York). De Alba has a bachelor’s in design from the University of Florida and a master’s in architecture degree from Yale University. He is a member of the board of the Cintas Foundation. (Cintas for architecture, 1989-90)

Andrés Martín DUANY (b. 1949, New York City): A founding partner of the post-modern architectural firm Arquitectonica, Duany and his wife, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, now head Miami’s DPZ design firm, an architecture and town planning enterprise that promulgates a school of traditional neighborhood design known as New Urbanism. An early key work of DPZ is the groundbreaking project Seaside, a village on Florida’s Gulf Coast that won praise as the first traditionally organized new town designed in decades. Duany is a founding member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and sits on the board of the National Town Builders Association. DPZ has completed the design of more than 225 new towns, regional plans and community revitalization projects throughout the United States and abroad. Duany grew up in Santiago de Cuba and Barcelona. He has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a master’s in architecture from Yale University. (Cintas for architecture, 1992-93)

Jorge L. ESTÉVANEZ (b. Havana): The vice-president and co-founder of Urban Architects, Estévanez has been involved throughout his career in a variety of housing, commercial and institutional projects. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Florida and a master’s from the Pratt Institute in New York. (Cintas for architecture, 1972-73)

José GELABERT-NAVIA (b. 1954, Havana): An architect and educator, Gelabert-Navia’s recent work include the Village of Merrick Park Office and Residential Sectors in Coral Gables, the Delray Beach Public Library, the Caribbean Technology Center in San Juan, the University of Miami School of Communication, the St. Agatha Catholic Church in Miami and, with Charles Gwathmey, the Center for Contemporary Art in North Miami. He studied architecture at Cornell University, where he also received a master of fine arts degree; at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, and at Isola Degli Studi, in Italy. Gelabert-Navia is co-author of Ocean Drive. Miami Beach. U.S.A, and is a frequent contributor to design and architecture journals. He is a trustee of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation and a professor at the University of Miami School of Architecture. (Cintas for architecture, 1987-88)

Miriam GUSEVICH (b. 1953, Havana): An architect and urban designer as well as an educator, Gusevich worked in major public projects in the Chicago Park District, where she was chief urban designer from 1988 to 1996. Among those projects was the master plan for the reconstruction of Chicago's shoreline. Her built projects include the Jane Addams Memorial Garden and sections of Grant Park. Gusevich is the author of a number theoretical essays, including “Architecture and its Discontexts,” “The Text of Exile,” and “The Architecture of Criticism.” She is the winner of a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard. Gusevich is an associate professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at Catholic University. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University. (Cintas in architecture, 2001-2002)

Jorge HERNÁNDEZ (b. 1956, Havana): An award winning architect specializing in homes, Hernández’s work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Interiors, Florida Architecture and Southern Accents. Hernández has also done major civic works, including Miami's Brickell Bridge and the courthouse for the City of Williamsburg, Virginia, both of which were commissions received after he won national competitions. He has lectured in Europe and the United States, and participated in numerous international symposia and conferences. He is co-author, with Vincent Scully, of the book Between Two Towers: The Drawings of the School of Miami. Hernández is a professor at the University of Miami School of Architecture. He has a bachelor’s from the University of Miami and a master’s in architecture from the University of Virginia. (Cintas for architecture, 1983-84)

Rolando LLANES (b. 1961, Havana): The vice-president and director of architecture for the Corradino Group in Miami, Llanes served as ballpark design consultant for the Florida Marlins. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Architecture and received a graduate degree in architecture from Princeton University. (Cintas for architecture, 1984-85)

Tomás Luis LÓPEZ-GOTTARDI: An architect and educator, López-Gottardi leads his own architecture firm in Coral Gables and has designed buildings and complexes such as the Venetian Harbor Condominiums in Miami and the Moscow River Center in Russia, as well as several residences in Miami-Dade County. He has directed several design competitions and is active in design research related to the South Florida community. López-Gottardi is a professor at the University of Miami, where he directs the undergraduate architecture program. He received his architecture degree from the University of Havana and has master’s degrees in architecture from Harvard University and in urban design and city planning from the University of Pennsylvania. (Cintas for architecture, 1971-72)

José MEJER (b. 1933, New York City): An architect and educator, Mejer has made hotel design the focus of his practice and is the owner of the Jose Mejer Jr. Design Studio. Since 1994, he has also been an instructor of computer graphics at the New School University in New York City. Mejer received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1958. He used his Cintas fellowship to study the origins of Cuban colonial architecture in the south of Spain. (Cintas for architecture, 1963-64)

Hervin A. ROMNEY (b. 1941, Havana): A former student and teaching assistant of Charles Moore and Vincent Scully, Romney went on to become a principal and founding architect of Arquitectonica – the noted firm responsible for buildings such as The Atlantis, The Palace and The Imperial on Miami’s Brickell Avenue. His Coral Gables firm, Hervin Romney Architect, Inc., is responsible for many notable projects in the United States and abroad. Romney lectures widely on architecture and design. He has received awards from the Miami Design Preservation League, the Florida AIA and the Public Schools Centennial Competition, among others. Romney began his architecture studies at Villanueva, in Havana, received a bachelor degree in architecture from Catholic University and has a master of environmental design degree from Yale. (Cintas in architecture, 1974)

Mario J. TORROELLA (b. 1935, Havana): A principal in the Cambridge architecture firm HMFH since 1972, Torroella oversees the design of the firm’s projects, specializing in schools. His work has earned him and HMFM several awards, including the William Caudill Citation from American School & University Magazine, and four Walter Taylor Awards from the AASA and the AIA. Torroella is also an artist, and his paintings and tapestries have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including the Biennale Internationale d’Art in France and the Barcelona International Art Forum of 1989. Torroella has master’s in architecture from Harvard University. (Cintas in architecture, 1986-87)