Ignacio A Cardona

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Spatial Opportunity Index. The Case of Caracas. Doctoral Dissertation. Harvard Graduate School of Design. 2021

Rio de Janiero Boulevard Proposal. Caracas. Arepa Architecture Ecology and Participation. 2015.

Tectonic v. Stereotomic in Architecture, Student’s Model Studies. Wentworth Institute of Technology. 2019.

Sport Park Mesuca. Petare. Arepa Architecture Ecology and Participation. 2014.

PATH: Participatory Architecture Tool for Humanity, Institute of Public Architecture. New York City, 2018.

Komorebi Pavilion. 2017. Harvard Graduate School of Design and University of Tokyo. Autodesk Build Space Center.

Democratic Indexes. Petare Latam Foundation. Grant by National Endowment for Democracy. 2020-2023.

Thresholds in Architecture. Reseach at Universidad Simón Bolívar. 2007-2012.

Harvard University

2021 Doctor of Design (Phd equivalent)
Thesis: Spatial Opportunities for Self-Produced Environments

Universidad Metropolitana

2003 Master of Science in Urban Design (MAUD)
Summa Cum-Laude & Ranked best GPA in the College

Universidad Simón Bolívar

1998 Licensed Architecture (MArch)
Accreditation License No. CIV:118.809

About Ignacio A Cardona

CEO, Arepa Architecture Ecology and Participation | Doctor, Harvard University.

Creator of Restorative Community Design, which overlaps Spatial Opportunity Theory in architecture and urban design, Participatory Design, and Restorative Justice.

Ignacio is a Doctor of Design from Harvard University, with licensed degrees in Architecture and Urban Design from Venezuela. He has strong experience as a researcher in both professional practice and academic fields, working on housing and urban planning programs to improve spatial opportunities through restorative community design in Latin America. Due to his experience in the practical field and teaching courses on construction systems, Ignacio focuses on working on spatial justice from its conceptualization to its last details constructive.

Ignacio has been a Professor in Architecture and Urban Design for more than eighteen years with experience in universities like Harvard Graduate School of Design and Wentworth Institute of Technology. He was a full-time tenured professor in Universidad Simón Bolívar for twelve years. Due to his outstanding work, the Architecture Degree Program at Universidad Simón Bolívar currently bears the name Profesor Ignacio for the best professor awarded by the students. Ignacio has developed that experience beyond the traditional academy, with participatory design activities for disadvantaged communities in places like Caracas, Lima, Mendoza, Mexico, Mumbai, Queens (NYC), and Kibera.

In the research realm, Ignacio has led projects as an external consultant in international agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and Facebook Technologies. Additionally, Ignacio has led an Architecture Firm called AREPA Architecture Ecology and Participation for more than fifteen years designing and building architectural and urban projects.

Ignacio has lectured, conducted seminars, and written articles for peer-reviewed magazines in places such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Boston, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Mexico City, Hannover, Mumbai, Nairobi, New York, Puebla, and Santiago. His ideas and projects on restorative design have been reviewed in more than 50 publications internationally; he has won numerous awards, Grants, and Scholarships in Architecture and Urban Design.

2023

December 31, 2003. Best Thesis Award. Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design. Thesis: Alternate Cities, About Formalizing an Interstitial Urban System.” Universidad Metropolitana. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31, 2005. First prize. Banking Architecture Competition. Project: Bancrecer Banking in Underprivileged Environments. Grupo Santander. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31, 2008. First Prize. Tusmare Residential Park (Co-author: Juan Pablo Gómez). Promotora Chamberí 2000. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31, 2009. First prize. National Competition for the Revitalization of the Pan-American Highway Landscape. Gobernación del Estado Miranda. Los Teques, Venezuela.

December 31,2010. First prize. National Competition of Architecture and Urban Design for the Urban Integration of Centro Simón Díaz. Alcaldía Metropolitana. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31, 2011. First Prize. Competition of Architecture and Urban Design for Sports Park Mesuca. Alcaldía de Sucre. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31 ,2012. Honorable Mention. International Competition La Carlota Green Park (Firts Prize: Manuel Delgado). Alcaldía Metropolitana. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31, 2012. International Award. Urban Development and Social Inclusion. Andean Development Corporation, CAF. Caracas, Venezuela.

December 31, 2014. First prize. XI National Architecture Award. Category: Project under Construction. Venezuelan Institute of Architects. Caracas, Venezuela.

2016 3rd Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (First Finalist). Project: Simón Díaz Center: Cultural, Recreational, Educational, and Empowering Network Centers for Vulnerable and Low-Income People. Guangzhou, China.

2016 Public Art Competition Cycle (First Finalist). Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Harvard University. Cambridge, USA.

2016 Arthur Lehman Fund Fellowship. Harvard Graduate School of Design, GSD. Cambridge, USA.

2015 Student Forum Conference Fellowship. Harvard Graduate School of Design, GSD. Cambridge, USA.

2022

Pilares Park Landscape Project. Ciudad de México.

2021-2022 Pilares Park Landscape Project (38,000 sqft / 35,30.32 m2). Alcaldía de Benito Juárez. Ciudad de México, México. Unbuilt Project.

Academic Advisor: Wentworth Institute of Technology. Boston, USA.

Academic Advisor. Students of the School of Architecture and Design (24 Students). Wentworth Institute of Technology. Boston, USA.

Chapter in Book: Gobernanza Metropolitana En América Latina: Una Visión General de Las Experiencias Contemporáneas Desde Un Punto de Vista Comparativo

Cardona, I., Schloeter, L., and Urdaneta Troconis, C. 2022. “De La Descentralización Imperfecta a La Centralización Absoluta.” In Gobernanza Metropolitana En América Latina: Una Visión General de Las Experiencias Contemporáneas Desde Un Punto de Vista Comparativo, edited by Marco Aurélio Costa, Lizandro Lui, and Sara Tavares Rebello, 115–49. Série Rede Ipea: Proyecto de Gobernanza Metropolitana En Brasil. Brazilia: United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.38116/978-65-5635-022-6.

Educational Programs for Urban Governance and Spatial Democracy

Cardona, I. (PI, 30%), Ocariz, C. (Co-PI, 30%), Norelys, L. (Co-PI, 20%), Faculty and Staff (Co-PI, 20%). Research: Educational Programs for Urban Governance and Spatial Democracy, countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. Petare Latam Foundation. Grant by National Endowment for Democracy, NED. Awarded Amount: $242,000.00-year.

Community Commerce, Informality, and Self-Production in Latin America. Bogotá.

Seminar: Informal Vendors: Transforming Popular Economy. Institute for Social Economy, IPES. 27 July 2022. Bogotá, Colombia.

2021

Curti Fellowship. Harvard Graduate School of Design.

2020

Congress: Common Cities and Covid-19

Congress: Ciudades Comunes and Covid-19. Remote Seminar. Ciudades Comunes ONG. Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Guest Critic: Rhode Island School of Design, RISD.

Guest Critic: Final Thesis Review. Adaptive Reuse Program. Master of Design in Interior Studies. Rhode Island School of Design, RISD.

2018

Summer Residency Fellowship. Institute for Public Architecture, IPA. New York.

2017

2017 Credential competition. Digital Design Workshop, Senseable City Laboratory. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. Cambridge, USA.

Travel Grant Prize. Dangerous Landscapes Seminar. Hanover

Travel Grant Prize. Dangerous Landscapes Seminar. The Volkswagen Foundation. Project: Re-Thinking Environmental Risk in Low-Income Communities. The University of Hanover. Hanover.

EB1 Visa of Extraordinaries Abilities. USCIS.

2016