Susana Chinchilla Ardila, LEED GA

Research Assistant Professor at the Center on Climate Change and Urbanism

Susana is an architectural and urban designer and researcher. Susana’s mixed experiences in Colombia and the United States have shaped her understanding of architecture, art, and design as reflections of broader socioeconomic principles. Her work focuses on the power of urban infrastructures to influence local economies and dynamics, while elevating community voices and prioritizing alternative cultural and ecological value systems. Susana’s latest project, Exchange-Based Urbanism (first phase completed while a Fellow at the Institute for Public Architecture), explores material, knowledge, and time as potential currencies for challenging established methods of construction and maintenance in New York City. 

Susana’s projects and writing have been featured in symposiums, publications, and exhibitions across Columbia University, Pratt Institute, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Arizona. She has edited and contributed to several publication projects such as Patio Magazine, Urban Magazine, and [About]-Journal. At the Center on Climate Change and Urbanism, her work combines her editorial and research skills to bring together work involving multiscalar approaches to the built-environment’s role in the time of climate change. 

 She is also a design-build project manager and strategy team leader at Architecture and Advocacy (NY), where she works alongside emerging professionals and students to partner with local organizations to co-create community spaces. She has previously taught at Columbia GSAPP, where she also graduated with a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design. She previously worked for five years with Method Design as a senior designer and project manager for non-profit and institutional clients in New York City.