Spitzer Stars
Venesa Alicea-Chuqui
Bachelor of Architecture (2005)
Biography :
Venesa Alicea-Chuqui is committed to advancing civic architecture and community engagement through design. She is the founder and principal of NYVARCH Architecture, a New York/New Jersey-based architectural practice that addresses social justice, community design, sustainability, and resilience. Her portfolio includes designs for affordable housing, including the much-celebrated Via Verde, a sustainable development in the South Bronx.
She is a core initiator and organizer of Dark Matter U, a democratic network of designers who seek to challenge architectural pedagogy and to create an anti-racist, design-justice school of thought.
“I had the chance to participate in the New Housing New York competition — an unbuilt ideas competition hosted by several professors who were actively involved with the AIANY Housing Committee. That experience was pivotal for me, as it opened the door to later working on the built phase of the Via Verde project.”
Career Highlights :
- Equity in Action Presidential Fellow, Kean University
- Assistant professor at the School of Public Architecture, Michael Graves College
- Dean’s Advisory Council, Spitzer School of Architecture
- Adjunct instructor, co-op internship and architectural management classes
- Architect Licensing Advisor
- President and board member, CCNY Architecture Alumni Group