Gabriela (she/her) is a licensed architect practicing, writing, and teaching in Boston, MA. She was born and raised in Brazil, and is also a citizen of Italy and the United States. Her curiosity lies in the friction between agency, value, and visibility in architectural practice.
Gabriela is an Associate Principal and the Strategic Practice Manager at Utile, where she treats the practice like a project. In her role, she works to formalize and advance architectural and planning processes in relation to firm-wide management, strategy, and culture. As a project architect, she has over ten years of experience primarily focused on academic buildings.
She is currently an elected member of the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Nominating committee, and collaborates with the AIA College of Fellows as their Editor-In-Chief. Prior to this, Gabriela has served on the NCARB Education committee, as the AIA Massachusetts Licensing Advisor, co-chair of the BSA Emerging Professionals Network, steering committee member for the 2018 BSA Now Practice Now Series, and cohort member of the 2015 NCARB Think Tank. She has taught studios at the Boston Architectural College and the University of Minnesota, and spoken in a handful of universities about the licensing path in the United States.
Gabriela’s independent research on labor laws and their impact on women architects was presented at the International Conference on Gender and Architecture in Italy in 2017, and she is also a frequent contributor to the AIA e-publications on all things mentorship, equity, and visibility in practice. Her personal investigation into the (economic and cultural) value of architects can be found on DCMNT.org, and on Instagram via @to.dcmnt.
Gabriela holds an M.Arch from North Dakota State University, where she held two graduate research assistantships and numerous on-campus jobs. She was honored with the 2012 Phi Kappa Phi John Calenbach Scholarship and the 2011 AIA North Dakota Scholarship, and served on the Alumni Advisory Board to the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture from 2016 to 2020.
Gabriela is a recipient of the 2020 AIA Young Architects Award. Her story of coming to America was featured in the 2022 book “City Shapers: Stories of Immigrant Designers”, by Graciela Carrillo, Shahad Sadeq, and Yu-Ngok Lo. In her free time, she greatly enjoys learning, dancing, boxing, and making things (including drawings).
Be in touch:
2018 BPS Kindergarten
2017 BosNOMA + Michael Ford
2016 MakeTANK! at ABX. Image credit: BSA
2016 NCARB ALA Summit. Image credit: NCARB
Etc.
I trained for most of my life as a classical ballet dancer.
I often quote TV shows and movies.
I learned a lot of English through music lyrics.
In general, I am a morning person.
I like to spend a lot of time traveling and reading.
I try not to take myself too seriously.
Image credit: Lacey Gasper