Architect Hector M. Perez Joins Woodbury University As Graduate Coordinator On San Diego Campus

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Woodbury University appointed Hector M. Perez as Graduate Coordinator of the School of Architecture's Master of Architecture (MArch) program in San Diego. Perez, who received architecture degrees from MIT and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is the owner and principal of De-Arc. He's exhibited and lectured internationally, including Mexico and Italy, and his firm is the recipient of numerous awards, including honors and citations from the AIA in San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. Prior to joining Woodbury as full-time faculty, he taught at the New School of Architecture and Design, Woodbury, and SCI-Arc.

Perez will head the new 2-year and a 3-year MArch programs on the San Diego campus. These programs build upon the successful MArch offerings first launched on the Los Angeles-Burbank campus in 2008 and join two existing one-year graduate programs: the Master of Science in Architecture, Landscape + Urbanism (MSArch L+U) and Master of Real Estate Development for Architects (MRED). He will join the San Diego faculty, which is composed of a small but diverse group of academics and practitioners whose interests range from hands-on material studies to broad geopolitical research and data collection.

Woodbury School of Architecture occupies a renovated warehouse in San Diego's Barrio Logan. Perez knows this neighborhood well. He recently designed and developed La Esquina, a vibrant mixed-use project in Barrio Logan. The project combines ground-floor commercial space with seven live-work lofts. A red and blue glass mosaic of Cesar Chavez decorates the exterior. The project illustrates Perez's and Woodbury's investment in the area and dedication to the Barrio Logan as a rich site of architectural investigation. "Small-scale development like this really improves the community infrastructure and social fabric," said Perez in the January issue of Riviera magazine.

The MArch at Woodbury School of Architecture San Diego brings the singular Fieldwork philosophy to San Diego and Tijuana. Guided by Perez and faculty, graduate students explore and engage the architectural and urban planning issues that come with diverse region.