LATINAS
ARCHITECTURE
MEET MONICA, AWARD WINNING ARCHITECT Monica Ponce de León is an architect, educator, and Dean of the Princeton University School of Architecture. She is A National Design Award winner and principal of MPdL Studio.
Share with us your background, your roots. I was born in Caracas, Venezuela and immigrated to the United States with my family when I was a teenager. Living in Miami and then going to school in Boston also had a great impact on me because of the diverse Latinx communities in both cities. My husband is Chicano from Los Angeles, which is given me another perspective. I have been blessed to have roots that spread wide. Who has been your inspiration? Venezuela has a significant legacy of extraordinary architecture and a great education system. One of the great influences in my life was to spend time visiting the works of Carlos Raul Villanueva as a child. He was a practicing architect and the Dean of the School of Architecture in the Universidad Central de Venezuela. I have modeled my practice and my passion for education after him. There have also been very important women in my life. My mother never went to college. She worked as a secretary staring when she was 15 years of age and she saved enough money to open a business which she ran with my father. I get my work ethic from her. I always wanted to be an architect, and everyone always said “that is a man’s profession.” My best friend’s mom is an architect and she was proof that women could also be architects. Why would you say architecture is so special and important? Architecture is everywhere from the spaces that we live and work in, to the buildings that serve the public, to the monuments that symbolize our values. Architecture represent us as a culture and enables our daily life. Howwe build is also critical today because buildings have a huge environmental impact. What have been some of the top challenges you’ve faced during your career? Architecture is a profession where only 32% are women and only 1% is Latino (of any gender). There is discrimination at all levels. I have my own architecture practice and I am also the dean of the Princeton School of Architecture and before that I was the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Michigan. It is very common for deans of a school of architecture to also be a practicing architects but it is rare for a Latinx woman. I am excited that I get to do both.
44 LATINO LEADERS MAY / JUNE 2020
MonicaPonce.indd 44
7/22/20 10:48 PM