This year’s promotions not only celebrate the growth of these designers, but also the unprecedented growth of our firm as a whole. While two new directors recognize Marvel’s flourishing landscape architecture studio, a seasoned architectural model builder stepping into leadership validates the importance of the model shop in our practice. We are also thrilled to officially announce a new partner, Esteban de Backer Gutiérrez, who has been overseeing Marvel’s newest office in Barcelona, Spain, for the better part of 2025.

As we continue to develop our capabilities as a firm and expand our reach, the advancement of our designers is of utmost importance. We are proud to have played a part in nurturing the talent of every Marvelite, especially those who have contributed to the continued growth of Marvel this past year. A big congratulations to Chieh, Juan, Maiko, Guy, Vernette, Haeri, Yao, Mel, and Esteban, in their achievements as designers, leaders, and individuals!

 

 

Chieh Huang is a registered landscape architect and urban designer at Marvel. In practice since 2015, he has managed and designed a wide range of landscape projects, primarily in the urban public realm. Trained as both a designer and planner, the dual background has enabled him to work across various geographic and time scales, from a small pop-up plaza to a decade-long, multi-phase downtown redevelopment project, to a world atlas identifying the clash between global biodiversity and urbanization. Chieh believes landscape architecture is about transforming this clash to a balanced co-existence through professional practice.

Juan Guzmán Palacios is a registered Landscape Architect at Marvel, where he plays a pivotal role in leading the design and implementation of landscapes. With extensive experience in working on a wide array of projects at varying scales, Juan brings experience spearheading the design of large-scale projects and the creation of ecologically vibrant public spaces. Juan takes a proactive role in establishing design standards, ensuring that each project he engages with attains design excellence. Grounded in an iterative design process, Juan’s approach is influenced by the significance of community input and active participation, enabling him to craft landscapes that resonate with the intended users’ needs.

 

 

Maiko Shimizu currently leads Marvel New York’s model shop. As an experienced architectural model builder, she builds a wide range of models from presentation quality models to full-scale mock-ups to quick study materials. She is driven by the precision of her craft and the integrity of the structures she builds. She has taken it upon herself to mentor several young aspiring architectural model builders of varying backgrounds and skill levels from the model shop at the heart of Marvel’s New York office.

Guy Neil James has collaborated on a variety of project types across various scales and locations with a careful eye towards shepherding projects from concept through to construction. Since joining Marvel in 2021, his work encompases such scope as securing a ULURP for 240,000 sf of affordable and market rate housing in Brooklyn, aiding in the rehabilitation design of a Hudson River Drainage Chamber, and overseeing the construction of 45-30 Pearson. Guy currently spearheads the design of Gowanus Green, which will bring over 950 affordable units across six buildings to the Gowanus Canal, all built to Passive House standards. Throughout his career, the question he returns to most is how architecture can engage both on the contextual human scale and create a conceptual narrative space.

Vernette Velez is an architectural designer with 5 years of experience designing both new construction and reconstruction of existing buildings. Her exposure has allowed her to expand her knowledge and skills in coordination, communication and leadership. As a designer, her focus is to deliver architecture that understands the client and user’s needs, while keeping in mind that the space’s accessibility, functionality and the experience of it is key for an efficient design. She is also passionate on how through architecture designers can solve problems, provoke emotions and behaviors at all scales, in society and in individuals.

 

Haeri Choi is an architectural designer with experience ranging from public, cultural, exhibition design, high-end residential, and interior renovation work. She has demonstrated creativity in merging aesthetics and compelling narratives that ensure cohesive and impactful architecture design. Haeri is passionate about drawing inspiration from diverse influences and relating context, materials, and details to enhance the potential of place by architectural design approach. At Marvel, she has worked on interior and exterior designs of public building and high-end residential building.

Yao Tong joined Marvel in 2024 as a Landscape Architectural Designer. She is currently involved in multiple projects, including the Hudson River Park Esplanade (W29 to W46 St.), River Commons in the Bronx, and the Jacob’s Pillow Indigenous Garden in Becket, MA. Previously, Yao gained extensive experience in international landscape projects during her time at Bjarke Ingels Group, contributing to projects such as the Battery Park City Resiliency project, public realm master planning, and streetscape renovations in Downtown Brooklyn.

Mel Loyola has always been interested in the idea of making for the community, which inspired her to switch careers and pursue architecture. She felt the change would keep her close to creating projects that could physically interact with the social space around her and provide permanent beneficial interventions. After working with Columbia GSAPP’s Making Studio (a digital and analog fabrication space) as their Studio Manager, she began her role as a designer at AKM Architects working as an architectural consultant for SCA projects. While working with the NYC SCA, she performed surveys and assessments of public schools in the city, creating proposals for rehabilitation of exterior envelopes, playground areas, and interior room conversions.

 

Esteban de Backer Gutiérrez is Marvel’s newest partner.

His experience in the field includes projects across Europe, including conceptual design to construction administration for major proposals in Barcelona, Lausanne, Vienna and Oslo. While programmatically diverse, Esteban’s conceptual design endeavors are often inspired by his interest in the relationship between professional practice and academy as complementary platforms of thought production, pursuing pragmatic yet architecturally sophisticated designs. At Marvel, Esteban has been engaged in the architectural design and construction of several major New York projects: two affordable housing project at Atlantic Yards, a mixed-use tower in Queens, an Animal Care Facility in the Bronx or the Bronx Museum renovation among others. Esteban leads Marvel’s new Barcelona office, and is currently at the helm of Marvel’s first project in Europe– the adaptive reuse of Barcelona’s ‘Les Tres Xemeneies’ or ‘Three Chimneys’.