Quilian Riano is an architectural and urban designer, researcher, writer, and educator working out of Brooklyn, New York. Quilian is the founder and principal of DSGN AGNC, a collaborative design/research studio exploring political engagement through architecture, urbanism and art. He also teaches architectural and urban design studios at Parsons, The New School of Design in the School of Design Strategies, Pratt Institute and the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at The City College of New York.
In practice and academia, Quilian works with stakeholders and trans-disciplinary teams to create comprehensive research that can be used to propose a variety of spatial designs, targeted policies and actions at various scales—pamphlets, strategic master plans, architectures, and landscapes. This process has been used for plaza, garden and park projects with groups such as the Queens Museum of Art, the Van Alen Institute, and Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden, often working with immigrant and other underserved communities.
He has won awards from the Vilcek Foundation, the American Society of Landscape Architects, Harvard University, The Boston Society of Architects; and his work has been featured at the Venice Biennale, Queens Museum of Art, Harvard University, Parsons The New School of Design, The Storefront for Art and Architecture, The New Museum, The Austrian Cultural Forum, among others.