Architect Heidi De Moya: “You have to know how to be authentic and differentiate yourself from others in order to succeed”

Architect Heidi De Moya Simó, director of the School of Architecture and Urbanism at Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña and member of the expert committee evaluators for the world ranking Best Architectural Masters, gave an interview to the magazine NAN Arquitectura, where she spoke about the challenges of the world of her profession from an educational and professional perspective, from her aspirations and achievements as director, passing through the relevance of international accreditations, to advice for future architects.She also provided a comprehensive overview of the role of universities in training the next leaders in the architectural field.

The architect explained that when she took over the management of the School of Architecture and Urbanism, in 2016, she had as a goal the continuous improvement of the quality of the school through an International Accreditation. She continued: “In the last year, the mission and vision of the school have been renewed, being the mission: to train architects and urban planners with multidisciplinary competences and a high ethical commitment, who address the social, economic and environmental challenges related to the exploration and transformation of space, habitat and territory; and as a vision we have the idea of forming a school of architecture and innovative urbanism, which is a Latin American reference in the design, research and development of the territory.”

She also spoke about her experience as a member of the expert committee evaluators for the world ranking Best Architectural Masters, explaining which are the main criteria when evaluating and classifying the master’s programs in architecture, such as the academic quality of the master’s degree, as well as the evaluation of academic publications, teachers, and the consolidated study plan, in addition to demonstrating quality through their graduates.

Finally, she addressed the objectives and plans for the School of Architecture and Urbanism in the coming years, which include maintaining international accreditation with ANPADEH, in addition to successfully completing the implementation of a new curriculum, with a parallel enhancement project to ensure the continuous improvement of the School. And in the future, be recognized at the Latin American level as one of the best schools of architecture, as well as increase the body of researchers working in indexed journals, in projects in execution and, above all, contributing knowledge to society through their research works. 

You can view the full interview at the following link: