Projects
A Harvard-trained architect with over 35 years of experience across residential, commercial, civic, and public work. Known for design that is at once visionary and deeply practical — shaped by a career that moves fluidly between professional practice, academic research, and community engagement.
Registered Architect, licensed in DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Member of the AIA and NCARB. On every project, one architect — from first conversation to final walk-through.
Co-founder of reform, llc in 2006 — a practice dedicated to integrating academic research with built work. Prior to founding his own practice, Luis refined his expertise at Core PC in Washington, DC, and Kennedy & Violich Architecture in Boston, where he contributed to nationally recognized projects including the East/Harlem River Ferry Landings in New York City.
As an educator, Luis taught and lectured at the University of Maryland and The Catholic University of America, where he served as a tenured Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies. He established the Master of Architecture Graduate Concentration in Emerging Design Technologies, and co-founded CUAdc — a nonprofit providing design services to underserved communities in Washington, DC.
His research focuses on the intersection of advanced technologies and spatial experience — exploring how digital tools can deepen, rather than replace, the human dimensions of architectural practice.
Architecture is the process of drawing it out: turning it over, pressure-testing it against site and structure and budget and light, letting the constraints sculpt it rather than limit it. What emerges is something more specific than the original vision — refined by every decision, every iteration, every conversation. And then it is built. Made physical in walls, light, thresholds, and material that will shape the experience of the people who live inside it for decades.
The conversation about how you live, what works, and what's never felt right — it becomes the brief.
We translate what we hear into variables and constraints, so we can develop our thinking and define the relationships between things.
We create diagrams, drawings, models, and 3D renderings to communicate how the ideas can be manifested in three dimensions.
We review the work together against the brief — which sharpens what we listen for next.
We recognize that starting a design project can be daunting, but our process is designed to transform overarching goals into meticulously crafted spaces. To simplify it, I typically follow these five phases.
Every project begins with a conversation. Tell us a little about your home and what you're thinking — we'll get back to you within one business day.