Leadership

Winka Dubbeldam is the founding partner of the WBE firm Archi-Tectonics NYC, LLC [1994], and is widely known for her award-winning work. She was the Chair and Miller Professor of Architecture at UPenn for 20 years, and has taught at Columbia, Cornell and Harvard University. She has been the external examiner for the AA [6 years], and at the Bartlett UCL, both in London. She has chaired many design juries, such as the AIANY, Prix de Rome, Plan Magazine, and Boffo, and was named one of Design Intelligence's 30 Most Admired Educators in 2015. Winka was the creative director for the Visual Italian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale [2021-2023] and has lectured worldwide at many symposia and universities. Winka assumed the role of SCI-Arc Director / CEO on September 1, 2025.

Founded in 1994 by Dubbeldam, Archi-Tectonics NYC, LLC is a research-design studio with offices in New York City, Amsterdam, and Hangzhou. Dubbeldam and Justin Korhammer, partner since 2016, lead a multi-national team of architects, engineers and consultants that work across scales and types. The studio’s design approach is rooted in systems thinking and digital design optimized across all aspects of a project—from parametrics, 3D printing and FTF manufacturing to performance and user experience. This results in non-standard buildings that have character and identity, deriving inspiration from the far past to excel in the global future.

Archi-Tectonics’ work has been exhibited and presented internationally, with exhibits the Venice Biennale [2025, 2023], the AIANY, AEDES Berlin, the Bunker Architecture Museum Munich, and MoMa and MoCa among others. Winka spoke at global forums and climate conferences such as COP Dubai [2023], AIA New York [2024], UIA Copenhagen [2023], CTBUH Singapore, and gave a TED talk in Edinburgh Scotland.

Archi-Tectonics recently won the SARA excellence award for the London Townhouse, the 2023 CTBUH Excellence Award in the Urban Habitat Category for the Asian Games 2023 Masterplan, the Architizer A+ Architecture Innovation Award for the Asian Games Hybrid Stadium [2023], and the AIA Award for the 512GW climate skin & building NYC [2022] to name a few. Archi-Tectonics’ fourth book “Strange Objects, New Solids, and Massive Things” was launched Fall 2021 by Actar, Spain, and the Asian Games Ecopark & buildings were exhibited in Palazzo Bembo at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 and the Venice biennale 2025 Arsenale. A fifth monograph “Monsters & Mutants” will come out Spring 2026 by Park Books Switzerland.

MEMBER: SARA, ULI, CTBUH, and WBE certified

Darin Johnstone is Design Studio faculty at SCI-Arc and a Los Angeles-based architect and educator. He is Principal of DJA (Darin Johnstone Architects) established in 2004. DJA engages architecture as an overarching discipline accepting a wide range of design challenges spanning scales and genres. Recently DJA has designed and completed renovation projects and planning work for ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena including the Ahmanson Auditorium, the Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery, and the Bruce Heavin and Lynda Weinman Alumni Gallery. Johnstone’s work has been exhibited internationally and published in Architectural Record, Azure, Domus, Dwell, Form, Frame, Interior Design, Los Angeles Times, Surface, and Architect’s Newspaper amongst others. Johnstone has received numerous awards including multiple AIA awards for built works and grants for academic endeavors. He also led a collaboration between SCI-Arc and Habitat for Humanity resulting in the design and construction of the multi-award winning IVRV house. Johnstone received his Bachelor of Architecture from California State Polytechnic University of Pomona and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University.

Kristy Balliet is co-founder of BairBalliet, a joint venture design practice with Kelly Bair. BairBalliet has experience working across multiple scales including large-scale graphics, residential, commercial adaptive interiors (cafe/restaurant, child play spaces, coworking/office), institutional, and small-scale accessory buildings (ADU's). BairBalliet has been published in Architect's Newspaper, Log Journal, Art Papers, Fresh Meat, Room One Thousand, Arch Daily and Archinect among others. BairBalliet's work has been exhibited internationally in the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale (Venice, Italy), the Frac Centre (Orleans, France) and Centre de design de l’UQAM (Montreal). Their work has been exhibited across the United States at Modern Museum of Art MoMA (New York), The Architecture & Design Museum & the SCI-Arc Gallery (Los Angeles), Museum of Contemporary Art (Detroit), Chicago Cultural Center (Chicago) and Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh) among others. In 2018, they were named a finalist for the 2018 MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program. Balliet has published articles on topics related to excessive volume and architectural ploys and has co-edited several books; Massive Attack: Selected Friends and Enemies, Visual Catalog: Greg Lynn’s Studio, and in 2018 with the co-founders of the Possible Mediums Project published the Possible Mediums book with Actar. Prior to joining SCI-Arc, Balliet was an Associate Professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture at Ohio State and an Assistant Professor in Studio Greg Lynn at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. She has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia University. She has worked as a project designer at Erdy McHenry Architecture in Philadelphia. Balliet holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Philadelphia University and a Master’s degree from the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design.

Marcelyn Gow is design faculty at SCI-Arc. She is also principal at servo los angeles, a design collaborative invested in the development of architectural environments integrating synthetic ecologies with shifting material states. She is the co-editor of Material Beyond Materials and Onramp 4-7, as well as a current producer for SCI-Arc Channel. Gow received degrees in architecture from the Architectural Association and Columbia University, as well as a Dr.Sc. from the ETH Zurich. Her doctoral dissertation Invisible Environment: Art, Architecture and a Systems Aesthetic explores the relationship between aesthetic research and technological innovation. She has previously served as the coordinator of the MS in Design Theory and Pedagogy postgraduate program as well as acting co-coordinator of the History + Theory curriculum at SCI-Arc. Gow has previously taught at the ETH Zurich, UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, and the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

Paul Holliday joined SCI-Arc in 2007 and served as Chief Administrative Officer from 2015 to 2025 before assuming his current role as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to SCI-Arc, he worked in music postproduction for film and television and later as Administrative and Production Coordinator for the Department of Music at Loyola Marymount University.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts from Loyola Marymount University and a Master’s degree in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies from California State University–Northridge.

As Chief Operating Officer, Holliday provides executive leadership across SCI-Arc’s core functions, including operations, policy development, student and faculty services, and facilities management. He plays a pivotal role in institutional planning and in advancing the school’s academic mission. In addition, he serves as SCI-Arc’s Accreditation Liaison Officer, overseeing NAAB and WASC accreditation processes, and represents the Institute in the broader community through organizations such as the Arts District Business Improvement District (BID).

David Juarez brings a distinctive blend of financial acumen and cultural sensibility to his role as CFO of SCI-Arc, having assumed the position in July 2025. His career spans the intersection of finance and creativity, from facilitating major bond acquisitions at The Broad Museum to transforming financial operations across USC's diverse academic landscape. With an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business and extensive experience managing complex institutional budgets, David has consistently built financial frameworks that support the institutional vision rather than constrain it. His expertise in ERP implementations and compliance management is matched by an intuitive understanding of how financial strategy can amplify creative and educational missions. At SCI-Arc, he brings this rare combination of technical precision and cultural fluency, having navigated the complexities of both prestigious museums and innovative academic institutions. His approach to financial leadership emphasizes transparency and strategic thinking, creating the foundational stability that allows visionary institutions to flourish while maintaining fiscal responsibility and operational excellence.