Earlier this month, Hilda Espinal, AIA, was named chief technology officer (CTO) for CannonDesign. Based in the global firm’s Chicago office, she will oversee the digital practice and virtual design team, which is modeling the 3.6 million-square-foot Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal project in Autodesk Revit, creating one of largest BIM models ever. She will also craft a vision for the firm’s “digital design experience,” according to a March 23 press release.
Along with 20 years of experience in teaching and in practice, Espinal holds an M.S. in information technology and project management from DePaul University, in Chicago, and a B.S. in architecture and building technologies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was most recently the CTO and a vice president at HKS, based in Dallas.
Below, Espinal discusses how firms of all sizes can leverage technology, how architecture could learn from the open-source model, and how she has become a leader in a male-dominated role in a still male-majority profession.
What are your goals and priorities as CTO for Cannon Design?
Espinal: I want to get technology integrated into architecture, engineering, and construction in every aspect, from form to function—from the conception of our ideas, to generative design and design development, and to living in the spaces. Analysis, simulation, visualization, IoT (the Internet of Things), and even facilities management can benefit from what’s available to us today. We’re in a unique position to make technology a pivotal part of design—not an afterthought like it is a lot of times—and this will position us well with our clientele.
Most architecture firms do not have a dedicated CTO. What will your day-to-day look like?
Our profession is evolving into mostly considering the CIO role, more for the infrastructure and technical aspects of IT that are industry agnostic. Firms bring in a CTO when they want to think about strategy and strengthening the relationship between architecture and technology. When I do technology, I don’t do it for the sake of technology but for the benefit of the profession so what I [expect to fulfill] is a complementing and unique role that is strategic.
As technology itself is advancing rapidly, how do you expect your role to change and evolve?
Honestly, I expect it to be changing all the time and that’s what makes it exciting for me. I tell my direct reports to expect to be obsolete in what you do within a few months or a year. You’re always reinventing yourself. You’ve got to keep up with what’s going on at the forefront of things.
How would you advise firms that cannot hire a dedicated CTO to stay on top of technology?
They should be very clear about their commitment to technology because a lot of [emerging] talent is eager to try to do something different. Oftentimes, if you don’t deliver the right message, they will see it as, “Oh, I’m doing the work that no one else wants to do, and that’s going to pigeonhole me.” But if you say, “You’re going above and beyond what others are doing in helping us to move forward,” then you can have champions on those initiatives that are crucial to the business. For additional support, there’s user groups, publications, and conferences.
CannonDesign + NEUF Architect(e)s
Centre Hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal
How would you advise trained architects who are drawn more to roles in strategy, technology, and business leadership than in design?
They’re not mutually exclusive so you should feel encouraged and excited to take technology to the next level and make architecture better. Do not make it into two separate careers if you don’t want to, but there certainly is the potential to make it into a career path that is quite successful.
On a more personal note, you’re a woman in a male-dominated sector—technology and IT—within a male-dominated profession, architecture. You’re also an immigrant, having come to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic after high school. Have you experienced discrimination in the profession?
I have, yes, but I never play the gender card. I know that I have to work three times as hard as my Caucasian male counterparts, not only in architecture, but also in IT, but that never really bothered me—I just did it. However, in recent times, with the political climate and other personal experiences that I’ve had in the recent years, I feel that [discrimination is] getting even more pronounced. So I decided to start speaking about it. I am now a national board member of the Women for Economic and Leadership Development. This is me getting involved, being proactively engaged, working to mentor and enable others, and saying, “I have to pay it forward.” So, yes, it’s there, and it’s very real. It’s getting better in the sense that we have more women graduating from architecture school and getting licensed, but the most recent past seemed a little concerning.
Any other advice for architects?
People used to think information is power, but I would like to say that information that is shared is the one that is able to evolve. As a profession, we should be getting involved in groups and sharing what we know—and not working in silos because that’s just not the way of the world anymore.
There is a little bit in our digital field where [some say] this is our “secret sauce.” No, it’s not. We do architecture, and this is what we are known for. The means to get to it are different. The more we share, the more we will know and the quicker we’re going to get there so we can advance the profession. We can still differentiate ourselves based on the quality of our design.
Note: This interview was edited and condensed for clarity. It has been updated since first publication.
