Associate Professor
- M.DESS, HARVARD UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, CONCENTRATION IN URBANIZATION AND HOUSING
- B.ARCH, CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY SAN LUIS OBISPO, COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (MAGNA CUM LAUDE)
- FAAR 2007 KATHERINE EDWARDS GORDON ROME PRIZE FELLOWSHIP IN DESIGN, AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME
Adriana Cuéllar is an Associate Professor, founder of the Border Design Lab, and co-partner of CRO studio. Adriana received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a Master's in Design Studies from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship in Design by the American Academy in Rome.
Scholarly Work
Cuéllar's scholarship is at the intersection of architecture's role as a social and urban agent and the instrumentality of architectural representation as a means of historical and artistic inquiry.
Born in San Diego and raised in Tijuana, Cuéllar is co-founder of CRO Studio, an architecture practice-based research established at the US-Mexico border. With a focused social impact agenda, CRO studio projects address the cultural, economic, and environmental challenges faced by those living in everyday border conditions. Through design methodologies and collaborations, the practice explores the narratives and new conceptions of place, with projects ranging from community centers and religious institutions to affordable housing prototypes and private developments on both sides of the border. CRO studio work has been recognized with numerous awards and publications, including the 2020 ACSA College of Distinguished Professors Award for Best Project, the 2013 P/A Progressive Architecture Award, and the 2014 IX BIAU Ibero-American Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism in Rosario, Argentina.
Cuéllar has previously taught as an Assistant Adjunct at USD; she has been a Lecturer at the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, Woodbury University, and the New School of Architecture and Design, where she co-directed the Rome study abroad program. She has been a design critic and invited lecturer at various institutions in the US, México, and Italy.
As a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome, Cuéllar launched researching the visual representation of everyday spaces and the urban history of Rome, involving drawing practices rooted in observation and the overlapping of time. Her research has since evolved into her current scholarship on architectural drawings and cartography in Renaissance and Baroque Italy. Cuellar’s work aims to rediscover drawing principles and the hybridity of tools to reimagine identities and question the role of drawing in contemporary architectural practices.
Areas of Interest
Cuéllar teaches architectural design studios across all levels, including introductory design courses, topic-research studios, and thesis projects. She creates design methodologies that encourage students to envision architectural projects with unexpected outcomes, pairing representation methods with contemporary matters about culture, landscape, construction, and border conditions of this region.
Additionally, she has recently created a design course on Renaissance drawings and a study abroad seminar in Rome focused on the cartography and urban visual imagery of the 15th to 18th centuries, examining its cultural influence and impact on the city's construction.