WASHINGTON D.C. — The US-based architect who was responsible for the conceptualization and eventual success of the Estudio Damgo project at Foundation University will be back in the Philippines as a participant of the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPro).
This week-long all-expense paid immersion program to the Philippines was announced in August by the Embassy of the Philippines in Washington.
Ray Villanueva, architect, educator, and aspiring builder, was selected as one of the 10 participants to the FYLPro immersion program from Oct. 8 to 14 in Manila.
While teaching at Foundation University in mid-2000, Villanueva co-founded with FU President Dean Sinco the Estudio Damgo, a student-led, community-based design-and-build program, focusing on the use of local materials like bamboo to reintroduce cultural relevance and sustainability in construction.
The program was awarded one of the 2013 Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations.
Villanueva is currently co-director of the Philippine Bamboo Workshop Study Abroad Program through the University of Washington Department of Architecture, which won the 2016 ACSA Design-Build Award.
He has worked on health clinics, schools, and public buildings as project architect and project manager at Miller Hayashi Architects. He is currently project manager for Katerra, a technology, design, and construction company that is transforming the way housing is built.
Ray earned his BS in Architecture from the University of Maryland with summa cum laude honors, and completed his Master of Architecture at the University of Washington. He is now based in Seattle with wife Amy Ellingson, and their two kids, June, born in Dumaguete, and Lou.
Now on its sixth year, FYLPro is a group of US-based next-generation leaders who have a passion for advancing the Philippines and the Filipino people. It was established in 2012 by Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr., in cooperation with Ayala Foundation Inc., to provide delegates with invaluable community, business, and government insights and access to a distinguished network of captains of industry and government.
The 2017 partners of FYLPro are the Makati Business Club, the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, the Office of American Affairs-Department of Foreign Affairs, and Asia Society Philippines. (PR)
