Students need affordable housing too.

As more Americans seek the opportunities provided by higher education, and debates continue over tuition costs and student loans, universities and colleges are finding themselves facing another challenging problem: student housing insecurity.

Today, more students are struggling to find housing, with many ending up homeless or having to drop out. Young adults typically lack the financial resources, rental history, and credit required to obtain decent housing.

7 Clever Tricks to Serve Guests What They Want: A Delectable Experience

Before they prepare and serve food, restaurants must persuade would-be dining guests to enter and choose to eat there. The secret to a full house is to use restaurant design psychology to cater to the senses of guests and provide a captivating, authentic and memorable experience.

Guests' feelings and experiences are influenced by their five senses. Good food is not enough to keep them coming back for more, just as nice decor is not enough to entice them to return if the food isn’t good. Most customers are not aware of how restaurant design affects their experience, but they know how they feel in that space.

Decent, affordable rental housing is crucial for the well-being of individuals, families and communities throughout the U.S. and the world.

Rental housing has always provided flexible and diverse housing options for people at all stages of life. The housing market crash and Great Recession that began in 2007, from which we are still recovering, highlighted the many advantages of renting and the obstacles to home ownership, triggering a surge in demand for rentals in the U.S.

It is not enough to fill a hotel with nice decor and seating options.

With careful curation of furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E), an interior designer can create a unique and authentic atmosphere that keeps customers coming back for more.

Today’s hotel guests are sensitive to good interior design. In addition to liking or not liking the look and feel of a space, they respond to design elements that make them feel comfortable, inspired, happy, relaxed or excited, often without being aware of it. They also expect to find the comforts and conveniences they have at home when they are on the road.

America's older population is about to explode, and the country is nowhere near ready to meet the evolving housing needs of its seniors.

Driven by the aging baby boom generation and increased longevity, the segment of the population aged 50 and over is projected to grow about 20 percent to 132 million in 2030, with those aged 65 to 74 nearly doubling from 21.7 million in 2010 to 38.6 million in 2030, an AARP-sponsored report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University concluded.

We All Need Affordable Housing.  

A house is not just a building. It is a home—a place that shelters, protects and nurtures its occupants. It supports their personal and professional development and offers a safe harbor.

Affordable housing is not a handout. It is a necessity. For years, the middle class has been squeezed as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. At the same time, the cost to rent or purchase housing has become less affordable for millions of Americans.

President Trump’s election has affordable housing developers on pins and needles and numerous U.S. cities and housing advocates predicting disaster.

The newly elected president’s pledge to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent has prompted large banks and other investors to back away from tax credits that reduce their tax burden in exchange for investing in low-income housing projects.

It’s annoying; it can be dangerous; it changes the natural life cycles of humans and wildlife.  

It’s artificial light going in all directions and getting into areas where it shouldn’t be, to begin with.

You’ve seen it before. It’s all around us, in the form of city lights, creating a halo around the skyline. Or in the illumination outside certain buildings to make them seem notorious and important.

On the highways, it’s those bright digital billboards that distract you from driving safely and even hurt your eyes. At home, it’s that annoying light coming from your neighbor’s patio that creeps in through the window and makes it hard to fall asleep.

It’s called light pollution and it affects us all.

April not only marks Earth Month and Earth Day, but it also celebrates World Landscape Architecture Month.  

Among the numerous green or eco-friendly measures environmentalists and nature lovers champion to save the planet are sustainable urban landscapes.

When you sustain your resources, they sustain you. 

In sustainable architecture and interior design, designers seek to minimize the negative impact of buildings on the environment by applying to their designs innovative green methods—involving energy-saving technology, sustainable materials, recycling, repurposing and other elements that support long-term ecological balance.

Indeed, balance is key. As good citizens, we must balance our need to consume natural resources with the planet's need to conserve them. We can truly flourish only in a flourishing environment.

April is Earth Month. There's no better time than now to make small changes that can have huge positive consequences for our planet. 

Earth Month stems from Earth Day, established on April 22, 1970, when thousands of colleges, universities, secondary and primary schools as well as hundreds of communities throughout the U.S. joined to call for environmental reform and "save the planet." Over the years, Earth Day evolved into Earth Week and then into Earth Month.

When designing and building affordable housing, the importance of a healthy partnership between architects and real estate developers cannot be overstated.  

Given the complexity of the affordable housing development process—involving community needs, sustainable design, numerous location considerations, government approvals and many other critical details—teamwork on these projects is essential to ensure their ultimate success.

Now in its full development phase, Las Gladiolas Community Development starts to materialize as the landmark affordable housing project we envisioned. 

Follow us on this exciting journey, as we continue advancing Puerto Rico’s affordable housing transformation.

We know that good architecture could be beautiful, inviting, accessible and long lasting. We also know that it could be sustainable, affordable, functional and socially responsible. But what makes it great?  

Great architecture can make our world a better place by creating a positive experience. In other words, great design not only transforms spaces, but it also can transform our experience of the world, connecting with us on an emotional level. Great design, therefore, is thoughtful.

Reshaping society’s health and wellness through the power of architectural design.  

There’s more to architecture than just buildings! Discover how great architectural design can enhance your quality of life and transform your experience of the world.

What does it mean for a building to have a "Sense of Place"? 

Through our work, we focus on giving our designs both individuality and a sense of place.

We carefully consider the geographical area surrounding a project, as well as the location's history and culture, in order to provide the absolute best experience for residents, neighbors, and visitors.

Check out how we design with a Sense of Place in our latest video!

HOUSE BILL THREATENS TO END PLASTIC BAG BAN IN PUERTO RICO.

Plastic bags are in the news again, here at home and abroad.

The battle over their functionality and economy versus their negative effect on wildlife and the environment is once again heating up in Puerto Rico as environmental groups protest legislation that would reverse a plastic bag ban on the island.

Take a closer look at what our founders call a typical day at work! 

Recently, El Nuevo Día followed Ricardo Álvarez-Díaz and Cristina Villalón for an entire day, as part of the video series, "Un día con..."  in order to give you an intimate glimpse at how they manage a work-life balance, which includes raising a family in Puerto Rico, handling numerous professional commitments, and growing a leading Architecture and Interior Design firm.

The benefits of mixed-income affordable housing are abundant.

Affordable Housing Development can improve the individual lives of residents and support the local workforce by providing well-constructed, decent housing while revitalizing distressed neighborhoods, promoting social integration, boosting an area's economic health and building communities.