Quilian (pronounced: Killian) is an architectural, strategy and urban designer, researcher, writer, and educator working out of Brooklyn, New York. Currently, Quilian is a Senior Urban and Strategic Designer/Researcher to support a more equitable built environment in the Office of the Chief Architect at New York City’s Department of Design and Construction. 

Quilian is also the founder and principal of DSGN AGNC, a collaborative design/research studio exploring political engagement through architecture, urbanism and art.

In practice and academia, Quilian works to create forensic research models into policies that affect urban spaces, often alongside local stakeholders and trans­disciplinary teams, that in turn can be used to propose a variety of spatial designs, targeted policies and actions that seek to increase local agency. This process has been used for public plaza, garden and park projects with groups such as the Queens Museum of Art, the Van Alen Institute, the Design Trust for Public Space, Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden, often working with immigrant and other underserved communities.

Quilian is committed to design education as a part-time Assistant Professor teaching architectural and urban design studios at Parsons, The New School for Design. Quilian has also taught architectural and urban design studios at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Carleton University, Syracuse University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the City College of New York. Quilian received a Bachelors of Design (BDes) Summa Cum Laude from the University of Florida and a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. QUILIAN’S TEACHING CV.