Erica Alonzo.
Erica Alonzo, 27
Designer at FXCollaborative
Raised in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, Erica Alonzo grew up appreciating the diverse topography of urban life, from the depths of subway tunnels to the peaks of skyscrapers, and constantly sketched scenes of her surroundings. On her final day of kindergarten, she told the class that one day she’d be an architect.
Ever since graduating from Cornell in 2016 and starting work at FXCollaborative, first as a summer intern and now as an architect and designer, she’s put that perspective to use on the kinds of mixed-use projects that form the backdrop to a vibrant city, challenging typologies that require an intricate balance of space and different perspectives.
Her recent work designing a new space for Harlem’s La Hermosa Christian Church near Central Park North exemplifies such a challenge. The parishioners hired FXCollaborative directly to envision a project that combined new affordable and market-rate housing with religious and educational facilities. The new concept was as much a design challenge as it was a massive effort to balance different community needs and zoning requirements. Alonzo, whose family is from the Dominican Republic, was especially happy as a Hispanic architect presenting designs and ideas in Spanish and collaborating with her clients.
“Being sensitive to your community is everything,” she said. “So much work in New York City is developer-focused, but there’s more room to think about the end user, which I think ultimately makes for better design. That’s where I want my career to go.”
Alonzo, who did her award-winning thesis project on rehabilitating rural Alabama towns to facilitate tourism, has always wanted to create architecture that’s as accessible as possible and values diversity. It’s what attracted her to FXCollaborative and what she sees as a key part of the future of design in New York City: mixed-use buildings that reflect that fabric of the community, including a similar multi-use development she helped design for a former Baptist church at 11 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn near Prospect Park.
“One of my strengths growing up in New York City is having a strong sense of the importance of different points of view and perspective,” Alonzo said. “Good design can never happen in a vacuum.”
