26 Sep From Barbie Cities to Building Communities: My Journey to CtD

Pati describes the trajectory of her professional career, by continuously asking herself, “What do I want to do when I grow up?” The answer evolves as she discovers her passion for creating spaces that not only function aesthetically but also foster a sense of community and social equity. At each pivotal stage, she learns that true architectural and urban design success comes not from imposing structures on people, but from involving them in the creation of spaces that reflect their needs and aspirations.

The path that led me to Connect the Dots was a long, often winding journey to discover, “What do I want to do when I grow up?”

I didn’t know the answer to this when I was age 5 and my family moved to the US for a year. At first, I spent most of my time drawing houses, families, and villages, trying to make myself feel at home in an unfamiliar place where I didn’t speak the language. I still didn’t know the answer when I was age 7, back in Peru, and spending my weekends building elaborate Barbie neighborhoods using anything I could find – furniture, blankets, tupperware, legos.

At around age 12, I met my first real live architect and everything changed. He came to our house, charged with designing a 3rd floor addition. I was not initially impressed – his bold glasses, all-black outfits and statement shoes seemed too quirky for a “serious grownup.” But once he unrolled the blueprints, and I saw the drawings, I was sold. He was speaking my language, and I knew then that I wanted to design houses when I grew up!

I went on to study architecture in Lima, Peru, where I learned the classics: “form follows function,” “less is more,” and that “construction holds things together; architecture moves us.” I spent those years studying how materials work together, what makes them fail, how window placement affects heat gain, and more. I visited many artfully designed buildings, and once witnessed a beautifully carved statue of Santa Rosa de Lima, set high in a baroque altar, start to glisten when touched by the vertical rays of midday sun, leaving the crowd in awe. The architect had definitely planned that… and I was fascinated!

Near the end of my studies, I took a course on Social Architecture and spent time in Villa el Salvador, a planned shantytown in Lima. At first, I thought it would be a lesson in “what not to do”— and the assignment, no doubt, to design a solution for the “ugliest,” “scariest,” and “poorest” parts of the city. Yet as I spent more time there, sketching, conducting interviews, and taking measurements, I soon learned to find my way around and felt safe and at ease. I observed how people used outdoor spaces (community gardens, street soccer, religious processions) and how they built their homes (incrementally, structurally sound, expanding with their families). I met many residents, competent public officials and even found beauty. I was, in fact, moved. By the end of the semester, I understood that architecture is really about people… and decided that community-driven design is what I wanted to do when I grew up.

I went on to pursue a dual degree in Architecture and Community Planning in Maryland, returning to Villa el Salvador at the end for my thesis. In researching its history, I learned that Villa el Salvador was designed in 1971 by a team of architects and planners hired by the government to “solve” the critical housing shortage which had led to public unrest. They were assigned a large piece of land in the middle of the desert, and tasked with housing thousands of migrants living precariously in occupied private lands at the time.

Faced with the challenge of building a city from scratch, the team collaborated with the new settlers to plan the way forward. They created a self-governance model inspired by communal labor, an idea rooted in Inca society and still prevalent in Andean communities. This model shaped the city’s layout, dividing it into self-sufficient sectors, zones, and blocks, each led by a local representative. The final design was a well-organized, self-sufficient city for 600,000 residents. During my research, I found a quote that captured what I had felt in Villa el Salvador—loosely translated, it read: “Villa el Salvador was not a result of poverty and misery – it is not a sense of lacking that created it […] its value lies in the objectives the community proposed for itself, it is the possibility of looking ahead and moving forward.”

Through this work, I learned that creating urban environments involves more than physical structures and people; it also involves creating systems of governance and social organization that allow communities to thrive. Now this, THIS is what I wanted to do when I grew up: work in communities to overcome the practical challenges of urban development and help create spaces that not only meet the needs of the people that inhabit them, but also help them thrive.

After graduate school, I went to work in the private non-profit sector, first with an affordable housing developer in Washington DC, and later with a community development corporation in Philadelphia. Over the past 12 years, I’ve gained practical insight into how affordable housing and public spaces are produced. I’ve navigated the complexities of urban planning, seeing firsthand that architecture and urban planning are most effective when they are collaborative, inclusive, and people-focused. Unfortunately, I also realized that truly inclusive participatory processes are rare.

Through this work, I met Marisa and saw the Connect the Dots team in action. Their engagement strategies were thoughtful, meaningful, and innovative. That’s when I knew, once again… now that I’m all grown up, this is what I want to do!

I believe equitable development requires effective community engagement at every level—from envisioning a neighborhood to picking out park benches. The idea of community, engagement, and representation have shaped the trajectory of my career. Each professional experience has brought me closer to the realization that creating spaces is not just about buildings and people, but about their stories, and their involvement. Now, at CtD, I’m ready to help others find their voice and contribute to shaping their communities.

Pati is a planning and community development professional with eight years of experience in leading participatory processes with diverse neighborhoods, developing strategic plans, and managing diverse teams. Passionate about cities and the intersection of equitable development and social justice, Pati’s expertise is rooted in guiding organizations in the design and implementation of programs through meaningful stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, grant writing, and project management. With a dual master’s degree from the University of Maryland, Pati has served disadvantaged Philadelphia communities through technical assistance and financial planning services with an overarching focus on revitalizing the public realm by way of park activation and public space improvement projects.