Co-Founder and Managing Director, Diad Architecture

Jorge A. Zapata is the co-founder of Diad Architecture in New York, New York, a full-service architecture firm that works on projects ranging from cultural, residential and commercial buildings to product and furniture design. As managing director, Zapata oversees client relations, office operations, and directs projects from conception through habitation. He closely oversees all aspects of design, balancing the pragmatic considerations of construction and the pursuit of ideas. His designs include the Kent Avenue Arts Center, opening in January 2017, as well as the Seaside House.

Zapata graduated from NewSchool in 1995 with a degree in architecture, previously receiving a Diplôme de Langue et de Culture Françaises (language and art history) at L’Université Catholique de L’Ouest in Angers, France. According to Zapata, he was moved by his teachers and fellow students at NewSchool and went on to attend Yale School of Architecture. He was awarded the Charles O. Matcham Scholarship upon graduating with a master’s degree in architecture from Yale. Zapata has been invited as a guest juror to various design studios at the New York Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Technology and has taught architecture-related courses at the PRATT Center for Continuing and Professional Studies.

“I have very fond memories of when I studied at NewSchool of Architecture & Design and I am very grateful for the education I received,” said Zapata. “My time there as a student consolidated my passion for architecture, a passion which I am continually trying to nurture. I believe the foundation I received at NewSchool, through the teachers and friends I met there, as well as the learning environment that we as students were surrounded with, kept me true to my passion.”

Jorge A. Zapata was named the 2015 Alumni of the Year for his body of architectural work.