Hoffmann Architects appoints Juan Kuriyama and Rachel Palisin as New York team leaders

Hoffmann Architects, an architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors, announces that Juan A. Kuriyama, AIA and Rachel C. Palisin, PE, LEED AP BD+C have been selected to lead two newly designated teams of technical staff in the firm’s rapidly growing New York City office. 

Juan A. Kuriyama, AIA, Vice President and Director, Architecture with Hoffmann Architects, has been chosen as New York City office team leader for a group of technical professionals with a range of experience and backgrounds, including LEED Green Associates, engineers-in-training, and architecture graduates. Kuriyama brings knowledge gained over his nearly two decades at Hoffmann Architects to mentoring and supervising his team in meeting the challenges of building exterior projects. 

Recognized for his expertise in building envelope remediation by Spanish and English publications, Kuriyama has provided design solutions for diverse clients, including Pfizer World Headquarters, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Verizon, Ford Foundation, Columbia University, New York City School Construction Authority, Kings County Hospital, and Madison Square Garden. Kuriyama earned architecture degrees from Ricardo Palma University in Peru and from Pratt Institute in New York, and he is an active member of the American Institute of Architects, the Architects League of Northern New Jersey, and the Historic Preservation Commission in his hometown of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.

Rachel C. Palisin, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Project Engineer with Hoffmann Architects, has been named a New York City office team leader, responsible for managing a group of emerging professionals with diverse backgrounds in engineering, architecture, urbanism, and ecological design. After earning a Master of Structural Engineering degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Palisin studied historic preservation at the postgraduate level at the University of Maryland School of Architecture.

Since joining Hoffmann Architects in 2016, Palisin has already proven herself a leader in managing challenging building envelope projects and guiding junior staff through the rigors of code compliance evaluation, structural analysis, existing condition evaluation, and remedial solution design. A published technical writer and active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Structural Engineering Institute, she applies her background in structural analysis and preservation to projects at a broad range of facilities, including Lexington Armory, The Argonaut Building, the Health Science Center at Stony Brook University, and Riverdale Library. She lives in New York.  

Founded in 1977, Hoffmann Architects specializes in the rehabilitation of the building envelope. The firm’s work focuses on the exteriors of existing structures, diagnosing and resolving deterioration within facades, roofing systems, windows, waterproofing materials, plazas/terraces, parking garages, and historic and landmark structures. We provide consulting services for new building construction, as well as litigation and claim support. Our technical professionals investigate and correct damage resulting from time and weather, substandard or improper construction, design defects, material failures, poor workmanship, structural movement, and stress.