Leonor Robalino Orrico is an architectural designer whose work explores public space, community infrastructure, and adaptable urban systems. She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University in 2026, where she investigated how architecture can support collective use and everyday civic life.
At Cornell, her undergraduate thesis, Cotidiano: Street Sheds, proposed a network of adaptable structures along Jackson Heights' 34th Avenue Open Street that reimagined civic infrastructure as flexible frameworks shaped by community use over time.
Before joining MEAL, Leonor interned with the New York City School Construction Authority and Estudio Felipe Escudero in Quito, Ecuador. Her work is driven by an interest in architecture's capacity to create responsive, inclusive, and community-centered public environments.
Trang Nguyen is an architectural designer with a focus on post-industrial landscapes, environmental visualization, and infrastructural ecologies. She earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University in 2025, where she was awarded the Edwin A. Seipp Prize and the Addison G. Crowley (B.L.Arch. '38) Prize for design excellence.
At Cornell, Trang was a research assistant at the Design Across Scales Lab for three years, creating visualizations that examined the spatial impacts of oil extraction. Her thesis investigated the rehabilitation of Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, proposing new futures for its taconite mining legacy. She worked at Höweler + Yoon Architecture, contributing to the iterative design of an elementary school project in Columbus, Indiana.
Trang is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in Architecture and Urbanism at MIT. Her work explores how urban design can engage with complex environmental and industrial systems through compelling narratives.
Lydia holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, where she received the Addison G. Crowley Prize. Her interests lie in architectural representation and its potential to generate enriching spaces, alongside architecture that address the human scale.
At MEAL, she worked on residential projects, helping with the production of schematic drawing and physical models. Lydia was fundamental for the development of Tepoz House.
Victoria Lee is a designer from Bay Area, California. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) degree at Cornell AAP. She serves as Co-President of Cornell's NOMAS chapter. She designed and built Bookmark for Freedom Pages, a traveling library that brings censored books to public view, supported by the Freedom of Expression grant from the Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA). She is interested in spatial justice and the use of design as a tool for resistance and protest. Currently, she is focused on curatorial work for exhibitions and galleries.
At MEAL, she coordinated the curatorial efforts and logistics for Data/Migration/Design, an exhibition displayed at the Bibliowicz Family Gallery (Cornell AAP). Without Victoria's efforts and work ethics, the exhibition wouldn't have been possible.
Sumin Oh, Design Architect - Detail Specialist
Sumin Oh,
Design Architect - Detail Specialist
Previous Collaborations
Former Team Members
Xinyu Tang, Design Architect
Xinyu Tang is an architectural designer who is interested in creating architectures that are responsive to urban social concerns and designing playful interventions that enrich the collective experience of the urban public space.
She holds a Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MS. AAD) from Cornell AAP, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University. Her work “Copied in Beijing” was exhibited as part of the student contributors in Wind H Art Center in Beijing in 2021. Her research work for the Syracuse University Associate Professor Lawrence Davis was also published in his recent book “Rewriting Exurbia.”
Team Members
Marcos Escamilla-Guerrero, Principal
Marcos Escamilla-Guerrero is a Mexican architect, designer, and researcher investigating the role of architecture and design in shaping migration landscapes and infrastructures. Working at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, geospatial analysis, and social justice, his work combines spatial data, participatory methods, and design speculation, with a particular focus on Latin American representation and alternative spatial practices around migration and displacement.
He is currently a Ph.D. student in Architecture, Landscape and Design at the University of Toronto's Daniels Faculty, where his research examines migration as a spatial, environmental, and societal condition. His research is advised by Professor Erica Allen-Kim. He is also a Junior Fellow at Massey College, where he holds the Leadership for the Public Good Fellowship.
Marcos is the founder and director of MEAL (Making Experimental Architecture Lab). Previously, he practiced architecture at FGP Atelier in Chicago, contributing to a range of international projects, including skyscrapers, airports, community centers, and residential developments, across multiple phases of design, from conceptual development to construction documentation. He is a licensed architect in Mexico and is currently pursuing architectural licensure in the United States.
His academic experience includes serving as a Visiting Critic at Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP), where he taught design studios, advised undergraduate theses, and developed Migrant Assemblies, an elective seminar examining alternative architectural responses to migration. He also served as Program Coordinator for Cornell AAP's City Visionaries summer program in New York City. His research experience at Cornell includes collaborations with the Housing Innovation Lab and faculty working across architecture, urbanism, and design research.
His research and design work have been featured in academic publications, including Log, Cornell Journal of Architecture, Critical Productive, Paprika!, and Patio Magazine, as well as exhibitions and academic conferences. In 2025, he curated Data/Migration/Design at Cornell's Bibliowicz Family Gallery and presented his research at Information+ 2025 at MIT.
He holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design (Research Track) from Cornell University, where he received several distinctions, including the AAP Engagement Impact Grant, the Kittleman Graduate Award, and the MS.AAD Design Award. His thesis, “Pan-American Cooperation Project,” advised by Milton Curry, Meejin Yoon, and Wenfei Xu received multiple awards and has been published in diverse platforms.He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Tecnológico de Monterrey, graduating with highest academic distinction. During his undergraduate studies, he collaborated with C+Lab under the mentorship of Nélida Escobedo and Rubén Segovia.
