Meet Hector M Perez, one of our members at ULI San Diego/Tijuana. Hector is Design Principal and owner of his San Diego-based studio, De-Arc, which focuses on real estate development projects. He is a Professor Emeritus of architectural design and real estate development and recently retired from Woodbury University School of Architecture in San Diego.  

 Originally from Guadalajara, Hector came to the U.S. with his family when he was 14. As a young student, he loved drawing and experimenting with different media like ceramics and collage, which led him to architecture. He went on to study architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and finished his studies abroad in Florence, Italy. As part of his informal education, Hector put his academics on pause after he graduated and competed as a track and field athlete for the Mexican National Track Team in over 23 countries over five years. When he had finished his time as an athlete, he worked briefly in Mexico City and then moved to San Diego, to start his own architecture studio (OdA / Oficina de Arquitectura) with longtime friend Teddy Cruz. The firm was frequently involved in teaching, leading him to begin his work as an educator. 

Hector has returned to Mexico as often as he can throughout his life and says that he “never really left.” He even returned to his hometown multiple times to teach design workshops at various Universities, in 2012 he taught a week-long design workshop, called Collage Como Instrumento de Diseño (Collage as Design Instrument), at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Hector says that many references in the architecture of his projects are influenced by what he saw around him growing up and much of the work he does now revolves around housing, which he has always seen as an important investigation in Mexico. His most recently completed project, Los Patios, a mixed-use development in Barrio Logan, is inspired by Mexican “Vecindades”, a kind of tenement where individual apartments encircle a central patio. The term comes from the word “vecino” or “neighbor” and strongly references the kind of housing he lived in his childhood in Mexico.  Each lofted-suite apartment has their own little patio, and all are accessed through the central courtyard which is intended to become the social hub for the residents. Hector says that the goal of this project was to create housing on a small footprint but with double height to create a more spacious feel and also to provide both indoor and outdoor experiences for residents.  

Hector chose to join ULI because he appreciated the complex and educational conversations among members and wanted to join those discussions. He also values that the members have a diverse range of careers, which mirrors the real world in which architects operate. The binational aspect of the San Diego/Tijuana chapter was a draw for him as well. “In Southern California, so much of the population is binational in nature…The border doesn’t care about politics, it’s still flowing actively no matter what,” Hector emphasized. He argued that this binational culture is what makes it interesting to practice and live in this region so the negation or vilification of the Mexican half of this identity has been sad. Hector said that this ULI chapter is “truly an international effort,” which he greatly appreciates. “It has been the most rewarding experience.” 

To learn more about Hector and his work, you can check out his website at hectormperez.com.