Quilian Riano is a designer, researcher, writer, and educator working out of Brooklyn, New York. Quilian teaches theory-based Design and Urban Ecologies studios at Parsons, The New School for Design in the undergraduate and graduate programs of the School of Design Strategies and Pratt Institute’s Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development. Quilian has also taught architectural and urban design studios at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the City College of New York.

Quilian founded DSGN AGNC and is its principal. DSGN AGNC (Design Agency) is a collaborative design/research studio exploring political engagement through architecture, urbanism, art & activism. DSGN AGNC arises, in part, from a concern about the types of questions that are asked by critical architectural practices. Or, rather, a concern about the questions not being asked. Who are the powerful entities hiring architects and what are their agendas? Who are the people that actually build architecture and what is their condition? Can architecture and design help society move towards a more equitable model of power distribution? What ties all these questions are the hidden conflicts (power dynamics) that characterize current political economies. Quilian attended University of Florida for a Bachelors of Design (BDes) in Architecture and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design for a Masters of Architecture (MArch).