CCNY Architecture Alumni

Meet the Honorees!

Faculty Leadership Award- Nilda Sanchez Rodriguez
Nilda Sanchez-Rodriguez, M.L.S., M.A. (she, her, hers)
Chief Architecture Librarian/Associate Professor

Associate Professor Nilda Sanchez-Rodriguez is the Chief Architecture Librarian at the College of New York. She leads the Architecture Library and supports access to specialized resources for students, faculty, and researchers.
Responsibilities include: bibliographic instruction, library staffing, and maintaining the library’s physical spaces. As Chief Architecture Librarian and Interim Chief of Technical Services, she oversaw collections, acquisitions, serials, cataloging, and subscription renewals across 26 fund accounts. Sanchez-Rodriguez manages the Michael Sorkin Reading Room, the Marshall Berman Collection, and a 13,500-item architectural postcard archive now being digitized for teaching and public access. Using this collection, Prof. Sanchez-Rodriguez curated an online and in-person exhibition featuring nearly 900 New York City postcards. Her teaching helps architecture students build research skills and work with primary sources. 
Prof. Sanchez-Rodriguez earned a Post-Graduate Advanced Archives Certificate in 2025 and continues to support student-learning through her work with collections, instruction, and access.

M.L.S., M.A. (she, her, hers)
MA (Urban Studies) Queens College (CUNY)
MLS (Library and Information Sciences) Queens College (CUNY)

Join us in celebrating Professor Nilda on Thursday May 28th! Link to event in bio.

Meet the Honorees!

Faculty / Staff Service Award- Nandini Bagchee
Associate Professor, Spitzer School of Architecture
City College of New York, CUNY, NY.

The Faculty / Staff Service Award honors exceptional dedication, commitment, and contributions to our academic community. This recognition celebrates efforts that advance SSA’s mission through teaching, research, mentorship, and service. Recipients embody a high standard of academic excellence, leadership, and integrity, serving as inspirational role models for colleagues and students.

Nandini Bagchee is the principal of Bagchee Architects and Associate Professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture (CCNY, CUNY). Her research focuses on activism in architecture and the ways in which ground up collaborative building practices provide an alternative medium for the creation of public space. Nandini is the author of a book on the history and impact of activist-run spaces in New York City entitled, Counter Institution: Activist Estates of the Lower East Side (Fordham University Press, 2018). Nandini’s design work and writing has been published in the New York Times, Interiors Now, Urban Omnibus and the Journal of Architectural Education. She is the recipient of grants from the New York State Council of the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Graham Foundation. Her research-based architectural work involves an engagement with grass roots organizations such as the South Bronx Unite, Upbeat NYC, Interference Archive, the Clemente Center and the Laundromat Project in New York City. Through her practice- Bagchee Architects is working with a few different community land trusts in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens to design community-controlled spaces.
Nandini Bagchee was born and raised in India and moved to the United States after completing high school.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Irwin Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union and a Master’s degree in Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  

Join us in celebrating Professor Bagchee on Thursday May 28th! Link to event in bio.

Meet the Honorees!

Alumni Career Achievement- Carlos J. Cardoso, AIA, CPHD
Partner, Beyer Blinder, Belle Architects and Planners

The Alumni Career Achievement Award recognizes outstanding professional accomplishments and contributions made by alumni (SAES, SAUDLA, or SSA). This award celebrates the leadership and impact of our alumni in their respective fields. Nominees are established professionals with a minimum of 10 years of experience. Recipients of this award serve as inspiring role models for current and future generations of graduates through their professional, academic, and/or community service.

With more than 30 years of experience in architecture, Carlos specializes on construction administration, which stems from a lifelong passion for understanding how things are built, first developed as a child through exposure to his family’s construction and real estate business in Brazil, Portugal, and the United States. He oversees new construction, renovation, and adaptive reuse projects for a diverse range of commercial, residential, and institutional clients. He is also the co-creator of “LiveBBBarch,” a web-based software BBB developed to facilitate project management and real-time synchronization of project information amongst all team members, which is now used on nearly every active project. Carlos is a graduate of the City College of New York (B.S. Architecture), a licensed architect in the states of Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio, and a member of the American Institute of Architects. Congratulations Carlos!

SAVE THE DATE!

The mission of the CCNY Architecture Alumni is to foster a strong alumni network that supports the lifelong success, leadership, and integrity of both the school and the architectural profession.
To honor that mission, we gather to recognize outstanding faculty service and celebrate alumni whose accomplishments have made a lasting impact on the field of architecture.
Join us as we celebrate members of our community who have demonstrated exceptional leadership within the school and throughout architectural practice in New York City and beyond.

Thursday, May 28
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

The Spitzer School of Architecture Rooftop
All alumni, students, faculty, and friends are welcome.

RSVP via the link in bio.

Join us for a fun-filled evening of networking and socializing at the AAG Winter Social!
This event will take place on Thursday March 26th at 6:00PM.
Meet and mingle with fellow professionals and new grads in a relaxed and casual atmosphere.
All CCNY Alumni, faculty staff and friends are welcome to join.
We look forward to catching up with the amazing alumni of the architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, sustainability programs and beyond.
Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to expand your network and have a great time.

Eventbrite link in bio!

See you there!

Please join us on Wednesday February 18th from 6:30-8:30pm, as we’re excited to invite you back to our annual Speed Mentoring event, bringing together alumni, practitioners, and students for focused conversations on career paths, professional growth, and life after school.

Alumni and professionals will share real-world insight, offer resume or portfolio feedback, and help students navigate the early stages of their careers. Participants from architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and sustainability are welcome at all career stages.

Speed Mentoring is also a great way to reconnect with the CCNY community and engage with fellow alumni + practitioners. These conversations often leave both students + alumni feeling energized, grounded, and reminded of the impact thoughtful guidance can have.

RSVP via link in our bio!

Celebrating the season + the community that shapes our built environment.

Happy Holidays from the Architecture Alumni Group.

See you around next year! ❄️✨

Event Postponed:
Todays AAG Summer Happy Hour POSTPONED due to weather