Cordoba Corporation is thrilled to celebrate World Architecture Day. The first Monday of October of every year marks World Architecture Day and World Habitat Day. Celebrated together, they both seek to shed light on the built environment and its challenges. This year, through its World Architecture Day, the International Union of Architects is focusing on “Architecture for well-being”, in line with the designation of 2022 as the International Union of Architects Year of Design for Health in buildings and cities. In parallel, the UN’s World Habitat Day, is centered on “Mind the Gap. Leave No One and Place Behind”, looking at the problem of growing inequality and challenges in cities and human settlements, due to the triple ‘C’ crises – COVID-19, climate and conflict.
Today, we are recognizing four of Cordoba’s architects in our Education and Facilities Sector focused on planning and designing enhanced educational environments at our state’s colleges and universities. We hope you enjoy getting to know our talented, dedicated and hard-working architects who are truly Making a Difference in creating sustainable and thoughtful learning spaces for California’s college students.
Gene Directo is a Program Director who celebrated his 10th anniversary last year with Cordoba Corporation!
He has over forty years of comprehensive management experience in large capital programs and projects including the design and construction of residential, commercial, civic, educational, and healthcare projects in public and private sectors. Gene also has extensive experience in design, design review, tenant improvements and construction administration with a specific emphasis on historic renovation.
Gene is currently managing several major projects at East Los Angeles College (ELAC) that are funded by the Los Angeles Community College District’s (Build LACCD) Measure CC bond program. He has a master’s degree in Architecture from Cal Poly Pomona and is a Licensed Architect in the State of California. He also holds a certificate from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
Gene is an adult volunteer/mentor runner for Students Run LA (SRLA), whose mission is to challenge at-risk secondary students to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing experience: The training for and completion of the Los Angeles Marathon.
John Duong, AIA, CCM, LEED AP has 19 years of experience managing and designing a wide range of project types, including higher education, K-12 education, health care, commercial, industrial factory-warehouse, and residential design / construction of new and existing facilities.
John serves as the Program Director for the Bond Management Program at Long Beach City College, where Cordoba Corporation is responsible for the program and construction management of the District’s $1.5 Billion Bond Program. As Program Director, John currently oversees $250M of active bond construction projects in design or construction. John is directly responsible for the oversight of 24 Bond Management Team members and he directs activities such as planning, financing, project controls, project design and construction and long-range scheduling for over 30 large scale projects on two campuses.
John earned in B.Arch. from Cal Poly Pomona. He is a licensed Architect in the State of California, a Certified Construction Manager, and LEED Accredited Professional.
Deborah Wylie has more than two decades of experience focused on creating spaces for higher education to support student success. Her extensive experience in all three sectors of California public higher education are reflected in her ability to strategize, collaborate, and create facilities that optimize campus resources.
Deborah is working across all nine LACCD colleges, collaborating on major capital projects to insure best value for students. She is providing strategic expertise in master planning, programming, and design, assessing all college master plans for ongoing college needs.
In the last year, she updated Master Plans for ELAC and LA Southwest College to support accreditation; and completed a Phase 1 Feasibility Study for Cal Poly Pomona collaborating with HGA Architects. In the coming year, she will continue work with Cal Poly Pomona and collaborate on a Cal Maritime Academy project.
Deborah earned her B.A. in Architecture and M.S. in Structural Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and has an MBA from Long Beach State.
Emil Zordilla, AIA, LEED AP is an experienced Campus Architect and Director of Facilities Planning and Design with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education and government sector industries.
He is skilled in University Master Planning, Capital Outlay Funding, Project Feasibility Studies, Space Utilization Assessments, Environmental Design.
Emil’s higher education experience includes managing the planning and design of campus facilities; leading in-house and consultant design teams; developing and supporting policies and design standards, including campus facilities master plans; engaging with community stakeholders; administering consultant contracts for major and minor capital projects; supervising maintenance personnel; partnering with campus colleagues; conducting space utilization analyses; and developing mapping solutions using Global Information System programs. Emil currently serves as the Program Director for the Bond Program at Citrus College.
A talented business development professional, Emil has a master’s degree focused in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California. He is a registered architect in the State of California and a LEED Accredited Professional.
