About US

Established in 2011, the Viñoly Foundation was rededicated in 2023 after the passing of architect Rafael Viñoly. As we develop our programs and build out our board and leadership team, we are guided by Rafael's professional and personal legacy. Explore this page to learn about plans underway to honor Rafael’s impact.

Mission, Vision & Values
About Rafael Viñoly
Message from Our Chair
Leadership: Board of Directors & Staff
Careers

Guided by Rafael Viñoly’s conviction that every building project affects the public realm, we help communities recognize and demand excellence in architecture.

Our Mission

The Viñoly Foundation works to elevate public life through the transformative power of architecture, urban planning, education, the arts, and science. Guided by Rafael Viñoly’s conviction that every building project affects the public realm, we help communities recognize and demand excellence in architecture.

our vision

An inclusive development ecosystem that champions the community’s needs and wellbeing.

our values

Empowerment. We cultivate a new generation of discerning and engaged community members.
Continuity. We are committed to supporting long-term outcomes.
Inclusion. We actively incorporate multiple perspectives and voices.
Rigor. We leverage data and technology to drive charitable impact and results.
Optimism. We embrace experimentation to create positive change.

about rafael Viñoly

Rafael Viñoly founded an acclaimed, international architecture practice focused on making meaningful civic and cultural contributions while exceeding the programmatic, economic, aesthetic and performance goals of every building project. In over a half-century of built work, Viñoly realized over 600 commissions from courthouses, concert halls and museums, to airports, stadia and buildings for science, throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. His work is characterized by holistic attention to proportion and a sustained structural originality that transcend passing architectural fads.

Viñoly’s work has been recognized in the world’s leading design publications and by numerous awards of excellence. He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1993, was a member of the Japan Institute of Architects, and in 2006, was named an International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He lectured widely in the United States and abroad.

Message from the board chair

“In over three decades working directly with my father, I saw the consistent humanity of his approach to architecture. By embracing the diversity of human experience and then placing it at the center of his design process, Rafael Viñoly sought to marshal the vast resources required for large scale development projects toward more broadly productive, resilient and equitable outcomes for the communities in which he had the privilege to build.

“Recognizing the relative permanence of buildings, he defined success over the long term, as a building's ability to inspire and engage its host community in evolving its use. Similarly, we will take a long-term view as we deploy grant and education programs to push (and pull) the real estate development ecosystem toward a broadly civic definition of success.”

- Román Viñoly