Full Circle - January 2006

An e-Newsletter for the Clients and Friends of C.T. Hsu + Associates, P.A.

Rene Alvarez Employee Profile
Rene Alvarez, Associate, Senior Planner/Designer

Architect. World traveler. Experienced skydiver.

The career of Rene’s father as a civil engineer took the family to Pakistan, Brazil, Paraguay, and the Dominican Republic. It also sparked Rene’s interest in architecture. “I was attracted to the profession through my experiences with my father; childhood visits to his office and countless site visits to projects around the world,” Rene explains.

Rene’s international exposure continued when he married a German school teacher and moved to Germany after living and working in New York City for 10 years. Their children, Julian and Sonia, were born in Connecticut and Münster, Germany, respectively.

Rene studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he earned both a Master of Science in urban design and a Bachelor in architecture with honors. A dedicated professional with project experience in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the U.S., he has worked in the planning and design field for nearly 20 years.

He joined CTH+A in 1998, providing master plans, feasibility studies, programming, and building designs for many of the firm’s signature projects. The list includes the Boone High School comprehensive needs project, the Seminole Community College Sanford/Lake Mary campus master plan and Automotive Training Facility, The Orange County Convention Center west entrance upgrade, and the Plaza Venezia retail complex master plan.

Prior to joining CTH+A, Rene was a senior designer with Architekturbüro Prof. Harald Deilmann in Münster, Germany where he worked in the urban design department on residential, commercial, and industrial projects for seven years.

Rene counts among his more rewarding projects the Jericho Jewish Center in New York (“the first project for which I served as lead designer”), the Monkingheide mixed-use neighborhood in Senden Germany (“planned a compact, environmentally-friendly development which is now a thriving community”), the Al Shallal Theme Park in Saudi Arabia (“a fun project in an exotic place”) and the Valencia Community College Criminal Justice Institute for which collaborating with the client in outside the box thinking resulted in an exciting new facility.

Little known facts about Rene Alvarez:

He has logged more than 250 sky dives and once had to use his reserve chute while jumping at DeLand.
He studied classical music for seven years while living in Brazil and Paraguay, becoming proficient on the guitar.
He speaks four languages: English, Spanish, German and Portuguese

C.T. Hsu + Associates, P.A.
820 Irma Avenue • Orlando, FL 32803 • 407 423 0098 • Fax 407 423 4793
CTHSU.com

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