Enjoying the Process: fr-ee's Liliana Viveros on Discipline, Resilience, and Finding the Right Way
By Julia Gamolina
Liliana is a Mexican architect with a Master’s degree in Advance Architecture from the IAAC in Barcelona. She has been collaborating with fr-ee Fernando Romero Enterprise or eight years, recently becoming the Mexico City Office Director where she oversees the overall performance of the studio, including driving and developing all aspects of the value chain. She was one of the managing leads for the Mexico City New Airport project development (biggest airport in construction at the time) during design and construction phases.
Liliana´s current primary responsibility is focused on the growth and expansion of FR-EE brand. In interview, Liliana talks about the development of her career across Spain and Mexico, advising young architects to train themselves in resilience.
JG: How did your interest in architecture first develop? What did you learn about yourself in studying it?
LV: When I decided to study architecture, I wasn’t sure that this was the path for me. But, I decided to give it a chance. I did very well in university and was one of the best students, but somehow I was not feeling very passionate about architecture. I wanted to continue to give it a chance though, because I felt that somehow it was still right for me, so after graduating, I went immediately to study a Master’s Degree to Barcelona. This was a key moment, because I learned about a completely different meaning of architecture. In Barcelona, I started developing a sense of awareness of the impact and power of architecture.
In studying architecture, I learned resiliency, passion, and perseverance, all skills which are still very important for my career development.
Liliana with her colleagues and collaborators.
How did you get your start in the field?
I came back to Mexico after my Masters in Barcelona, and started looking for an office where I could apply all the knowledge that I just learned in Spain. I started a very careful and thoughtful selection process of the offices that I wanted to apply to, and came up with a list of two offices that I wanted to work for. I was interviewed by both of them, and unfortunately, both did not select me at that time. However, I was convinced that one way or the other, I will get to work in one of them. So I continued to stay in touch, and finally, after about a year, I was hired by one of the offices.
This was fr-ee (Fernando Romero Enterprise), where they had just recently finalized the Soumaya Museum at that time. The minute I entered the office, I felt a super powerful and contagious energy that I fell in love with, all these passionate and young architects working towards the same goals and objectives. I started at fr-ee at twenty-five years old as a parametric designer, and have since had the chance to participate in a wide range of projects of all scales.
“...being successful means being able to enjoy every aspect of your life - social, familial, and professional. ”
Tell me about the years with fr-ee.
My first years were full of competitions, research and design. At the beginning, I was assisting the senior architects in the development of their projects from a geometric point of view. One of my favorite moments was preparing, along with a large team of parametric architects, an exhibition that the company had at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2012. The outcome was spectacular and I enjoyed the process deeply.
Around 2014 I started to get involved in the project of Mexico City New International Airport. We collaborate with Foster + Partners. This was an amazing experience - everything from preparing the competition, to the presentation to the government, to the moment when we were awarded as winners in the Mexican Presidents House, to the development of the project and the start of the construction until the cancellation of the project.
This were very challenging intense times, but without any doubt one of the most important milestones in my career. During this project, I started developing myself more as a project manager and less as a designer. During the development of the project, I was in charge of the communication with the client, the coordination of our architectural team and also our engineering team, a team that was around 600 architects and engineers located across North America, Europe, and Asia. It was a titanic work from all parties but we were all so passionate for this project that we always achieved even the hardest deadlines. Unfortunately the project was cancelled in 2018, which was a though moment for all the people involved. We all still learned a tremendous amount, and as I mentioned at the beginning of the interview, resiliency is a very important skill to learn.
Liliana presenting her work with fr-ee.
Where are you in your career today?
I have been recently appointed as the Mexico City Office Director, and I’m starting this new stage with a lot of enthusiasm, willing to learn and keep on developing myself from a different perspective. This includes being involved in the business development and the operational aspect of the Mexico office, while also opening our first office in China, which has been a very challenging task as well.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges?
Being a woman in a design and construction environment is still a challenge. During the construction stage of the Mexico Airport project, there were weekly meetings with the general contractor, the client (which was the government), and the rest of the directors of all the companies involved in the construction. I was almost always the only woman in the room and also the youngest. At the beginning, this was really hard and took a lot of preparation and effort to gain the trust and respect of all of these senior-level executives.
“...at the end of the day perseverance and discipline matter more than talent or intelligence.”
What have been the highlights?
The best highlight you can have as an architect is when your project is coming to reality and you realize that all the hard work was worth it.
Who are you admiring right now and why?
I admire all the women that have figured out a way to balance their private life and their career, in a way that works for them. This is something that I am still learning.
Liliana with Fernando Romero.
Liliana with a client group.
What is the impact you’d like to have in the world? What is your core mission? What does success mean to you?
At this moment of my life I believe that being successful means being able to enjoy every aspect of your life - social, familial, and professional. There needs to be balance between the three of them for being able to have a successful life. Many women at Director levels believe that they need to choose between having a successful career and a family, and I don’t think that you need to choose. I think that it is completely possible to have both, it is just a matter of finding the right formula for you.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
All the things that are worth it come with a lot of effort and discipline. Train yourself in being a resilient person that can adapt easily to any situation that may arise, because at the end of the day perseverance and discipline matter more than talent or intelligence.