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Rico Quirindongo

@ricoque2013

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Last month at the National Nordic Museum, the Nordic Innovation Series: Designing Better Cities brought together some truly incredible speakers, including a few familiar UW alumni!

Seeing how design, sustainability, and community intersect on a global scale is always inspiring. Visitors were also amazed by the students’ sketchbooks from Zahra Rasti’s class for the Architecture in Finland study abroad program.

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How do Nordic urban design principles translate to the Pacific Northwest?

Join five global and local voices at the National Nordic Museum for Nordic Innovation Series: Designing Better Cities - Nordic Ideas for the Pacific Northwest!

Hear from the speakers about life-centered design, walkable neighborhoods, and creating resilient, inclusive communities.

Featured speakers include:
- Rico Quirindongo - Director, Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development (UW Alumnus)
- Zahra Rasti - Assistant Teaching Professor, UW College of Built Environments
- Vincent Javet - Assistant Teaching Professor, UW Department of Landscape Architecture

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2026
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:15 PM
Where: National Nordic Museum (2655 NW Market St, Seattle)
Tickets: $15 General Admission | $10 Members

@nordicmuseum

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What was our director like in the 90’s?

Rico’s student journey in the 90’s included meaningful experiences in Mexico, from Tejalpa to the Yucatan Peninsula. He experienced “espacio expansivo” in Central Mexico, a design concept focused on wide, airy, open spaces. “It was my first meaningful experience of cultural space outside of the United States,” says Rico. “It was memorable because they were expansively different public and natural spaces where I felt inspired to explore.”

That inspiration continued in Rico’s education, as he earned his BA in Architecture and Afro-American studies from the Washington University in St. Louis, then his Masters in Architecture from the University of Washington. Before his appointment as OPCD director in 2021, Rico’s notable collaborative projects include the Northwest African American Museum, Climate Pledge Arena, and Midtown Square in the Central District.

#90s #1990s #90sNostalgia

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Our director Rico Quirindongo was in Germany 🇩🇪 this week as one of the keynote speakers at the German Federal Congress on Urban Development Policy, presenting on international urban development.

He shared his reflections on the Seattle Waterfront transformation, transit oriented development, and equitable development.

Link in bio to watch the presentation!

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🎥 RECAP: Black History Month – Built from the Ground Up: For Us, By Us

Thank you to everyone who joined us for FOUNDATIONS: Speaker Panel! A special shoutout to our incredible panelists—Angela Khosa-Marangwanda, Leon Holloway, and Rico Quirindongo—for sharing their insights and experiences. We hope you left feeling inspired and, of course, enjoyed the amazing food from Soulful Dishes!

What does “Built from the Ground Up: For Us, By Us” mean to you? Share your thoughts below! 😊

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Seattle magazine’s annual list of Most Influential people includes those who inspire, guide and uplift others through their actions, leadership and dedication.

Our director Rico Quirindongo (@ricoque2013) is on this year's list - check out the link in our bio!

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Rico Quirindongo received an email from then-Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan in August of 2020 in the throes of the pandemic with the subject line, “I want to talk to you about the future of the city.”

“I thought it was spam,” Quirindongo recalls with a chuckle. “Then I realized this is actually her email and I responded. I got an hour on her calendar the same day. Forty-five minutes into the conversation she turns to me and says, ‘What would it take to get you to join the cabinet?’ I was not altogether prepared for that question.”

Click link in bio to read

Photo by Mike Nakamura

#mostinfluential #seattlemag #cityplanning

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This week, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced $22 million in awards to 42 projects through the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI), part of the City’s effort to support property ownership among Seattle’s diverse communities in neighborhoods at high risk of displacement. This round of targeted EDI funding is intended to close critical funding gaps to move existing EDI projects toward completion, as well as capacity-building support to organizations that are still developing their plans for permanent homes in Seattle.

🔗 Link in bio for more info!

Photos taken at ARTE NOIR, where the announcement was held.

Slide 1: Vivian Phillips, founder of ARTE NOIR in the Central District, speaks at ARTE NOIR on January 14, 2025. From left are OPCD Director Rico Quirindongo, César Garcia, co-founder of Lake City Collective, and Mayor Bruce Harrell. ARTE NOIR and Lake City Collective are among the many organizations to receive an EDI award this year.

Slide 3: Peggy Hernández, co-founders of Lake City Collective, stands next to a model of their future Multicultural Center.

Slide 5: Hamdi Abdulle, President and CEO of African Community Housing and Development, speaks with OPCD and other EDI grantees at ACLT Midtown after the announcement event.

Slide 8 taken by Sean Blackwell.

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From citywide engagement on the draft Comprehensive Plan to expanding our Equitable Development Initiative, we’ve accomplished so much together in 2024. You made all of this possible—our OPCD community.

Thank you for your continued partnership and dedication. May this season offer a time to connect, reflect, and recharge.

Here’s to an impactful 2025!
-Rico Quirindongo, OPCD Director (@ricoque2013)

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For our Giving Tuesday campaign (with a goal to raise 5k!) we asked our community to share a bit about what ARCADE means to them. A 501c3 for 43 years, our mission has directly impacted the lives of emerging architects and design professionals in a multitude of ways. Please consider being a part of our legacy - donate today or become a member. If you are unable to financially contribute - consider sharing these posts with your community!

From Rico Quirindongo:

“As a young intern designer, ARCADE afforded me the opportunity to be in the room with members of the design community that were doing amazing projects and exerting their design influence on the changing landscape of the city and the region...As a returning writer, ARCADE gives me a voice to explore the power of community engagement, proactive planning, and creative design to transform people’s lives and their neighborhoods for the better.”

@ricoque2013
@wagives
#givingtuesday

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Look what came in the mail today! Building for People by @larchlab. I got three copies. One for myself, one for OSE director @jessynfarrell and one for OPCD director @ricoque2013! Once you see how zoning *could* be done you can’t unsee the unfortunate directions we’ve gone down in the United States in general, and Seattle specifically. Big fat deep double-loaded corridor apartment buildings are understandably loathed by neighborhoods, and end up lining the most polluted and unsafe arterial streets. We can do better. Mike lays it out in this book.
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#pointaccessblock #passivhaus #crosslaminatedtimber #zoning #firesafety #moretrees #moregreen

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Longtime friend of ARCADE @ricoque2013 has a new column which will be published regularly in our quarterly. Big news coming regarding this publication - so stay tuned!

"I am leaning into the life of someone navigating politics instead of navigating design problems, constructability issues, and project proformas. I am trained as an architect, a systems thinker, but the problems we are trying to solve at the City of Seattle are microcosms of the problems happening across the entire nation, and for this there is no singular adequate training."

Read “Planning the New Normal,” now available through our new mobile and desktop interface… you know where that link is 🙃

Rico Quirindongo, AIA, has been working for 30 years to revitalize and reimagine Seattle historic landmarks and neighborhoods. He is Director of the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development. Rico believes that through vision, authentic community engagement, and multi-agency cross collaboration, opportunities for social change can be realized through community-invested civic projects.

Written by @ricoque2013
Photography by @camillaszabo
Design by @elyssayim

Published by ARCADE NW Publishing
Digital Magazine: Fall, No. 3

#cityofseattle #cityofseattleofficeofplanning #communitydevelopment #ricoquirindongo #seattle #socialchange #civicprojects #seattlecivicprojects #communityengagement #collaboration

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