Alejandro is an internationally acclaimed architect and planner from Medellin, Colombia. He is co-founder and Director of urbam, the Center for Urban and Environmental Studies at EAFIT University. His experience combines architectural, urban planning and design, and environmental projects. He has also collaborated as professor, lecturer and juror in various international and national architectural institutions and competitions. Alejandro’s work has earned him acclaim in Colombia and overseas, with notable prizes including the National Architectural Award in 1996, the National Urban Planning Award in 2008, the Curry Stone Design Prize in 2009, and the 10th Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design from Harvard University. During his tenure as General Manager of the Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano (EDU) from 2004 to 2005 and as the City's Director of Urban Projects for the Municipality of Medellin from 2005 to 2008, he led the conceptualisation and implementation of Social Urbanism, which has played a crucial role in the regeneration and rejuvenation of Medellín.Working in close partnership with the city’s mayor, Sergio Fajardo, Alejandro established a wide range of public works programs and initiated building a series of visually striking libraries, schools, parks, and community centres in some of the city’s most impoverished and isolated areas. His work included direct involvement with the planning and delivery of Metro Cable, a major urban integration project to connect these disadvantaged neighbourhoods to the rest of the city. Through his extensive efforts and his firm belief in the power of design, Medellín is now considered one of the most progressive cities in the world and a blueprint for the future of other cities in developing countries.