Javier Galindo, FAAR is a New York City-based designer, born and raised in Havana, Cuba.

A central theme in his work is the role of fragmentation and ruins in contemporary architectural discourse and expression. His projects seek to capture the equilibrium between the natural and the artificial—a quality that makes ruins so captivating—while producing an architecture that is intentionally incomplete and ambiguous. His primary research interest is the concept of the “Created Fragment”, the type of fragment that is consciously designed rather than accidentally produced by time or circumstance.

Javier has been the recipient of prestigious honors, including the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome, the Cintas Fellowship in Architecture and Design, the KPF Traveling Fellowship, and several other awards and recognitions.

With over 22 years of professional experience, Javier has served as Design Director at Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects in New York, focusing on the design and construction phases of large-scale urban projects, both domestic and international. His portfolio includes supertall towers, large retail complexes, repositioning/adaptive reuse works, mixed-use developments, and masterplans. Key projects include 520 Fifth Avenue and One Vanderbilt in New York City, Window La Défense in Paris, Hang Lung Riverside 66 in Tianjin, and Tianfu Supertall, a 480-meter tower in Chengdu, China.
He has also practiced professionally in leading design firms in Miami and San Francisco.

In academia, Javier has served as an assistant instructor at Cornell University, teaching Visual Studies and Representation courses. He is frequently invited as a lecturer and guest critic at universities, and his work has been featured in prominent publications, including A+U, Concept Magazine, and Threshold journals.

Javier holds a Master of Architecture from Cornell University, where he was awarded the Best Thesis Prize, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Florida International University, studying under William G. McMinn in Rome and Nicolás Quintana in Miami.

EMAIL:  j.galindo.ch@gmail.com