Gabriella Vaz de Freitas
Designer / 2024-2025 FORAship Awardee + FORA Fellow / (she/her)
Gabi, Assoc. AIA, is a designer especially motivated by the impact of FORA’s work and the way it aligns with her values: designing with care, equity, and purpose. Gabi is guided by a commitment to making positive change through efficient design using the best tools available. She brings strong skills in new design tools, graphic communication, AI-generated visualizations, and construction administration support. She is always looking for ways to bridge clarity with creativity.
Born and raised in Brazil, Gabi is a designer with an insatiable thirst for knowledge and a deep belief in architecture’s potential to create positive change. She moved to California to pursue a Bachelor of Architecture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a minor in Construction Administration. After winning the FORAship, she joined FORA as an intern and is now part of the team full-time.
During school, she made the most of every opportunity to design, travel, and explore. She studied in Barcelona at Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalunya and spent a semester in San Francisco focused on affordable housing. Outside the office, Gabi enjoys traveling, trying new foods, and staying active. Her commitment to learning continues to guide her forward as she deepens her work experience.
Read about Gabi, and her experience during her FORAship, here.
"I don't want to be interesting, I want to be good."
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
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/ Best of Show Honorable Mention - 3rd Year Project at Cal Poly.
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Grace Village is my favorite FORA project so far because of its supportive program for women in vulnerable situations. It represents what I envisioned regarding the power architecture can have in people’s lives.
Betty Anne Gardens is a project I admire for being ahead of its time. Completed in 2003, it was designed with a focus on families and community, which sets it apart from many other projects of that era that treated housing merely as a commodity.