News & Events
City Tech Student William Valdez Helps Design Surgical Center Being Built in His Homeland
Valdez with his model
William Valdez, 26, lived through years of civil war and widespread economic deprivation in his native El Salvador before leaving to join his father in New York in 1995. Now, only eight years later, the New York City College of Technology (City Tech) sophomore majoring in architectural technology is an integral part of an international team effort to improve the lives of countless people in his homeland by helping design a new state-of-the-art surgical center to be built in central El Salvador.
Valdez and City Tech's involvement in the building of a modern, well-equipped surgical center in El Salvador began when Long Island philanthropist David King learned of the extraordinary work being performed in El Salvador by a group of doctors working under extremely poor physical conditions. He asked Prof. Agustin Maldonado, a native of Argentina and chairman of the architectural technology department at City Tech, to be the architect for the project on a pro bono basis. Since City Tech's architectural technology curriculum enables students to work on real projects, two classes were assigned to develop preliminary concept studies. Valdez, a freshman at the time, had his model chosen to help promote the project. At the time, Maldonado did not know Valdez was from El Salvador.
"Before making the model, I spent weeks researching hospitals and studying the required specs for doors and equipment and how much square footage would be necessary to accommodate the number of patients that needed to be served," Valdez says. "Professor Maldonado guided me through the requirements and encouraged me every step of the way. He had suggestions and offered constructive criticism. I've reworked the model several times. I can't believe how much I learned in the year I've worked on the project."
The design incorporates traditional Salvadoran design features into a modern, efficient hospital. "The design is based around surgery rooms called red zones," he explains. "It's all on one floor because of potential earthquakes." The surgical complex, which will be built by Nobel Prize-nominated Medical Mission International (MMI), was recently awarded $1 million in matching funds towards construction by the Salvadoran government agency, Fondos de Inversion Social y Desarrollo Local. Since 1992, MMI has sent doctors, nurses and health care professionals to provide humanitarian healthcare to the impoverished people of El Salvador. Construction is expected to begin in 2004.
The devastating effects of earthquakes are something with which Valdez has firsthand knowledge, as he knew several family friends who perished in them. He also lived through more than 10 years of civil war and knows what it's like not to be able to go out in the street at night because of the fighting. "These hardships that I lived through make me see life in a different perspective; I appreciate it more," he notes.
Valdez's passion for art sparked his interest in architecture as a profession. He was brought up by his paternal grandparents while his father worked as a florist in New York to save money to bring his family to the U.S. His grandfather was an artist and, quite by accident, Valdez discovered that he had inherited the older man's gift.
"At age seven I asked my grandfather for help drawing the interior part of the ear and he said no, I had to do it myself," he explains. "I took it as a challenge and found I could draw anything. Later on, I saw my grandfather painting with oils and I said that maybe I could do that, too, and I could."
Once he discovered he was a painter, he discovered architecture. "My grandmother told me that architecture was a way to combine art and a profession, and I fell in love with the field."
His dream to study architecture had to be put on hold for several years. Valdez emigrated to the U.S. at age 18, but hadn't finished high school. When he first came here, he studied English for six months, and a year after he arrived passed the GED and obtained his high school diploma. He then studied computers at a technical school but knew it wasn't his field. Having to support himself, he got a job as a landscaper and, working with his father, learned floral design. "My father was very talented in art, too, but never had time to develop his skills," he says. "I decided I wanted to get a college degree because I didn't see a future in being a florist."
Three years ago, Valdez married and his wife, a teacher, encouraged him to study architecture. He saw that City Tech offered a degree in architectural technology and he came to the campus to check out the program. "I talked to a lot of students and they told me I had come to the best school to study architecture. They were happy here."
According to Professor Maldonado, "Architectural technology students at City Tech certainly know how to help design buildings. They create brilliant concepts that can be realized in the real world. They also know how to create ties between communities and between nations. It is a record of which we are quite proud." His students' designs will factor into the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed on 9/11. When the Tudor City Parks across from the United Nations were threatened by a developer who wanted to build on those sites, the students joined the community in their efforts, which resulted in the designation of the Tudor City Historic District, thereby forever protecting those parks.
Valdez, a resident of Staten Island's South Beach neighborhood who plans on going on to earn a master's degree, probably in architectural design, says that his grandparents are very excited and proud of him. "They are on e-mail and I've sent them photos of the model I built. I send them my grades so they can track my progress in college. My whole family is thrilled for me."
Valdez's contributions to the surgical complex in El Salvador, as well as those by other students and faculty members in City Tech's architectural technology and advertising design departments as well as those of the graphic arts program, will be the focus of a presentation in the College's Voorhees Auditorium, 186 Jay Street (north of Tillary) on Thursday, November 20, 12:30 to 2 p.m., as part of CUNY Month.
In addition to designing the building, faculty and students have helped in the selection of the site, designing MMI's logo and fundraising brochure for the project, and producing a computer-animated fly-through for the proposed buildings.
