Winka Dubbeldam Appointed Director and CEO of SCI-Arc

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 28, 2025--

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is thrilled to share that Prof. Winka Dubbeldam has been appointed as the next Director and Chief Executive Officer of SCI-Arc. A globally recognized Dutch architect, educator, and leader in design innovation, Winka will officially assume the role on September 1, 2025.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250428994100/en/

Winka brings more than three decades of experience to the forefront of architectural practice and education. She is a full Professor of Architecture and served as Chair at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design for ten years (2013–2023). Previously she initiated and directed the Post-Professional Architecture program for ten years (2003–2013), providing international students with innovative design skills, cutting-edge theoretical and technological knowledge necessary for a productive and innovative career in the field of architecture.

Winka is the founding principal of Archi-Tectonics, an award-winning studio with offices in New York, Amsterdam, and Hangzhou. Her work is known for hybrid sustainable materials, smart building systems, and elegant, innovative structures. Her work has been published in four monographs, with a fifth, Monsters and Mutants (Park Books, Switzerland), launching later this fall.

“SCI-Arc has long been a beacon for radical experimentation, and I am honored to join a community that continuously redefines what architecture can be,” said Winka. “I look forward to building on the school’s legacy of innovation and fostering new opportunities for students and faculty to engage with the future of design.”

This appointment reflects SCI-Arc’s ongoing commitment to design excellence, critical thinking, and global leadership in architectural education. Winka’s breadth of experience and forward-looking vision will help shape the next chapter of SCI-Arc’s evolution.

As we look to the future, we also extend our profound gratitude to Hernán Díaz Alonso for his transformative leadership over the past decade. Under his direction, SCI-Arc expanded its global reach, deepened its research agenda, and redefined architectural education for a new generation in the digital age.

“SCI-Arc has always been about looking forward—challenging conventions, taking risks, and imagining new futures for architecture,” shares Hernán Díaz Alonso . “I’m excited for this next chapter, and I know the school is in excellent hands with Winka. She’s been a longtime friend of SCI-Arc, and her vision, creativity, and global perspective align deeply with the spirit of this place. That spirit has never been about any one person—it’s about the ideas we build together.”

Winka Dubbeldam’s leadership signals a new era for SCI-Arc—one driven by curiosity, critical inquiry, and a commitment to shaping architecture’s role in the world to come.

About SCI-Arc

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a world-renowned center for innovation and experimentation in architecture. Located in Los Angeles’s Arts District, SCI-Arc offers undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs that prepare students to reimagine the future of the built environment. Founded in 1972, the school is distinguished by its independent spirit, forward-thinking pedagogy, and global influence. SCI-Arc faculty and alumni are among the most influential designers in the world, shaping architecture and culture through critical inquiry, technological innovation, and creative practice.

For more information, visit sciarc.edu.

Winka Dubbeldam

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)