Episode Description

Alzira Maldonado Protsishin is a Senior Design Architect at EXP, where for the past 12 years she has focused her career on work in the public realm with the goal of making design excellence accessible to all. She has been a key contributor on some of the firm’s highest-profile and award-winning projects, and her leadership has been recognized through honors such as the Dubin Family Young Architect Award from the AIA Chicago Foundation (2021) and ENR Midwest Top Young Professionals (2024). Alzira is deeply committed to mentorship, serving as a mentor for the AIA Chicago WING program and as both a mentor and planning committee member for Arquitina, an organization dedicated to supporting Latinas in architecture.

Alzira’s story begins in a home shaped by structure, culture, and movement between countries. Growing up with parents who are structural engineers, she was exposed early to the technical and creative aspects of building, all within a blended Ukrainian and Colombian upbringing that took place in both Colombia and Ukraine. She studied architecture at a university in Colombia, laying the foundation for her career before deciding to come to the United States with her mother in search of more opportunities for herself and her son. That journey ultimately brought her to Chicago, where she enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology to pursue her Master of Architecture and began to ground her future in a new city.

“We see the [transit] stations as the fabric of a neighborhood. Even if you don’t take the train, that is the building next door. You’re always going to be walking by it, so it has to have the identity for that neighborhood.”

While studying at IIT, Alzira joined EXP as an intern, a role that soon evolved into a full-time position and a long-term professional home. At EXP, she discovered a deep love for infrastructure and transit projects, drawn to their complexity and the way they intertwine systems, communities, and daily life. She reflects on how designing transit is not just about moving people from one place to another, but about shaping the everyday spaces: “We see the [transit] stations as the fabric of a neighborhood. Even if you don’t take the train, that is the building next door. You’re always going to be walking by it, so it has to have the identity for that neighborhood.” Working on projects that can span many years from concept to completion has sharpened her approach to design in the public realm.

“If someone else has made it, I am going to make it too.”

Beyond the office, Alzira’s work is grounded in community, mentorship, and representation. She mentors others with Arquitina encouraging others with the support since she knew the struggles and challenges of licensing and early career transitions. She has stepped into more active leadership roles within the organization and extended that energy into her involvement with the AIA. In the past, she has participated in the AIA Chicago Bridge mentorship program where she has an AIA Fellow as a mentor, and she actively participates with the WING mentorship program where she acts as a mentor to university students in the Chicago area. The experience of being mentored and then mentoring others, while seeing others succeed in the industry shapes her drive: “If someone else has made it, I am going to make it too.”

Throughout the episode, Alzira speaks about the importance of mentorship as both a lifeline and a responsibility. She reflects on what it means to be genuinely curious, how asking questions, seeking context, and listening closely can open up new ways of seeing both people and projects. For her, curiosity is the force that keeps her searching for better answers in design and in community. Her journey from navigating multiple cultures and countries to designing the infrastructure that stitches neighborhoods together offers a powerful reminder that public architecture is not just about systems and structures, but about people, identity, and opening doors for the next generation.