Nandar Godoy-Dinneen, LEED GA
Nandar Godoy Dinneen grew up in Quito, Ecuador, where architecture was never abstract — it was something her mother built by hand, on an island, with local materials and community labor. That early lesson in the intimacy between people, place, and craft never left her.
She earned her architecture degree from Universidad San Francisco de Quito and her license to practice in Ecuador before moving to New York in 2006 to deepen her expertise in sustainable design. She holds a degree in Interior Design from NYU and a Master's in Sustainable Interior Environments from the New York School of Interior Design — credentials that reflect both the breadth and rigor she brings to every project.
At PJCArchitecture, Nandar leads across ground-up residential construction, high-end interiors, and commercial buildings, bringing more than a decade of practice to complex, high-stakes projects. Her fluency across scales — from the sweep of a site to the texture of a wall surface — reflects a designer who understands that the details are the architecture. Her LEED Green Associate credential informs her commitment to passive design strategies and materials that serve both the building and the land it occupies.
Her design philosophy centers on tectonics: the belief that materials are not merely functional, but expressive — that how a building is put together is inseparable from what it means. Combined with her deep focus on the human experience of space, she creates environments that feel both grounded and elevated.
Beyond the studio, Nandar co-founded MARAVILLA, a New York-based nonprofit advancing Latin American culture through film and the arts. The organization has brought the Ecuadorian Film Festival and the Venezuelan Film Festival to New York — a testament to her conviction that the most powerful design work, in any medium, connects people to something larger than themselves.