Juan Cortés

As Director of Urbanism and Sustainability in Spain, Juan is currently incubating, launching and leading projects of different scales and types. Over the last decade, he has had the privilege of leading highly talented multidisciplinary teams across the globe, delivering city strategies, feasibility studies, master plans and public space design. As a multilingual architect, Juan has a passion for diversity and intercultural environments, having lived and worked in Eurasia, the Middle East, North Africa, China and the USA.

He regularly collaborates with several national and international institutions, presenting his work at conferences and teaching subjects related to the city and sustainability. He has recently been appointed Senior Industry Fellow at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University, Melbourne. Juan is also working on his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Geography and History of the Complutense University of Madrid.

Juan teaches Capstone Project classes in the Master in Real Estate Development at IE School of Architecture and Design (IE University).

Education

• Masters degree Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2012 — 2013)
• Erasmus grant Technische Universität München / Technical University of Munich (1999 — 2000)
• Deutsche Schule Madrid (1986 — 1994)

Companies

• Adjunct Professor-MRED IE Business School (2021)
• Head of Urbanism & Sustainability, Spain JLL (2021)
• Senior Industry Fellow RMIT University (2020)
• Visiting Lecturer IED Madrid (2017)
• Researcher and PhD Candidate UCM (2013 — 2021)
• Head of Urban Planning + Landscape AECOM (2014 — 2021)
• Co-founder + Design Director planlab studio (2009 — 2015)
• Associate Professor (Visiting lecturer) ESNE (Universidad Camilo José Cela) (2012 — 2013)
• Freelance Landscape Designer spacecoop (2009 — 2012)

Skills

• Sustainable Design
• Urban Planning
• Construction Management

Other

Project Management, AutoCAD, Interior Design, Land Use Planning, Sustainability, Landscape Planning, Design Research, Sustainable Architecture, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Architectural Design