We talk a lot in New Orleans about the “rebirth” of the city but before the city was re-born it was born. The architects of what we all agree is our remarkably beautiful city were just that: architects.

The major architects of today’s New Orleans are renaissance men and women. An eye for beauty and an ability to translate that into an engineerable design, once thought to be a singularly rare talent in itself, is today is just the beginning of far more complex procedure that involves knowledge of the law, investment skills, management ability and more than a passing knowledge of community dynamics.

Angela O’Byrne is President of Perez, a 100% woman and minority owned architecture and development company. Angela’s stewardship has grown the New Orleans company into 14 offices nationwide, from Los Angeles to New York. Locally, among myriad other projects, Perez has reimagined public housing, is designing terminals for the new airport, and creating a blueprint for the rebirth of West End. 

Marcel Wisznia is President of the architecture and development company that bears his name, Wisznia. As developers Wisznia have bought downtown buildings like The Saratoga, The Maritime, and Union Lofts and as architects have transformed them into highly desirable living spaces. Wisznia’s vision of downtown New Orleans is a major contribution to the ceation of what is now a community of 5,000 permanent downtown residents and the subsequent birth of a host of new businesses.