Juan Carlos Portuese
Partner at DIALOG | Architect
OAA MRAIC NCARB AIA Int. Assoc. C.I.V.
EDUCATION
Southern California Institute of Architecture | MArch ‘07
Universidad Rafael Urdaneta | BArch ‘00
ONGOING PROJECTS
Waterloo Region Public Safety Communication Centre
Seneca College Health and Wellness Centre | Toronto, ON-Canada
Toronto Western Hospital – New Tower | Toronto, ON-Canada
Peel Regional Police Operational Support Facility | Brampton, ON-Canada
Peel Regional Police New Divisional Building | Brampton, ON-Canada
Multigenerational Housing Prototype
Catalyst Live Sciences building | Toronto, ON-Canada
SELECTED PROJECTS
Centennial A-Block Expansion project, Scarborough, ON-Canada
Calgary Cancer Centre, Calgary, AB-Canada
Mina Rashid Master Plan, Dubai, UAE
Hybrid Timber Tower
Burnaby Hospital Phase 2, Burnaby, BC-Canada
RCMP facilities, Faro, Carcross, Fort St. James – Canada.
Calgary Cancer Centre, Calgary, AB-Canada
University of Toronto Mississauga Maanjiwe Nendamowinan Building, Mississauga, ON-Canada
Western University Amit Chakma Engineering Building, London, ON-Canada
Oak Ridges Library, Richmond Hill, ON-Canada
Park 459 Master Plan, Mississauga, ON-Canada
Madinah Hajj City Hotels, Madinah-Saudi Arabia
San Jose State University Student Union, San Jose, CA-USA
Pitt River Middle School, Port Coquitlam, BC-Canada
Northwest Elementary, Burton, CA-USA
FIU Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Miami, FL-USA
Zonamerica Cali Campus Phase 1 Concept design, Cali-Colombia
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Master Plan, Torrance, CA-USA
Jeddah Orthopaedic Specialty Hospital, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia
Kaiser Permanente Diamond Bar Medical Center, Diamond Bar, CA-USA
Kaiser Permanente Small Hospital Competition (Finalist)
UHS University Hospital, San Antonio, TX-USA
Vedanta University Teaching Hospital, Orissa-India
Shanghai Jiao Tong University of Medicine Affiliated Hospital Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai-China
Tata Consultancy Services Sahyadri Park, Pune-India
Buildings have been part of my life since I was born, as a lineage of builders forms part of my upbringing. I came to architecture because I was, in part, interested in designing buildings, but foundationally, I was interested in people, in who we are, where we come from, how we live, how we find meaning, and how culture and the environments we create shape who we become.
Over the course of my career, my curiosity and belief in architecture have driven me to work across a wide range of project types, primarily focused complex institutional work, from healthcare, civic, and academic buildings to community-focused projects, often at moments when architecture carries real consequence. These projects have taught me that architecture is not an abstract exercise. It has weight. It influences how care is delivered, how communities form, how institutions earn trust, and how individuals experience dignity, clarity, and belonging. I’ve been fortunate to contribute to work that operates at this scale, alongside deeply talented teams, and to see these projects move from ideas to built reality.
But parallel to practice, I’ve always carried a deeper question: What is architecture actually for?
Not stylistically. Not technologically. But humanly.
That question has shaped everything I do. I believe architecture is a cultural act before it is a formal one. It reflects what we value, how we understand order and beauty, and whether we see the built environment as something imposed or something that participates in human life. I don’t see architecture as an object to be consumed, but as a relational framework: between people and place, body and space, past and future, emotion and reason.
Over time, this belief has led me to study architecture not only through contemporary practice, but across history, philosophy, music, and systems of knowledge. I’ve learned as much from classical architecture and humanist traditions as I have from modern construction, contemporary practices, and large-scale model deliveries. I’m interested in continuity and in the persistence of patterns that resonate with us across cultures and time.
Professionally, I’ve led and contributed to projects that demand rigour, coordination, and accountability: complex healthcare facilities, public safety buildings, and institutional campuses. These experiences have reinforced my belief that architecture must balance order, complexity, structure, nature and performance with compassion towards our human aspirations. Design excellence, for me, is not spectacle; it’s beauty, coherence, legibility, and the resonant support of human life.
In recent years, much of my thinking has focused on articulating a more explicit architectural framework, one that reconnects design decisions to human values, relationships, and meaning. This work is ongoing and deeply personal. It is less about producing a “style” and more about developing a language: a way of understanding form, space, and construction as expressions of relationship rather than isolated gestures.
I approach architecture with humility because the work is never singular. It is collaborative, contextual, and shaped by forces larger than any one person. At the same time, I believe architects have a responsibility to think carefully, to act ethically, and to create environments that genuinely serve human flourishing.
This is the work I’ve committed my career to: an architecture that is thoughtful, grounded, and humane. Architecture that performs, endures, and speaks clearly about who we are and what we value.
CONTACT
contact@jcportuese.com