Innovative Architecture

Rogelio Almaguer (MPM ‘19) gave himself a challenging goal: to create the world’s most innovative and disruptive architecture company.

He's pursuing that goal from his native Mexico, leaning on the lessons he learned in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Project Management (MPM) program.

Almaguer is the founder and CEO of DIP Architects, based in Monterrey. He launched the company the year after his MPM graduation.

“I needed a program that mixed design, construction, project management, and business,” he said. “The MPM program allowed me to get what I needed the most from each industry and put them together into my own agenda.”

That agenda involves creating unique spaces for eclectic clients around the world. The company’s portfolio includes modern multifamily developments, distinctive single-family homes, and captivating interior designs that push beyond the typical inside of a home. 

The company's current clientele spans Miami to Los Angeles and Monterrey to Dubai, including one project centered on a penthouse interior design for a private client "who is kind of famous in the world.”

“It’s a very unique and stylish project,” he said. 

Those two words — unique and stylish — are at the heart of DIP’s projects. The company aims to disrupt the industry by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) in its design and pushing traditional boundaries.

In its nearly four years of existence, the company has grown from just Almaguer to a team of about 30 people.

“Right now we are trying to implement a lot of technology,”  he said. “We are always doing research in innovation, and with AI, we are asking ourselves, ‘How can we make it part of our processes?’”

Processes are a significant part of Almaguer’s vision. He believes many architectural firms are established around the founder or one uber-talented person, which leaves the company vulnerable if that person moves on to a different venture.

Almaguer wants to create something that lasts and doesn’t require his presence to maintain its standards for non-traditional work.

“I am obsessed with the idea of creating a design company full of processes,” he said. “I'm trying to create a company that does not depend on me, so my management team can keep growing without me being there, physically present.”

Almaguer said that his MPM experience made that growth model possible. He said DIP Architects is what it is because of classes he took focused on real estate, negotiations, and logistics.

He felt it was essential to bring the valuable lessons he learned in the MPM program back to Mexico to help elevate the country's architecture industry. Once he gained the knowledge he needed, he felt a social obligation to share it with his homeland.

Now, he is doing just that, not only with DIP Architects but also as an adjunct professor at the Universidad de Monterrey.

“I'm trying to share with them what I have learned from the MPM program,” he said. “If you are able to push your own country and make better professionals, there’s a benefit at the end for you and for them.”