A lifelong love of drawing leads to architecture

By Barbara Gutierrez [email protected] 05-05-2026

Whenever Ana Montes took a road trip down any Florida street with her mother, she spent time drawing some of the buildings she spotted on her journey.

"I was drawn to how the light fell on the façade of the building or how electrical lines crisscrossed the front," she said. That passion for drawing and detail led her to pursue a career as an architect.

Montes graduates with a Bachelor of Architecture, with minors in psychology and English.

She was drawn to the University of Miami because of the excellent reputation of its architecture school. She has thrived here.

During her five years on campus, she has been a student ambassador, mentoring students during orientation, as well as a teacher's assistant, organizing project guidance and mentorship for more than 20 first-year students.

She has worked on green initiatives and sustainability projects for the University's Office of Sustainability as the past vice president of US Green Building Council group, the student branch of the nationally recognized leaders of sustainable building design, construction, and operation.

At the school, she has developed a reputation as a responsible, meticulous craftswoman who is attentive to every element of her projects.

Jorge Hernandez, professor at the School of Architecture, said of Montes: "Ana is a dedicated student who leads quietly by example. She possesses a keen eye for design and is inclined towards research and artistry in her field."

Those qualities earned her two very valuable internships that have provided her with real-world experience. At Gurri Matute PA, where she interned from March 2023 to April 2025, she worked on local projects that included the renovation and expansion of Rotary Centennial Park in Coral Gables by designing new pathways and placement of playground equipment. She also helped to prepare documents for a presentation to area residents, which she attended.

"I worked with so many people there, and I realized that there are many layers to architecture and many professionals that interact to complete a project," she said.

She also worked on the renovation of an X-ray suite at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where she helped design the new area and coordinate equipment placement. On this project, she worked closely with engineers, electricians, consultants, vendors, and many other professionals to bring the project to fruition.

She wanted to have a different experience outside Miami, which led her to her next internship.

At RS&H in Charlotte, North Carolina, she worked on several projects. One of the most challenging was designing and creating construction documents for an air traffic control tower for Manassas Regional Airport. She also helped design furniture for the building and helped build and design a metal structure for the top of the building with the airport code (which was illuminated in neon lights) to help pilots identify the structure, she said. For that project, she had to confer and coordinate her work with several consultants.

"It was interesting because I had never worked on such a tall structure," she said. "There are so many details that go into a project like that."

She will be joining that company as an architectural associate after graduation.

Montes is currently enrolled in a seminar with Hernandez on the "Life and Works of the late Hilario Candela," the noted Miami architect who is known for his works that include the Miami Marine Stadium on Virginia Key; the Miami Dade College campuses; the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University's Medical Campus; and Epiphany Catholic Church. She and her cohorts are redrawing these seminal works as an archival initiative due to the unfortunate loss of Candela's archives. A forthcoming publication is being planned.

She has enjoyed the preservation aspect of what she is doing.

"We are keeping his legacy alive," she said.