Rodrigo Manriquez Elevated to Cultural Studio Leader, Detroit Office

SmithGroup is pleased to announce that Rodrigo Manriquez has been elevated to serve as Cultural Studio Leader at the firm's Detroit office. In his new role, Manriquez will partner with colleagues across the firm’s Cultural Practice to expand SmithGroup’s portfolio of award-winning projects and strengthen its position as a leading cultural design firm in the Midwest.  

Possessing nearly 25 years of experience, Manriquez transitions into this position from the role of Lighting Design Studio Leader at the Detroit office and succeeds former studio leader Kevin Shultis, who retired in late 2021. Manriquez's long-time collaboration with the Cultural Practice and proven expertise designing and delivering technically complex and exquisitely beautiful projects – such as the highly acclaimed Museum of the Bible, Edsel and Eleanor Ford House Visitor Center and Administration Building and North Carolina Museum of History – makes him the ideal leader for this position. 

SmithGroup’s Cultural Practice encompasses a network of specialty expertise, including planning, programming and design of museums and galleries, archives and collections care, visitor and interpretive centers, children’s museums, science centers, arts education, performing arts and cultural landscapes. For more than half a century, the firm has delivered award-winning projects for some of the world’s most iconic places and prestigious institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Park Service, Cranbrook Academy, Normandy American Cemetery, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Library of Congress.  

Manriquez steps into this role at a time when cultural institutions are looking to the future with new ideas of audience, interpretation and preservation. As an experienced mentor and leader he will leverage his rich, multi-faceted expertise to direct an integrated, multidisciplinary team of design professionals specializing in the development of holistic architecture and engineering solutions for impactful projects.