Vanessa Smith Torres is a Puerto Rican-born architect based in Miami, FL. She received a Bachelor’s from Northeastern University and a Master of Architecture from Tulane University. Vanessa acts as Project Architect at Perkins&Will Miami. She has worked on award-winning projects across various market sectors, including Hospitality, Education, and Healthcare. Vanessa specializes in building design for performance and wellness, and is knowledgeable in various building certification programs, including LEED, WELL, SITES, and the Living Building Challenge. Committed to building a more equitable profession, Vanessa is a mentor for Arquitina and SoFloNOMA’s Project Pipeline Summer Camp. She has served on the National Organization of Minority Architects Chapter boards in South Florida (SoFloNOMA) and Louisiana (NOMALA) and was the 2022-2023 co-chair of the AIA Miami Women in Architecture Committee. Vanessa was the 2021 President of SoFloNOMA and 2025 President of AIA Miami.