Board Chair | Executive Director

Walmer Saavedra

Walmer Saavedra is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Human Scale. He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day activities and strategic planning of the organization.

In 2017, he co-founded the National Organization of Minority Architects student chapter at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Serving as President, he successfully grew the chapter’s membership with the goal of increasing minority participation in the field of architecture.

He believes that architecture inevitably impacts people’s lives through the built environment. And as a result, architects have a responsibility to implement conscientious design initiatives that aim to make people’s lives better. He also believes in empowering youth to address and solve social issues.

Walmer graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies degree. He currently works for a real estate development and construction management firm in Chicago. Outside of work, he enjoys playing sports and spending quality time with friends and family.

Board Member | Project Manager

Aylen Pacheco

Aylen is a founder and the Board Chair of Human Scale where she oversees and implements the long-term goals and strategies of the organization. Additionally, she manages community projects.

She has completed internships with many firms including Landon Bone Baker Architects, Studio Gang, Krueck and Sexton Architects, and Related Midwest. She has won several city wide design competitions organized by the Chicago Architecture Foundation including the 2015 BP Pocket Park Design Competition, and multiple Newhouse Architecture + Design Competitions. In 2015 she was invited to be a student juror for the CAF’s international ideas competition, Chi-Design.

In 2017, she re-established the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students chapter at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She organized workshops, construction site tours, panel discussions, networking events, and seminars with the goal of enriching personal, professional, and academic skills.

Aylen graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree. She was on the Dean’s list and was nominated three times for the School of Architecture Faculty Choice Award. In 2016, she was awarded an ACE Mentor Chicago scholarship due to her academic merit.

Board Member | Project Manager

Jorge Luis Mayorga

Jorge was the President of the UIC American Institute of Architecture Student chapter. He helped make the chapter more active by organizing firm tours, professional development events, and planning trips to the AIA National Forum. He also helped raise funds for local design build projects through his involvement in the Freedom by Design team. He volunteered and helped organize the AIAS Forum 2014 and the Snafoo Midwest Quad Conference 2017.

In 2015, he volunteered for the Chicago Architecture Biennial in the following exhibitions: Mark Wasiuta, Marcos Sanchez, Adam Bandler + GSAPP Exhibitions; Plan:B Architects’ Hollow Trunk project; and Kuehn Malvezzi + Armin Linke + Marko Lulic exhibition of House of One.

In 2016, he enrolled in the Architecture Association Visiting School in Haiti where he had the opportunity to design a house with bamboo as both an ecological savior, and response to the disproportionate devastation of the 2010 earthquake. He worked in a team composed of a local interior designer, local construction worker, and himself as an architecture student.

Jorge graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree. In 2015, his studio project was admitted to the School of Architecture’s Year End Show.

Board Member | Project Manager

Hsu Myat Aung

Hsu is a founder and Board Director of Human Scale. Additionally, she develops projects from research to construction.

She has been passionate about volunteering since she was ten years old when she participated in design build projects in Myanmar and Thailand. She knew that she wanted to study architecture when she was the creative director for an orphanage library project that focused on illiteracy in Mae Sai, Thailand.

During her architecture studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, she took the opportunity to go to Port Au Prince, Haiti for the AA Visiting School Workshop where she took part as the group’s project leader. Her group core house project was chosen and built by the Unite De Construction De Logements Et De Bâtiments Publics (UCLBP) as a prototype due to the use of local materials, local labor, and the incorporation of the village culture.

She was the Freedom by Design Director of the AIAS student chapter at UIC, she then went on to serve one term as vice president in 2016. She took part as an Election Committee Member for the 2016 National Forum in Boston, and helped organize the Snafoo Midwest Quad Conference.

Hsu graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree. In 2017, she was awarded the School of Architecture Pella Prize for best undergraduate project. In 2016, she was also a runner-up for the Chicago Women in Architecture scholarship award.

Board Member | Project Manager

Omar Rodriguez

Omar is a Board Member and Assistant Project Manager at Human Scale where he oversees and implements the organizations strategies to meet the long-term goals. He is involved in the process and execution of the organization’s projects.

In 2022, he joined the re-ignited Arquitectos student chapter at IIT. As the events co-chair, he has increased awareness and engagement with Latinx designers and makers. He also leads Architecture 101 workshops exposing young people to the field of Architecture and Design.

He believes change starts at the block level. Sharing the processes and facilitating conversations around what could make a healthy block and physically building a space creates a sense of ownership and pride. As designers we should design with, not for.

Omar holds an AAS in Architectural Drafting from Harold Washington College and is a BArch candidate at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He currently works for an architecture firm specializing in historic preservation and transit/infrastructure projects. Outside of work, he enjoys creating furniture and objects.

Co-Founder | Assistant Project Manager

Kasia Pilat

Kasia is the Co-Founder and Assistant Project Manager at Human Scale. She is involved in the entire design process, from conception to construction.

In 2022, She graduated from UIC with a Master’s in Architecture with recognition in academic excellence, earning the AIA Medal for Academic Excellence and the Bronze Alpha Rho Chi Medal. In addition, her work has been nominated for eleven Year End Shows, earning the Kevin K. Pierce award. Award in 2019 and the Susan Nealy Award in 2021. She was also involved in research, teaching assistantships and internships with various faculty including Grant Gibson, Kelly Bair and Antonio Torres with whom she explored unique approaches to the design process.

Her favorite aspect of Human Scale is the ability to work directly with the community members to create spaces of character and comfort together. She believes that the built and natural environment have a profound impact on people especially when approached at the scale of the individual.

Kasia currently works on residential and community projects with Liederbach and Graham Architects. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the city, spending time in nature and relaxing with her dog, Blue.