Federico Ortiz has been appointed in this crucial new role, bringing valuable experience in programme management and research. Find out about his architecture background and why inclusion is crucial in the built environment sector.
We are delighted that Federico Ortiz has joined Future of London as our Director of Programmes, an important new role created to drive forward our Knowledge and Housing programmes.
Federico joins Future of London from NLA, where he led the programme of events, research, publications and exhibitions at The London Centre. He trained as an architect in his native Argentina before studying in London at the Architectural Association.
Federico practiced as an architect in Switzerland and Argentina, working on projects including public housing and social and cultural infrastructure, before taking on curator and teaching roles in organisations such as the Canadian Centre for Architecture and, more recently, the London School of Architecture.
Having lived in many different countries, he has found that cities have both similarities and differences related to scale and their distinct economic and social histories, but it’s always the quality and openness of public realm and everyday spaces that make living in cities so enriching.
“What I love about London is that the history of its development has meant different neighbourhoods have strong identities compared to other cities where different places can be quite similar,” he says.
Developing the New London Agenda programme
At NLA, Federico led many projects including the Changing Face of London, which tracked the scale of change across 50 regeneration areas in the capital. The lessons from this work influenced the creation of the New London Agenda, NLA’s framework for best practice in city-making, and several other programmes that Federico was responsible for developing.
At Future of London, Federico will bring that programme management experience to shape our Knowledge programmes.
“My perception is that Future of London is very focused on knowledge exchange between the public and private sector and giving professionals tools for succeeding in their day job and career progression. I’m particularly interested in that support to the public sector.”
This balance is reflected in Future of London’s membership, which is about two-thirds from the public sector, along with housing associations and SMEs.
Focusing in diversity and inclusion
Federico was also attracted to Future of London’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in the built environment sector.
“I think Future of London’s take on inclusivity and diversity as a structural and organisational issue is very clear, and I definitely align with that. So when the London Growth Plan was published, my response was yes, but it has to be inclusive growth.”
Federico will also be leading Future of London’s Housing programme, which focuses on upskilling and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing through the Housing Development Academy and Council-led Housing Network. (Current Housing Programme Director, Visakha Sri Chandrasekera, is stepping back from the day-to-day running but will continue to advise into 2026.)
Supporting public and private sector knowledge-sharing
Through his work on NLA’s Skills for Places project, which encouraged young people to join the sector, Federico arrives equipped with expertise in learning programmes.
“Skills in the built environment sector should be considered as part of the wider growth agenda to unlock funding for jobs and training,” he says. “I am particularly interested in cross-borough partnerships and new public and private sector models for housing delivery.”
While the Housing Development Academy is aimed at developing key skills for in-house development teams, the Council-led Housing Network is a knowledge-sharing approach that includes a case study library.
“I want to find the interesting projects or case studies at an early stage, the emerging and innovative ones, and share those,” he says.
“The other thing Future of London does well is field trips, a place-based approach to learning that helps people understand the project on site, for instance by meeting residents, community groups, or the people on the ground who know how the place works. I think this is so important.”