Emmanuel Nieves

Emmanuel Nieves, M.Arch., ASID, is an interior designer, educator, entrepreneur, and design leader with more than a decade of experience spanning professional practice, academia, and industry strategy. He currently serves as Director of the School of Interior Architecture at the Boston Architectural College, where he leads program and curriculum development and teaches studios centered on research, human-centered design, accessibility, sustainability, and professional readiness. His professional portfolio encompasses retail, hospitality, high-end residential, workplace, and corporate interiors. He has contributed to store design, visual merchandising, retail branding, and the translation of brand identities into physical environments for major retailers including Victoria’s Secret, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Anthropologie. His work also includes boutique hotels in Puerto Rico and high-end residential projects across New York, Miami, and Puerto Rico. Experienced across the full project lifecycle, he has led projects from conceptual design and three-dimensional visualization through technical development, materials and FF&E specification, procurement, budgeting, and coordination with clients, contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, and artisans. Throughout his career, Emmanuel has worked across multiple areas of the design industry. He previously served as Interior Design Program Director and Teaching Professor at East Carolina University, overseeing a CIDA-accredited program and guiding students toward competition recognition and successful professional outcomes. He has also served as Senior Interior Designer and Project Manager for various design studios and as the founder of his own practice, where he led luxury residential, boutique hospitality, and commercial projects. As a Design and Materials Strategist in New York, he collaborated with the design departments of international firms, curated high-end materials, and connected designers with manufacturers and trade resources. His broader experience includes collaborations with firms such as AvroKO, KPF, Perkins&Will, as well as sustained engagement with the international design trade through Salone del Mobile, Maison & Objet, Feria Hábitat València, and imm Cologne. Together, these experiences inform an interdisciplinary perspective that connects design leadership, technical execution, material innovation, entrepreneurship, and education.