Daniela Rodriguez

Daniela Rodriguez is a forward-thinking designer exploring cultural landscapes of immigration in ways that challenge concepts of linearity, contiguity, and scale. Through collaboration, community engagement, and her own experience as a first-generation immigrant, she interrogates myriad social, political, and geographic barriers to immigration.

Rodriguez’s thesis research in Landscape Architecture at Florida International University examines the intersection of climate-induced migration and human trafficking among rural and indigenous populations in Latin America. Her work with local and international organizations has identified specific issues in the built environment that exacerbate human trafficking at points along migrant routes. Her work also exposes flaws in data collection and accessibility that inhibit tracking and combating abuse and criminal traffickers.

Rodriguez envisions culturally informed, interactive, and imaginative installations that expose hidden narratives and traumas in the cultural landscapes of immigration and foster creative spaces for individual and collective healing.