Hernan Diaz Alonso is the principal and founder of Xefirotarch, a Los Angeles-based design firm working in architecture, products, and digital motion. For the last several years he has been a thesis coordinator and professor in studio design and visual studies at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles. He is also a design studio professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. He worked for several years as a senior designer at Eisenman Architects in New York and has lectured around the world.

The Architecture Lecture Series is funded by Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Field Paoli Architects, Jensen Architects, BKBC Architects Inc., BRAYTONHUGHES Design Studios, HKIT Architects, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, Marc L'Italien, EHDD Architecture, NicholsBooth Architects, Ratcliff, SRG Partnership, and Toby Levy, with additional support from ELS Architecture and Urban Design.