RDAC Presentation

Phil Bona and the Citizen Architect: Showing Up for the Civic Conversation

At a recent noon session of AIA San Diego's Regional Design Advocacy Council (RDAC), Michael Cintron led a presentation on two connected ideas: the legacy of Philip John Bona, FAIA, and what it means to be a Citizen Architect today. As RDAC Chair, Michael framed the hour as an invitation to pick up work Phil spent his career advancing.

Phil Bona, who passed away in May 2026, was an architect, planner, educator, and advocate across nearly five decades in the profession, including a term as AIA San Diego President. He was guided by the idea of tikkun olam, to repair the world, and he lived it by showing up in the civic and policy conversations that shape how communities grow.

Housing the Next One Million

Much of the session focused on Housing the Next One Million (HN1M), the regional housing initiative Phil helped build out of San Diego's 2017 Year of Housing. Rather than treat housing as a numbers problem alone, HN1M reframed it around neighborhoods, bringing together a broad coalition to imagine how the region could grow without losing what makes its communities work. Through a series of charrettes, teams explored ideas like accessory dwelling units, modular housing, and new models for adding homes to existing neighborhoods.

The momentum around HN1M eventually stalled, but the ideas did not expire. Much of the thinking behind it maps directly onto the housing debates the region is having right now. Michael's point was that the work is still there to be continued.

What it means to be a Citizen Architect

The second half broadened the lens from one person to the professions as a whole. The Citizen Architect is not a new idea. It runs from Thomas Jefferson through Samuel Mockbee, and at its core is a simple claim: design professionals have something valuable to contribute to public life, and a responsibility to show up and contribute it.

Michael extended that framing beyond architects to the full range of people in the room, planners, landscape architects, engineers, and the elected officials who share the table. The call was straightforward. Find a pathway to serve, whether local or national, and take the first step.

Carrying it forward

Phil Bona left a seat at the table open, and the most fitting way to honor him is to fill it. That was the throughline of the session and the challenge Michael left the room with: repair the world, one civic conversation at a time.