Marin Gertler is a Design Director & Architect with Gensler’s San Diego office. Marin was born in Annapolis, Maryland to American / Canadian / Scottish parents who relocated to Switzerland and then France when Marin was five years old. Marin returned stateside at the age of eighteen to study Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After graduating in 2005 with a B.F.A and B.Arch., he relocated to San Diego with his wife, Rocio Lastras De Gertler, a landscape architect from Mexico, to work for the design firm Safdie Rabines Architects. Key contributions at SRA include; the award winning UCLA South Campus Student Center, Mercado Del Barrio & the Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge.
Marin is passionate about the intersection of the public and private work in complex urban environments and has made this the focus of his work. Since joining Gensler, Marin has become an office leader for mixed-use and the Southwest Regional leader for the residential practice area. He has led the design for a wide range of projects including; Mesa College Center for Business and Technology, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, IDEA1 , Heights of Del Mar, Music Box (formally known as Anthology) & most recently Fifth Ave Landing.
Outside of work, Marin is a mentor in the industry. Within the higher education community, Marin has lectured at the USD graduate developer program and has co-taught a design studio for a semester as an adjunct professor at the New School of Architecture, which focused on analyzing and repurposing existing structures. Marin is a leader with the ULI; he is a member of the Residential Council, a board member of the Young Leaders Committee and a co-chair for the Partnership Forum Groups. Marin was also hand-picked to partake in the 2015 ULI TAP program, which focused on a TOD in city Heights.
He serves with the Downtown SD Partnership, a not for profit that sponsors programs that enhance the public realm. He was requested as the design juror for a selection committee for the Downtown PopShops project, which installs art and retail kiosks across 14 locations to stimulate challenging spaces. He is also a key member of the Arts and Culture task force and identified the tactical urbanism project the group opted to focus on this year, “E-Street” Live. He is regularly featured in industry publications including Hospitality Design, which highlighted his Music Box project. Another key project Marin directed, 5th Avenue Landing, was recently featured in the San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego Business Journal and several other publications. Marin is also panelist and writer for San Diego UrbDeZine, a national blog for urban design & Planning.
Besides his dedicated career, Marin manages to find quality time with his two young children and his wife Rocio Lastras De Gertler. In 2013, Marin helped Rocio found LDG Landscape Architects, a thriving seven person boutique landscape architecture firm focused on innovative urban spaces.
