TEAM
ILEANA MARTIN-NOVOA, R.A.
Ileana was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up between Puerto Rico, Spain and Venezuela. She enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of seventeen, and the summer after her Freshman year took an Architectural Design Studio at the Georgia Institute of Technology. It was “love at first sketch,” and she transferred to Tech in order to pursue a degree in Architecture. During her years at Tech, Ileana had the opportunity to study abroad in France and England, and graduated with both a Bachelor’s Degree in Science and a Master’s Degree in Architecture from Tech. At Tech, she also met Jonathan Katz, her partner in business and in life.
After graduation, Ileana moved to New Jersey and worked for various Architectural firms until she became licensed by the New Jersey State Board of Architects. Shortly afterwards she joined her partner, Jonathan, and co-founded KATZ/NOVOA ARCHITECTS+PLANNERS in March of 1988. At Katz/Novoa, Ileana serves as the General Managing Partner in charge of the firm’s day-to-day operations, including Marketing of the Firm’s Services, Client relations, Project Programming and Design, Project Development Management, and Coordination of Consultants.
Ileana’s Hispanic background and proficiency with several languages provide her with exceptional communications skills, and are invaluable assets in her ability to understand Clients’ needs and expectations. Ileana’s organizational and spatial abilities and her problem-solving skills are imbued with creativity and a keen sense for the “big picture,” allowing her to understand each project’s specific nuances.
Ileana is the proud mother of two very special, talented young men. Her favorite hobbies are cycling, hiking, swimming in the warm waters of the Caribbean, and traveling with her three beautiful men.
JONATHAN B. KATZ, R.A., MBA
Jonathan was born in Manhasset, New York and was raised in Livingston, New Jersey. Jonathan matriculated at Kent State’s School of Architecture, in Kent Ohio, in 1976, and a year later transferred to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Jonathan spent his Senior year at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from Tech; in 1982 he obtained his Master’s Degree in Architecture.
After Tech Jonathan returned to New Jersey, and worked for various local firms the requisite three years before being able to sit for the Licensing Exam. In September of 1986, immediately after obtaining his Professional Architect License from the State of New Jersey, Jonathan opened his own Architectural Studio, Jonathan B. Katz Architects. A year and a half later he co-founded KATZ/NOVOA ARCHITECTS + PLANNERS with his wife, Ileana Martin-Novoa, where he serves as the Partner in charge of Construction Documents and Specifications, Construction Contract Administration, Construction Management, and Consultant Hiring and Coordination. In 2001 Jonathan obtained an MBA from the Stern School of Business in New York City, and took a leave from the Firm until 2009 to help run a family-owned Direct Mail Printing Business.
The son of an innovative engineer father and artistically talented mother, and grandson of an entrepreneurial pharmacist, Jonathan counts with remarkable analytical abilities and excellent structural sense, an artistic flair and sharp eye for detailing, and a truly innovative spirit. Jonathan’s favorite aspects of the projects are the structural design, and the construction phase where he gets to observe the projects come to life.
Jonathan’s passions are snow skiing, cycling and water sports, and one of his favorite pastimes is analyzing how things are put together with his two wonderful sons.