Marvel Architects

Rutger Huiberts is an architect and Design Director at KPF, where he brings a thoughtful and innovative approach to a wide range of international projects. With expertise spanning commercial, residential, and mixed-use developments, Rutger is dedicated to advancing innovative and sustainable design solutions. His collaborative spirit and attention to detail are evident in his contributions to high-profile projects, where he consistently seeks to enhance the built environment and create meaningful experiences for users. Rutger’s professional focus lies at the intersection of architecture and urbanism. He began his studies at the Università degli Studi di Firenze in Florence, Italy, earning a bachelor’s degree in Urban and Environmental Planning, and continued at TU Delft in the Netherlands, where he received both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Architecture. Rutger is dedicated to promoting design excellence and the exchange of ideas globally, serving as a member of the Global Practice Committee at AIA National and as co-chair of the Global Dialogues Committee at AIA New York (AIANY).

Barry Nieuwenhuijs is the Deputy Consul General at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York. In this role, she supports and manages U.S.– Dutch economic cooperation across the Northeastern United States, including states like Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and others. Her diplomatic career has included postings in Beirut, Algiers, Vancouver, and The Hague, reflecting a broad international background. As Deputy Consul General, she plays a key role in fostering transatlantic partnerships, supporting Dutch businesses entering the U.S. market, and promoting innovation and collaboration between the Netherlands and American institutions.

Francine Marie Jeanne Houben is a Dutch architect who graduated with cum laude honors from the Delft University of Technology. She is the founding partner and creative director of Mecanoo architecten, an architecture firm based in Delft, The Netherlands.Houben’s work spans a wide range of projects, including universities, libraries, theaters, residential areas, and museums. Her approach to architecture combines social, technical, playful, and human aspects of space-making. She is particularly known for her design of libraries, including the Library of Birmingham and the refurbishment of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C.Houben has received numerous accolades for her work, including the 2014 Woman Architect of the Year award by the Architects’ Journal.

Winka Dubbeldam is a Dutch architectural designer and educator, who founded Archi-Tectonics, a New York-based firm, in 1994, known for integrating sustainability and digital technology in its designs. Dubbeldam has been influential in modern architecture, earning accolades for her work. She served as Chair and Miller Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design and has contributed to various international platforms, including the Venice Biennale. Her firm’s projects range from residential to commercial, and they often incorporate sustainable materials and smart building systems.

Florian Idenburg is an internationally renowned Dutch architect with over two decades of professional experience. After learning the ropes in Amsterdam and Tokyo, he founded SO–IL in 2008 together with Jing Liu. He has a particularly strong background in institutional spaces, leading the office on projects as Kukje Gallery and the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis as well as Amant in Brooklyn. Idenburg has a strong intuition for the orchestration of form, material, and light, and enjoys developing projects to a level where those elements become places for people to experience and use. He combines a hands-on approach with a theoretical drive, sharing this creative spirit with clients, collaborators, and students. A frequent speaker at institutions around the world, he has taught at Harvard, MIT, Columbia, and Princeton University and is currently Professor of the Practice at Cornell University.

Rijk Rietveld Rijk Rietveld grew up working in his father’s architecture office. He spent his formative years at the Academy of Building Arts in Amsterdam. To fulfil an academic internship, he chose the office of Herman Hertzberger and remained there for many years where he became the head designer of an international practice. Being part of Structuralist group of architects with Aldo van Eyck and Jan Rietveld was an especially memorable experience. Rijk Rietveld worked for twelve years in the Amsterdam office of Herman Hertzberger before moving to New York In 1986. He became an Associate Partner of Richard Meier and Partners in 1992, where he was responsible for the design and execution of the Central Library and City Hall in The Hague, the Canal Plus headquarters in Paris, and the headquarters of Compaq in Houston. In 1996 Rijk went on to work for I.M. Pei on the design of the Museum for German History in Berlin. Rijk Rietveld has lectured at many European and American Universities including Berkeley, Scy-Arc, MIT, Penn and Columbia. He was an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech and is a registered architects in New York and the Netherlands. Currently, Rijk and Margaret work on cutting edge, environmental and nature-inclusive designs in the Greater New York area and continuing work in the Netherlands with projects in London, Paris and Italy.

Jos van Eldonk is partner architect at the Amsterdam-based architectural firm Common Affairs. He primarily works on urban and architectural transformation projects. His passion lies in giving structures a second, or even a third, life. Imagine and connect!

Evert Klinkenberg studied architecture at TU Delft and ETH Zürich. After graduating in 2008 he worked at Herzog &amp; de Meuron in Basel on projects in New York, Beijing, London, Bordeaux and Basel. Additionally he taught design studios at ETH Zürich and TU Delft. After 10 years in Switzerland, he returned to the Netherlands, where he co-founded BETA in 2015.

Jan Knikker joined MVRDV in 2008. Before this he started his career as a journalist, and then shaped the public image of OMA for nearly a decade. As Partner at MVRDV, Jan leads the Contracts, Business Development and Public Relations efforts, forming a fast and strategic studio that includes a strong visualisation team and the practice’s sustainability team. He leads MVRDV’s branding efforts and has overseen the practice’s rapid expansion into new markets, focusing on solutions for global issues through its architecture and urbanism. He has worked on many publications and exhibitions, including the book MVRDV Buildings.Jan regularly lectures internationally, at commercial and academic venues. He writes for various publications and was Deputy Editor of Domus 2019. Jan is currently member of the Denkmal &amp; Gestaltungsbeirat of the city of Wiesbaden, Germany (Esthetical and Heritage Council). He is a member of the HNI Heritage Network, led the online design magazine Dafne, and from 2007 to 2011 was a member of the International Projects commission of the Netherlands Architecture Funds.

Stefan Prins is a Partner at Powerhouse Company. He is responsible for public projects and complex inner city developments and manages a team that specializes in these typologies. He leads the development and implementation of complex timber solutions in design processes, while ensuring the alignment of all stakeholders. Prins regularly gives lectures or leads design studios at Universities, such as the Academy of Architecture in Groningen and Rotterdam.

Dikkie Scipio is a Professor of Architecture at FH Münster and one of the Founding Partners at KAAN Architecten. She specializes in intricate undertakings and processes, with a particular focus oncraftsmanship within architecture, the concept of beauty and re-imagining heritage in contemporary times. She seamlessly integrates building and expansion with preservation, showcasing her commitment to respecting existing structures and historical significance.

Erikjan Vermeulen (born April 2, 1973, in Texel, the Netherlands) is a Dutch architect and co-founder of Concrete Architecture, established in 2006 alongside Rob Wagemans. With a background rooted in both practice and design innovation, Vermeulen brings decades of experience across architecture and urban development. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the HTS University of Construction in Utrecht in 1995, followed by a Master’s in Architecture from the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, completed in 2001. During his studies, he also participated in a formative 30-day Bauhaus workshop in Dessau in 1994. Vermeulen’s early career included roles at leading Dutch firms, working as an architectural designer at Sluijmer en van Leeuwen Architects (1995–1997), project leader at Meijer en van Schooten Architects (1997–1999), and project architect at Arons en Gelauff Architects (1999–2003). In 2003, he founded his own studio, Erikjan Vermeulen Architects, before joining forces at Concrete to help shape distinctive, experience-driven spaces around the world.

Frans van Vuure is a globally recognized architect, urban designer, and Managing Director of UNS Austin, with over 30 years of experience delivering award-winning, people-centered infrastructure and transit projects. Known for leading transformative efforts like the Austin Light Rail, LAX modernization, and urban mobility initiatives in Houston and Detroit, his work blends design vision with community impact. With projects ranging from the Wasl Tower in Dubai to Kutaisi Airport in Georgia, Frans excels at uniting international teams to realize sustainable, city-defining architecture that advances both local priorities and long-term urban goals.

Francine Houben speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Winka Dubbeldam speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Florian Idenburg speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Rijk Rietveld speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Jos van Eldonk speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Frans van Vuure speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Evert Klinkenberg speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Erikjan Vermeulen speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Jan Knikker speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Stephan Prins speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

Dikkie Scipio speaking at It Happened Here, NetherlandsNOW Session 1 – Framing the Future: Dutch Architects in New York on 7 July, 2025

AIA New York Center for Architecture

Enrique Norten, Hon. FAIA was born in Mexico City where he graduated from the Universidad Iberoamericana with a degree in architecture in 1978. He obtained a Master of Architecture from Cornell University in 1980. In 1986 he founded TEN Arquitectos [Taller de Enrique Norten Arquitectos] in Mexico City, and in 2001 opened a second office in New York initiating a lifelong commitment to Architecture and Design. 

Loreto Lyon is a principal at Beals &amp; Lyon Arquitectos in Santiago, Chile, which she co-founded with Alejandro Beals in 2012. She earned the title of Architect from the Pontificia Universidad CatolicadeChile in 2005 and earned a Master of Science degree from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College of London in 2011. She teaches studio at the Universidad Catolica de Chile and since 2022 has headed the School of Architecture at Universidad San Sebastian in Santiago.&nbsp;

Viviana Pozzoli established Equipo de Arquitectura in Asunción, Paraguay, with Horacio Cherniavsky in 2017. Born in Paraguay, she received her professional degree from the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in 2015. She currently teaches at that university in addition to teaching at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción.

Lucas Coelho Netto founded MATTERIA, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2022. He received his B.Arch from PUC-Rio and his Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University, where he won the Lowenfish Prize. Prior to establishing his firm, he worked with MASSLab in Porto and BIG in Copenhagen.

Carlos Martinezfounded AR-AR|Martinez Arquitectura y Paisaje in Bogota, Colombia in 2017. He was educated at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota and received his master’s degree in landscape architecture at PUC-Chile (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile) in 2022. He established, along with other partners, the Juligon Foundation (Fundacion Laboratorio de Arquitectura), a social project, in 2010. He has served as a professor at the Universidad Javeriana and the Universidad de Los Andes.

Patricia Llosa founded Llosa/Cortegana with Rodolfo Cortegana in Lima, Peru, in 2005. She received her B.Arch from Universidad Ricardo Palma in Lima, and her master’s degree from Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya in Barcelona in 1999. She taught at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in the Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo from 2002 to 2022.

Adriana Chavez established ORU with Elena Tudela, Victor Rico, and Guillermo Chavez in Mexico City in 2015. She has worked closely with the city’s Chief Resilience Officer in the creation of Mexico City’s resilience strategy as part of the 100 Resilient Cities initiative pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. She holds a B.Arch from Universidad Iberoamericana and earned master's degrees in both Architecture and Urbanism, Landscape and Ecology from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s GSAPP &nbsp;

Tatiana Bilbaofounded her eponymous studio in 2004 in Mexico City, with the aim of integrating social values, collaboration, and sustainable design approaches to architectural work. She received her B.Archin in 1996 from the Universidad Iberoamericana, where she later taught as a professor of design. She has also taught at the Universidad Andres Bello in Chile, the AA School of Architecture in London, and at Yale, Rice, and Columbia Universities. She was named as one of the Architecture League’sEmerging Voices in 2010. In 2022, she was honored as the Architect of the Year by AW Architektur &amp;Wohnen magazine for her inspiring social commitment.

Natalia Silva Mora co-founded the research and urban planning firm URBANA with Ursala Blanque in Bogota, Colombia in 2020. She received her undergraduate degree in architecture from the Universidad de Los Andes in 2009, and her Master of Science and Urban Development from University College London in 2013. Prior to establishing URBANA, she was the Senior Technical Advisor to the Office of the District Planning Secretariat, leading the formulation of the Land Management Plan for Bogota.

Elisa Silva founded Enlace Arquitectura in Caracas in 2007, and established the non-profit Enlace Foundation in 2017. She received her undergraduate degree from Emory University and a Master of Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She is Associate Professor at Florida International University in Miami, a lecturer at Harvard GSD, and has taught at Princeton and the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas. She was awarded the Rome Prize in 2005 and is the author of “Pure Space: Expanding the Public Sphere through Public Space Transformation in Latin American’s Spontaneous Settlements”, published in 2020.

Juan Andres Machado is founder of the Caracas-based firm ODA–Oficina de Arquitectura, which he co-founded with Eric Brewer Leal in 1997, and Director of ODA–Arq. He was educated at Westminster College in Pennsylvania, and at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo.He has taught at the Universidad Jose Maria Vargas and Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, as well as Columbia University in New York.

Eduardo Castillo Cortes founded Castillo Arquitectos in Guatemala City in 2004. He received his Master of Architecture from the Savannah College of Art &amp; Design (SCAD) in Georgia, and is the author of the Municipal Guide for Urban Design &amp; Roadways for use in Central American and Caribbean cities. His planning work has been recognized with two Charter Awards by the Congress for New Urbanism. In the years 2019 and 2020, he was named one of the most outstanding creatives in Central America by the regional issue of Forbes magazine.

Guillermo Hevia Garcia founded Hevia + Poblete in 2020 with Catalina Poblete, in Santiago, Chile. He was educated at the Universidad Catolica de Chile and received his master’s degree from Columbia University in 2020. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the School of Architecture at the Universidad Catolica de Chile and participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale(2018) and the Seoul Architecture Biennale (2021). He received the 2021 Metropolis Future Award in New York, and in 2019 his monograph “Every Design Conceals an Order” was published, which brings together his work and research.

Marcelo Maia Rosa is an architect and partner at Andrade Morettin Arquitetos (2012). He graduated in architecture and urbanism from Mackenzie University in São Paulo and TU/e in Eindhoven (2005). He holds a postgraduate degree from Escola da Cidade (2017) and is currently pursuing a Master's degree at FAU USP (2023). He co-curated the Brazilian pavilion at the 16th Venice International Architecture Exhibition, "Walls of Air," and is a design professor at the Escola da Cidade.

Lucas Correa Sevilla founded his firm ODD+ (Oficina de Diseno) in 2015 in Quito. He received his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard's Graduate School of Design. In 2016, he assumed the title of Director of Strategic Urban Planning for the Metropolitan Institute of Urban Planning with the purpose of developing the Vision of Quito 2040. He contributed to Ecuador's exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016.

Martin Corullon founded METRO Arquitetos in Sao Paulo in 2000. He was educated at the Universidad de Sao Paulo, with a diploma from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism in 2000 and a master's degree in 2013. He was part of the curatorial group for the Brazilian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2006 and was a visiting professor at Politecnico di Milano in Italy in 2022. Between 2008/2009, he worked at Foster+Partners in London.

Brickworks Design Studio, New York City

Brickworks Design Studio, Sydney

Daniel K Brown holds the inaugural chair Professor of Design Studio at Victoria University Faculty of Architecture and Design in Wellington New Zealand. He completed his professional MArch degree at Yale University and is a registered architect (New York, 1991-present). During Daniel's 25-year academic career, he has won 12 teaching awards including the New Zealand National Award for Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching. Daniel was selected by the London journal "AD: Architectural Design" as one of the top 12 architecture academics internationally, appearing in the special edition "Emerging Talents | Training Architects" (London, Aug 2021). Editor Neil Spiller wrote: "This issue showcases the students and teachers who are pushing the envelope of architecture in extraordinary ways."In 2010, a 5-year retrospective of Daniel's work was exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale in the host Italy Pavilion, as part of the exhibition "Reflections of the Future". The Italy Pavilion selected architectural research specifically responding to its theme: "work that unveils a vision of architecture as civil art capable of generating solutions for a society in the midst of deep-seated change." Daniel has been awarded seven international research fellowships including the American Fulbright Fellowship; three national research fellowships; and 16 professional awards for collaborative designs.

Paul Broches studied architecture at The Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation with Romaldo (Aldo) Giurgola, Faculty Chair and co-founder of the Mitchell Giurgola firm. He was influenced by Aldo’s ability to balance his passionate dedication to design with modesty and generosity of spirit. Paul joined Mitchell Giurgola in 1971, became a partner in 1980, and Partner Emeritus in 2022. Paul was a member of the team that designed the House of Parliament in Canberra, Australia. He also had the rare privilege of leading the team that executed the last project designed by Louis Kahn, the FDR Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York City. His work at the firm includes projects for the Brooklyn and New York Public Libraries, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Rockefeller University Collaborative Research Center, City University of New York, NYU, and NYC public schools.&nbsp;Paul is a Fellow in the AIA and member of the Board of the International Architects Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility. He also serves as a critic on the international Berkeley Prize for Architecture Design Excellence and Columbia University’s annual GSAPP Goodman Fellowship Jury. He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 2013 and to the Board in 2018.

Charles Renfro is a Partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro. He received the Texas Medal of the Arts Award (2015). He was named a National Academy Academician (2014). He was honored as a Rice University Distinguished Alumnus (2012). He is President of the Board at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York.He joined Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in 1997 and became a partner in 2004. He has led the design for a number of projects including the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and Zaryadye Park, a 35-acre park adjacent to the Kremlin in Moscow. He has also led a number of academic projects at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and Brown University, and is currently designing new facilities for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Toronto. He is also currently leading the renovation of Dallas's Kalita Humphreys Theater - Frank Lloyd Wright's only built free-standing theater. Abroad, Charles is leading the design of the Museum of Image and Sound in Rio de Janeiro, and the Tianjin Juilliard School in China. He is a faculty member of the School of Visual Arts.

Rosina Di Maria MDIA, is an Interior Designer and Chair of the Adelaide Studio.Rosina is an Interior Designer with extensive global experience, having lived and worked across Europe, Russia, Asia. She returned to her hometown of Adelaide after leading the interiors portfolio in the Woods Bagot London studio.Rosina has led award-winning projects in the sectors of workplace interiors, hotel, residential and civic. Rosina is a strong collaborator and curates projects with an inclusive and strategic approach with a focus on enriching the human experience.Rosina is a strong supporter of the Arts and is Ministerially appointed as Board Member of the JamFactory and Carclew Youth Arts. Her work within the arts and culture sector is extensive, from writing business cases for Government to designing and delivering notable projects such as the refurbishment works at the National Gallery of Australia.A frequent speaker, panelist, and juror, Rosina is a national judge for multiple industry design awards – including the inaugural Property Council of Australia Innovation &amp; Excellence Awards. Rosina is a recognised industry leader holding a position on the Property Council of Australia SA Division Council.

Nader Tehrani is the Principal and co-founder of the architecture firm NADAAA. He received a B.F.A. and a B.Arch from the Rhode Island School of Design (1985, 1986) and a Masters in Urban Design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1991). Tehrani’s work has been recognized with notable awards, including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture (2007), the United States Artists Fellowship in Architecture and Design (2007), and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture (2002). He has also served as a Professor and the Head of the Department of Architecture at MIT. He has also taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Rhode Island School of Design, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Toronto. His notable works include the MIT Site 4, Melbourne School of Design, at the University of Melbourne in Melbourne and Hinman Research Building at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

John Wardle established his architectural practice, John Wardle Architects (now Wardle) in Melbourne in 1986 and has led the growth of the practice from working on small domestic dwellings to university building, museums, and large commercial offices.&nbsp; In 2001, he received his Master of Architecture at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and has been Adjunct Professor at the School of Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia.&nbsp;In 2020, Wardle was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal.&nbsp; The Jury citation reads, in part, “John Wardle is an architect’s architect…a designer of consummate skill, whose works – from the smallest intricate piece of joinery to complex high-rise buildings receive detailed attention and conscientious formal experiment.”

William Sharples applies a background in engineering to more than 30 years of industry leadership in design and master planning, working in complex, urban contexts to create dynamic projects that transform communities. William holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University. His SHoP projects include New York City’s East River Waterfront, the Botswana Innovation Hub in Gaborone, Collins Arch in Melbourne, Atlassian HQ in Sydney, Hudson’s Site in Detroit, and a portfolio of long-term high-profile work around the world as the recipient of a Design Excellence contract with the State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Building Operations (OBO).&nbsp;Beyond the studio, William has earned a reputation as a leader for his generation of architects and a powerful advocate for design quality and the importance of continued process innovation in contemporary construction. In 2018 he Co-Founded Assembly OSM, a modular company that delivers architecturally distinctive high-rise buildings through a technology advanced process of digital design, manufacturing, assembly, and on-site installation.

Woods Bagot Director and Global Design Leader Domenic Alvaro has more than 30 years of experience leading award-winning projects across the globe. Domenic's body of work is set apart by a consistent clarity of concept and dedication to creating spaces that enrich the end user's life. His extensive portfolio includes mixed-use developments that redefine how nature can be woven into a city, experiential large-scale transportation links, landmark commercial precincts, and residential that define the way we will live tomorrow.&nbsp;&nbsp;Domenic's recent work includes the international competition-winning scheme 55 Pitt Street, a landmark workplace precinct set to contribute to the revitalization of Sydney's iconic Circular Quay, Brisbane's Heritage Lanes 80 Ann Street – winner of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat's Best Tall Building's Award of Excellence, the Property Council of Australia's Best office development award and the Lord Mayor's 'Brisbane Buildings that Breathe' architecture prize from the Australian Institute of Architects QLD. The podium reinvigoration of Sydney's MLC Centre, integrated leisure complex and National AIA Harry Seidler award-winning Ivy, complex pedestrian link Wynyard Walk, AIA National Award for Residential Architecture recipient, Short Lane and Domenic's Small House project recently won the World Architecture Festival award in the House of the Year category.

Neil Durbach, a Life Fellow of the Institute of Architects, graduated from the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1978. He set up practice in Sydney after winning the National competition for the new Royal Australian Institute of Architects headquarters building at Tusculum, Sydney in 1983.Neil Durbach has worked as a principal design architect on all of the projects of Durbach Block Jaggers. In 2005 Neil Durbach was made an Adjunct Professor at University of NSW, and has taught, lectured, exhibited, judged awards and been published both nationally and internationally. In 2008, Neil Durbach co-curated the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.Neil Durbach, Camilla Block and David Jaggers are the directors of Durbach Block Jaggers Architects. As co-directors for over twenty years, we work together seamlessly across all stages of our projects. Our skills are both companionable and complementary. We move across roles, to cover the necessary, anticipate the unknowns and invent the new. We are hands-on creative architects, not executives. We all draw, document and model our projects at all scales, from broad site strategies to handrail details and everything in between. &nbsp;With our permanent team of twelve, we are dedicated to making beautiful buildings together with our clients. We are not wedded to a style or type of architecture. Our work has been awarded across all building types, including commercial, residential, heritage, urban design and institutional. The office has experience in projects that have complex client groups and needs. We have many years working with existing buildings, sensitive or highly visible contexts, heritage or otherwise, in a respectful and poetic manner. We aim for an architecture that is both confident and courteous. Environmentally Sustainable Design principles permeate the logic of durable design in siting, landscaping, management of services and detail design. We believe that longevity is more likely in a building that is well loved.

Sean Godsell is the recipient of the 2022 Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal.Sean was born in Melbourne in 1960. He graduated with First Class Honours from The University of Melbourne in 1984. He spent much of 1985 travelling in Japan and Europe and worked in London from 1986 to 1988 for Sir Denys Lasdun. In 1994 he formed Sean Godsell Architects.His work has been published in the world’s leading Architectural journals and he has lectured and exhibited in the USA, UK, China, Japan, India, France, Finland, Germany, Italy and New Zealand as well as across Australia. His Future Shack housing prototype was exhibited at the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York in 2005 and the facade prototype of the RMIT Design Hub is on permanent display at the V+A Museum in London. His Vatican Chapel for the 2018 Venice Architectural Biennale is on permanent display on the island of St Gergio Maggiore in Venice.He has received numerous local and international awards. Electa published the monograph ‘Sean Godsell’ in 2005. In 2013 the Spanish publication El Croquis published the monograph ‘Sean Godsell – Tough Subtlety’ and in 2018 Thames and Hudson published ‘Sean Godsell – Houses’. In 2013 and 2014 he was a visiting professor at the IUAV in Venice. He is adjunct professor of architecture at Deakin University in Australia.

Rachel Neeson is founding director of Neeson Murcutt Neille. Rachel studied architecture at the University of Sydney, graduating with the University Medal in 1993. She was awarded the Board of Architects 2002 Byera Hadley Travelling Scholarship and completed a Masters of Architecture in Barcelona. She is currently Professor of Practice at the University of New South Wales, and serves on the City of Sydney Design Advisory Panel.&nbsp; She is the 2023 recipient of the Marion Mahony Griffin Prize.

Clare Cousins established Melbourne practice, Clare Cousins Architects, in 2005. Based on the lands of the WurundjeriWoi Wurrung people of the Eastern Kulin Nation, the studio is engaged in projects large and small including housing, workplace, and cultural projects. Each project is an opportunity to explore what we value; a nuanced sense of place, embedded with a responsibility to our environment. Our projects endure and evolve, responsive to the individual or community they serve.Actively involved in the broader design community, Clare is a Life Fellow and Past National President of the Australian Institute of Architects. In 2021 she was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects ACT Chapter President’s Medal for her advocacy for the protection of Anzac Hall. In 2018 the American Institute of Architects awarded Clare the Presidential Medal for her contribution to the profession.

Matthias Hollenstein, founder of Studio Hollenstein, was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1984. He graduated from the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 2009. Matthias established his practice in Sydney in 2013 after winning the international competition for the Green Square Library and Plaza. He has taught at the University of New South Wales and the University of Technology Sydney, and delivered lectures both in Australia and abroad.His notable achievements include receiving numerous local and international awards. In 2019, he was honored with the global AR Library Award, The Chicago Atheneum Architecture Award, The Sir Zelman Cowen Award, the NSW Premier's Prize, and multiple AIA awards for architecture, urban design, and interior architecture.In 2020, he was presented with the NSW Emerging Architect Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to the architectural profession and the advancement of architecture within the public domain. In 2021, architect Dominique Perrault invited him to exhibit at the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism.Matthias's work has been extensively published both nationally and internationally, including features in publications such as "MMXX: Two Decades of Architecture in Australia" and the "Archdaily Guide to Good Architecture."

Kerstin Thompson is the founding Principal of Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA) established in Melbourne, 1994.An accomplished speaker and committed design educator, Kerstin is an Adjunct Professor at RMIT and Monash University and regularly lectures and runs studios at various schools across Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.She plays an active role promoting quality design within the profession and the wider community through talks, participation in government design review panels and as a regular juror on industry award panels.In recognition for the work of her practice, contribution to the profession and tertiary education,&nbsp;Kerstin was elevated to Life Fellow by the Australian Institute of Architects in 2017, appointed the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2022 and awarded the Gold Medal in 2023 - the Australian Institute of Architects’ highest honour - recognising distinguished services by architects.&nbsp;Amongst a deliberately diverse portfolio notable projects include the Bundanon Art Museum &amp; Bridge which received 2022’s Sir Zelman Cowen Award - Australia’s highest accolade for public architecture, the Broadmeadows Town Hall - a multi-awarded exemplar of renewal and reuse of existing civic spaces and the soon to be opened Melbourne Holocaust Museum.

Timothy Hill began practicing architecture in 1992 as a founding Director of Donovan Hill.&nbsp; Over a 30 year span he has collaborated to make houses with memorable rooms, office towers with non-corporate ground floors, publicly-permeable laboratory buildings, a state library with an outdoor interior, structured landscapes, small buildings mistakeable for furniture and heritage interventions without clear definition of old and new. His output has been awarded at the national and international levels and is deliberately unspecialised. More recently, he established Partners Hill to continue designing, researching, advocating and teaching.

Founder, Angelo Candalpas &amp; Associates (Sydney NSW)

Director, Edition Office (Collingwood VIC)

Co-Owner, Richards &amp; Spence (Fortitude Valley QLD)

William Smartis the Founder and Principal of Smart Design Studio, established in 1998. Under his direction, the studio’s approach to design is holistic, combining both architectural and interior design with passionate attention to detail with an ethos of “Architecture from the Inside Out”. Over the past 25 years, Smart Design Studio has delivered a wide range of projects ranging from large-scale master planning, cultural buildings, offices, workplaces to private houses and product design.&nbsp;

Andrew Burges&nbsp;is founding partner of Andrew Burges Architects.&nbsp;Andrew studied architecture at the University of Sydney, where he graduated with the University Medal in 1992. Andrew then received his Master of Architecture in 1996 at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. Prior to forming his current practice in 2001 Andrew worked in firms in Sydney, New York and Boston, developing expertise in large scale urban master planning and urban housing proposals, and sporting structures associated with the 2000 Sydney Olympics.Andrew’s work in practice as principal of ABA has been published extensively and exhibited both locally and internationally, including at the 2008 Venice Biennale, and in the 2005 ‘Out From Under: Contemporary Australian Architecture Now’, exhibition in San Francisco, Seattle, Hong Kong and China. Andrew was an adjunct professor at Rhode Island School of Design between 1997-2000and has been a regular design critic at universities in both Australian and the United States.&nbsp;

Director, MGS Architects (Melbourne VIC)

Tony Chenchow graduated in Architecture from the University of New South Wales, winning several honors from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects including the Kann Scholarship, the National Biennale Award, and the RAIA Prize in 1992.&nbsp; He established Chenchow Little with Stephanie Little in 1994.&nbsp; Tony has tutored design at the University of NSW and the University of Adelaide and has also been a guest critic at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.&nbsp; In 2008, Tony was a juror in the NSW RAIA awards and in 2017 for the Australian Interior Design Awards.

Stephanie Little graduated in Architecture from the University of New South Wales, and during her studies was shortlisted for the RAIA National Biennale Award.&nbsp; She established Chenchow Little with Tony Chenchow in 1994. She has twice been a juror for the NSW Australian Institute of Architects Awards, in 2012 and 2016.&nbsp;Stephanie has also been an invited juror for the Houses Awards in 2015 and the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards in 2018.

Patrick Kennedy is a founding partner of Kennedy Nolan.&nbsp; He helped establish and continues to lead the practice’s distinctive design direction.&nbsp; He has great interest in design detail, materiality, the evocative nature of form and the creation of contemporary architecture in the context of historical styles. &nbsp;His involvement in projects continues throughout the phases to ensure these qualities conceived in the early phases are executed in the built work.&nbsp; He has been closely involved with maintaining the steady growth of Kennedy Nolan over nearly twenty years to be a stable, established, award winning medium sized practice.Patrick has delivered a number of public lectures on design around Australia and has taught in the Masters program at the University of Melbourne.&nbsp; He has been a juror for the Australian Institute of Architects and other deign competitions.&nbsp; Patrick has provided design advice to the City of Boroondara, taught Planning on behalf of the AIA to registering Architects, helped establish a subject in Heritage Architecture at the University of Melbourne, been a member of the Continuing Education committee at the Australian Institute of Architects and most recently was appointed a founding member of The Boyd Circle.

Rachel Nolan is a founding director of Kennedy Nolan with expertise in creating built environments that are inspiring and responsive to the brief, context and environment. Fascinated by both the material and the immaterial, Rachel is both conceptually driven and pragmatic, focused on creating enduring places that support a life well lived. Known for her evocative drawings,&nbsp;Rachel is an exceptional verbal and visual communicator who ensures design clarity from project inception to completion.With 25 years experience in practice, Rachel is interested in contributing more broadly to the architecture profession through lectures, teaching, mentoring and collaborative opportunities. Rachel has delivered a number of public lectures on around Australia, and has run a Master’s Studio at the University of Melbourne. She is currently the Chair of the University of Melbourne Architecture Advisory Board, she is a founding member of <a href="https://robinboyd.org.au/boydcircle/">The Boyd Circle</a> and has served the AIA as a lecturer, juror for the Victorian Chapter Awards and member of the AIA Honours Committee.

Principal McBride Charles Ryan (Prahran VIC)

With 15 years of Industry experience, Poppy has been involved in number of high-quality private sector tourism, heritage and residential projects.&nbsp; In 2011 Poppy received the AIA Tasmanian Chapter Emerging Architect Prize.&nbsp;Her acute sensibility as a practitioner is defined by her capacity to clearly communicate spatial ideas and to understand the technical means by which ideas are made into built outcomes.&nbsp;

Abby Suckle received her Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to opening her own architectural firm, she practiced architecture with Pei Cobb Freed &amp; Partners. She has an architectural practice in New York City with work ranging from residential to public buildings. As the President of cultureNOW, she leads the Museum Without Walls project, which is an attempt to expand beyond gallery walls to create an acoustiguide to the environment blending art architecture and history. She has curated two recent exhibitions on Mapping in New York and Boston. She has taught at Parsons, the Boston Architectural Center and Harvard where she is currently collaborating on a course about Design for Resilience post Sandy. Ms. Suckle is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In 2012 she received the AIA NY State President Award and the National AIA Collaborative Achievement Award. She also received the 2009 AIA NY State Fellows Award and serves on the board of the NY Chapter of the AIA.

With over four decades of experience in 20 countries around the world, Stephen Johnson brings an international perspective in shaping design and planning strategies. He has led the development of transformative projects in urban planning, education, healthcare, cultural, and workplace facilities that contribute greatly to the shaping of engaged global citizens. For the past five years he has been engaged with non-profit organizations sponsoring urban revitalization and educational opportunities in Cuba and the Middle East.&nbsp;

Stephen Varady is an innovative and respected Australian architect, designer, writer and educator. &nbsp;Born in Sydney, he received a Bachelor of Architecture degree with honours from the University of New South Wales in 1987, and a Masters of Architecture degree from RMIT University in Melbourne in 2002.&nbsp; He is a registered architect in NSW and a member of the Australian Institute of Architects and was appointed Creative Director of 2006 RAIA National Conference.Stephen has been a lecturer and design teacher since 1985 in architecture and design schools at Sydney University, University of NSW, UTS, Newcastle University and at RMIT University in Melbourne, and has lectured extensively around the world.&nbsp; Stephen is also an architecture critic, writer and photographer, with writings published in Architecture Australia, Monument, ar, inside and the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia, as well as AD and World Architecture in the UK.Stephen has been principal of Stephen Varady Architecture since 1987.Between 2008 and 2013 he also&nbsp;worked&nbsp;with Kann Finch, first in the UAE and then in Sydney as Senior Design Architect.Stephen Varady is a practicing registered architect with over 30 years of experience, and is now also Director of Stephen Varady Associates, a practice for Architecture, Design, Consulting and Special Projects.Stephen Varady has received a number of awards from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, the Belle House of the Year Award, a number of Dulux Colour Awards including the 2006 Dulux Colour Award Grand Prix, and 2nd Prize in the NSW Government sponsored Circular Quay Urban Design Ideas Competition.Stephen’s projects have been published in books and magazines in Australia, the UK, Germany, Hungary, Spain, South Korea, China and the USA.&nbsp; His work has been exhibited in a number of exhibitions including ‘Living the Modern_Australian Architecture’ at the DAZ in Berlin in 2007, and in the ‘Abundant’ exhibition in the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2008.Stephen Varady also has success as a&nbsp;competition advisor, registrar and organiser, having prepared and run the Frankston Station Design Competition for the Victorian Government, the Green Square Aquatic Centre Competition and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Green Square Library &amp; Plaza Competition for the City of Sydney, and the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre Competition for Wagga Wagga City Council.

System’s work has won the AIA Wilkinson Award, the AIA New Housing New York Competition, an Australian Timber Design Award, the Bank of America Design Award, the McGraw Hill Best Construction Award, and an ArchitzerA+ Award for Architecture + Materials. Perhaps his most influential work is BURST*008, a prefab house commissioned and fully constructed by the Museum of Modern Art.&nbsp;

Debbie Lyn Ryan is an owner of McBride Charles Ryan (MCR) and an interior designer with extensive experience in the design of commercial, institutional, and domestic projects. Debbie studied arts at Monash University and interior design at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), and is an honorary fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects. Her work has been widely published and she has gained considerable recognition as a public speaker and critic of design.

Peter Stutchbury is the founder and Principal of Peter Stutchbury Architecture and has practiced in Australia since 1981. Peter graduated in architecture from the University of Newcastle in 1978, but a lifetime of formative early education in the desert of Western NSW nurtured an understanding of land and sky patterns. Since establishing his practice, Peter has received unprecedented recognition in residential architecture, as well as honors in public, commercial, heritage and sustainable projects. Peter is currently a ‘teaching master’ with the Architecture Foundation Australia and was a professor at the University of Newcastle from 1999 to 2019, where he received the alumni medal in 2005. He was honored with the Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal in 2015, and an Honorary International Fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 2016. His work spans several continents, including his early work in Papua New Guinea, prompting the Gold Medal jury to note “Stutchbury’s unique landscapes and study of indigenous responses to the creation of shelter in varying environmental conditions… masters the art of creating architecture that speaks of the place it inhabits.”

Architect&nbsp;Jeremy&nbsp;Edmiston&nbsp;introduces&nbsp;Panel&nbsp;1&nbsp;at&nbsp;AustraliaNOW&nbsp;symposium,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Daniel&nbsp;Brown,&nbsp;New&nbsp;Zealand-based&nbsp;American&nbsp;architect&nbsp;and&nbsp;academic,&nbsp;talks&nbsp;about&nbsp;Harry&nbsp;Seidler.

Architect Paul Broches speaks about architect Mitchell Giurgola

NYU Espacio de Culturas (KJCC)

Joan Busquets is an architect, urban planner, and Professor of Urban Design and Planning at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design since 2002. &nbsp;He earned his degree in architecture in 1969 and completed his doctorate at the School of Architecture of Barcelona (ETSAB) in 1975, where he also was a professor and co-founder of the Laboratory of Urbanism of Barcelona (LUB). &nbsp;Busquets served as Head of Urban Planning for the Barcelona City Council from 1983 to 1989, during the formative years of planning the city for the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. &nbsp;Initiatives include the New Areas of Centrality as well as the revitalization process for existing neighborhoods and cultural facilities, with a particular emphasis on Barcelona’s historic district.Through his firm BAU (B. Arquitectura i Urbanisme), he has worked on the design and implementation of strategic urban planning project for the cities of Delft, Geneva, Lisbon, Marseille, Rotterdam, Singapore, Sao Paulo, and Shanghai.Busquets has been honored with numerous awards including the 2011 Erasmus Prize, an annual award for exceptional contributions to European culture and society. In 2012 he was recognized with the Grand Prix Spécial de l’Urbanisme, Paris (France) and the Catalonian National Prize for Architecture and Open Space. Recently, The Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España (CSCAE) awarded him the 2025 Gold Medal for Architecture.His academic research includes: Cities: Ten Lines, Urban Grids, and the Urbanistic Impact of Expos on City Development. Among his many articles and books are Barcelona: The Urban Evolution of a Compact City (2005, 2014), The Old Town of Barcelona: A Past with a Future (2003), and Urban Grids: Handbook for Regular City Design (2019).

Maria Buhigas, Chief Architect of the Barcelona City Council since 2023, holds a degree in Architecture from ETSAB (UPC) and a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Columbia University.She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pasqual Maragall Foundation (Fundació Catalunya Europa). Between 1999 and 2013, she was part of Barcelona Regional, where she led the Urban Strategy Department (2006–2013).She has also been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the European agency ESPON (2017–2019) and served as a City Councillor at Barcelona City Council (2019–2020). From 2014 to 2023, she ran her own practice, working on both international and local projects.

Guillem Costa Calsamiglia is Dean of the Architect’s Association of Catalonia and president of the board of the recently created Fundació COAC. He graduated as Architect from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ETSAB) and currently runs his own practice, Costa Calsamiglia Arquitecte, located in the 22@ district in Barcelona. &nbsp;He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Manual Blancafort Foundation and serves as Director of the UIA World Congress of Architects Barcelona 2026.

Guido is dedicated to creating architecture that contributes to an environment that is greater than the individual project and uses his experience designing public spaces to inform the social structure within the building. It is the relationship that a project establishes with elements beyond its limits that makes it an exciting and engaging place to inhabit. Guido has applied this strategy to integrating infrastructure elements in urban neighborhoods as well and transformations of existing buildings. The dialogue between new and existing, project and neighborhood, infrastructure and architecture makes spaces that engage their inhabitants.Guido has led design teams working on a wide range of projects, including Pierhouse and 1 Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge Park, the renovation and reprogramming of the Central King Building for the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His interest in public space has informed streetscape redesigns for Hudson Square, the Meatpacking District, and Union Square. He has led a number of affordable and supportive housing projects including Far Rockaway Village for Phipps Houses which will create a new civic center for the town as well as 1,700 new apartments.Guido has taught and participated in design juries at Columbia, City College, Pratt, and NJIT. He served on the jury for the AIA Housing Awards and Enterprise’s Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute. Guido received his Master of Architecture from Harvard University and Bachelor’s in Environmental Design from Miami University.&nbsp;

Daria de Seta is a co-founder of the studio Garcés–de Seta–Bonet Architect and earned a PhD in Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano. &nbsp;In addition to her practice, she is a curator of exhibitions, collaborates with journals, and teaches across Europe. After teaching design in Geneva (HEAD–HEPIA) from 2009 to 2014, she has been a faculty member at Elisava University in Barcelona (School of Engineering and Design) since 2014. &nbsp;She has contributed to the internationalization of the practice with projects such as the Strasbourg Courthouse and the Cité Administrative of Briançon in France, and the Portici waterfront in Naples, Italy.

Agustin Perez-Torres is a Partner at BIG. Educated at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, he began his BIGster journey at BIG Copenhagen in 2006, eventually moving to New York in 2011, leading projects in North and South America, and in 2023 moved to BIGs Barcelona office to lead work throughout the Mediterranean region, Middle East, and South America. His range of design interests and expertise varies from architecture, interiors, and urban master planning, all rooted in his design approach of placemaking, elevating community, celebrating culture, and innovation.Agustin has led some of BIG’s significant projects, such as Vancouver House in Canada, a residential project that has attracted international attention for its environmentally conscious design, innovation, and beauty, and The Grove at Grand Bay, a high-end residential development that offers a high quality of living. In Europe, Agustin is currently leading projects in Spain and Italy, including the redevelopment of the historical site, Fira Montjuïc, in Barcelona, a five-star hotel and private university in Madrid, and a private resort in Italy.Agustin has also many years of experience developing stadia and sports venues in North America and Europe, leading the development of the Oakland A’s Stadium in California,Agustin’s previous work includes experiences in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. &nbsp;During his time with OMA, Agustin designed the Taipei Performing Arts Center in Taiwan and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice. In addition to his design work, he also has experience as an architectural journalist and has assisted with the organization of architectural exhibitions.

Fermín Vázquez leads b720 Arquitectos, which he co-founded with Ana Bassat in 1997. He has collaborated in renowned joint projects with leading international colleagues like Jean Nouvel, David Chipperfield and Toyo Ito. His work has received numerous awards, including the 2019 CTBUH Award for World’s Best Skyscraper of under 100m, for the Itaim Tower in São Paulo. The studio is currently working on significant projects that will reshape Spanish cities, such as La Sagrera station and the new Cruise Terminal both in Barcelona, and the new Madrid-Chamartín station together with UNS and Esteyco.

Josep María Borrell Bru is an architect (ETSAB / UPC, 2001) with a postgraduate degree in Innovative Real Estate Development and Management (Escola Sert / UPC). He is currently General Manager of IMPSOL, the public housing agency of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), responsible for land management and the development of public housing through both new construction and rehabilitation.Under his leadership, IMPSOL has advanced a model of contemporary public housing that integrates environmental sustainability, typological and technological innovation, gender-sensitive design, and architectural quality, understanding housing as key social infrastructure for fostering more equitable and balanced urban communities. His approach combines architectural excellence with user-centred allocation and post-occupancy support, encouraging residents’ engagement and the dissemination of these values, with the aim of scaling this model towards a more just society.IMPSOL has developed over 7,000 homes across more than 140 projects, managing all phases from public competitions to construction and post-occupancy. Projects led by IMPSOL have been widely featured in specialist publications and have received numerous national and international awards, including FAD, CSCAE, Ugo Rivolta, BEAU, BIAU, and RIBA, and have been finalists for the Mies van der Rohe Award. Borrell also contributes to specialised publications and regularly lectures on housing, urban planning, and contemporary architecture.

Vicente Guallart is an award-winning architect, urbanist, and researcher who served as the chief architect of Barcelona City Council from 2011 to 2015, where he was responsible for developing the strategic vision for the transformation of the city and its major development projects. He was also the first general manager of Urban Habitat, a newly created department encompassing urban planning, housing, the environment, infrastructure, and information technologies. Previously, he founded the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), one of the world’s leading architecture schools.His professional practice, Urbanitree, has developed ecological projects around the world, including several in China and Taiwan. Guallart is the author of several books including Plans and Projects of Barcelona (2011-2015), Geologics and The Self-Sufficient City. He is also the editor of the English edition of General Theory of Urbanization by Ildefons Cerdà. &nbsp;Guallart has received numerous awards in architecture and urban planning. His work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington, D.C.

Xavier Matilla is a specialist in urban and territorial planning, with a particular focus on urban regeneration strategies grounded in renaturalization and proximity, with over 20 years of experience as a consultant, advisor and lecturer. From 2019 to 2023, he served as Chief Architect of the city of Barcelona, where he led and oversaw the internationally recognized Superblock program as an innovative urban regeneration strategy. His work has earned multiple national and regional planning awards. In addition to his professional practice, he is adjunct professor in the Department of Urbanism at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), and has been a guest lecturer at various universities.

Architect since 2003, Anna Bonet graduated from the Technical School of Architecture (ETSAB) in Barcelona. Co-founder of the studio Garcés–de Seta–Bonet, she leads several projects, particularly in Catalonia and Barcelona, such as the extension to the Picasso Museum, the new headquarters of the Fundació Godia, the Farinera building in Vic, the recent Mas de Roda offices, Day Centre and nursing home for the elderly on carrer Benavent in Barcelona, as well as several private houses on the Costa Brava. Her experience has provided her with the tools to coordinate studio teams and multiple projects simultaneously.

Albert Casas co-founded METRONOM with Maria Amat in 2020. &nbsp;He was educated at the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona, ETSAB-UPC, and has also studied at the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the Glasgow School of Art. &nbsp;He is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Architectonical Projects in ETSAB-UPC. &nbsp;He is also Professor of Design Drawing in Interiors Design at IED Barcelona (European Institute of Design). &nbsp;He was awarded the City of Barcelona Prize/Academic Project, working together with Arquitectos de Cabecera in 2015.

José Toral, born in Madrid, is Associate Professor of Architectural Design at ETSAB–UPC, where his teaching and research focus on housing and urban projects. His work investigates new forms of collective living, environmental performance, and construction systems. He has been Guest Professor at EPFL Lausanne since 2024.

Adrià Orriols Camps is a founding partner of the architecture practice h3o architects, together with Miquel Ruiz Planella and Joan Gener González. &nbsp;He graduated as an architect in 2013 from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), receiving the highest distinction with honours.His projects are developed under the principles of a hybrid, inclusive, and ecologically minded architecture, with the aim of creating spaces that transcend the ordinary, and foster meaningful connections between people, contexts, and nature.Prior to establishing h3o, he had an extensive collaboration with José Antonio Martínez Lapeña and Elías Torres (2012–2022), with whom he shaped his professional trajectory and developed a highly precise and personal way of understanding architecture. There, he served as architect in charge of including the restoration of Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Vicens, the rehabilitation of the Walls of Palma de Mallorca, and the Palma seafront promenade, among many other projects.

Ivet Gasol Escuer is a co-founder of Cierto Estudio, which she established with her co-founders Anna Llonch Sentis, Marta Benedicto Izquierdo, Carlota de Gispert Sampera, Lucia Millet de Ferrater, and Clara Vidal Riera in 2014.

Roger Tudó co-founded Harquitectes, an architecture studio based in Sabadell, Barcelona, in 2000. He was educated at the Vallès School of Architecture (ETSAV), UPC-BarcelonaTech, receiving his degree in architecture in 1999. &nbsp;He combines his professional practice with teaching at numerous institutions in Spain and internationally, including ETSAV (UPC), ETSAM (UPM, Madrid), the Umeå School of Architecture in Sweden, ETH in Zurich, and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in Cambridge.He has had work published in different journals and magazines, including El Croquis, 2G, AV, A+U, Domus, Detail and Casabella, among others. He exhibited in the Spanish pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale, where the exhibit won the Golden Lion, as well as exhibitions at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale in 2019 and at the Utzon Center (Aalborg, Denmark) in 2021.

Claudi Aguiló Aran is an architect and co-founder of DATAAE, which he established in 2000 with Albert Domingo Olle, an engineer. &nbsp;Claudio Aguilo received his professional degree in architecture from the Valles School of Architecture (ETSAV), part of the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in Barcelona. &nbsp;From 2002 to 2006, he had an FI (Joan Oro) Research Grant at ETSAV, a pre-doctorate fellowship program, in the Department of Architectural Technology where he continues to teach in the master’s degree program. &nbsp;He has taught internationally at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Umea School of Architecture in Sweden, KU Leuven University in Belgium, and the Kore University of Enna in Sicily. &nbsp;He was a visiting lecturer at the Rural Studio, the design-build program of Auburn University’s School of Architecture in Alabama.

Bet Capdeferro Pla is a Catalan architect graduated from Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB–UPC) in 1999 and later completed a Master in Landscape Architecture at the Fundació Politècnica de Catalunya. Her professional activity has always interplayed with her teaching experience at ETSAB–UPC BarcelonaTech, ETH-Zürich, Universitat de Girona, Cornell University in New York and Washington University in St. Louis. supporting the development of design and construction processes from the fields of theory and research.

Carme Pinós Desplat graduated in Architecture, Urbanism, and Landscape Architecture from the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB) in 1979. From 1982 to 1991 she shared a studio with Enric Miralles and gained international recognition through projects such as the Igualada Cemetery Park and the Olympic Archery Range Facilities for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She established her own studio, Estudio Carme Pinós in 1991, and since then has worked on numerous projects ranging from urban refurbishments and public works to furniture design. Her approach to design is anchored by a constant focus on experimentation and research.She earned global recognition for her architectural ensemble composed of the Plaza de la Gardunya, the Massana Art School and the expansion of the Boqueria Market. Her most significant recent works include the design of the La Horra Winery in Burgos and the renovation and expansion of the Son Brull Hotel in Majorca.Carme Pinós combines her work as an architect with teaching. She has been guest professor at several higher education institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, L’Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture in Paris, the University of Illinois, Columbia University, and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She was awarded the highest recognition in Spain for architects: The National Prize of Architecture 2021. She was also named Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 2011 and became an RIBA International Fellow in 2013.

PART 1: Barcelona History / Keynotes, BarcelonaNOW 2026

<ol><li>Les&nbsp;Tres&nbsp;Xememeies&nbsp;/&nbsp;Catalunya&nbsp;Media&nbsp;City&nbsp;-&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;by&nbsp;Guido&nbsp;Hartray,&nbsp;Founding&nbsp;Partner,&nbsp;Marvel,&nbsp;NYC&nbsp;and&nbsp;Daria&nbsp;de&nbsp;Seta,&nbsp;Garcés&nbsp;-&nbsp;de&nbsp;Seta&nbsp;-&nbsp;Bonet,&nbsp;Barcelona</li><li>Fira&nbsp;Barcelona&nbsp;Business&nbsp;Center&nbsp;/&nbsp;Transformation&nbsp;of&nbsp;1929&nbsp;Palau&nbsp;del&nbsp;Vestit&nbsp;-&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;by&nbsp;Agustin&nbsp;Perez&nbsp;Torres,&nbsp;BIG</li></ol>

Guido Hartray, Co-Founder of MARVEL architects in New York and Daria de Seta Co-Founder of Garcés - de Seta - Bonet in Barcelona speak about their join project Catalunya Media City Three Chimneys / Tres Xemeneies

Agustin Perez-Torres, partner at BIG Architects speaks about their join project with Barcelona-based, MIAS Architects, Fira Barcelona Business Hub.

<ol><li>La&nbsp;Sagrera&nbsp;Transport&nbsp;Hub&nbsp;-&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;by&nbsp;Fermín&nbsp;Vázquez,&nbsp;Founder,&nbsp;b720&nbsp;Fermin&nbsp;Vazquez&nbsp;Arquitectos,&nbsp;Barcelona</li><li>Social&nbsp;Housing&nbsp;and&nbsp;Creating&nbsp;Communities&nbsp;-&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;by&nbsp;Josep&nbsp;María&nbsp;Borrell,&nbsp;Director,&nbsp;IMPSOL&nbsp;(Public&nbsp;Housing&nbsp;Agency),&nbsp;Barcelona</li><li>Doors&nbsp;of&nbsp;Collserola&nbsp;-&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;by&nbsp;Vicente&nbsp;Guallart,&nbsp;Founder,&nbsp;Institute&nbsp;for&nbsp;Advanced&nbsp;Architecture&nbsp;of&nbsp;Catalunya,&nbsp;Barcelona</li><li>Superblocks&nbsp;-&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;by&nbsp;Xavier&nbsp;Matilla,&nbsp;Co-founder,&nbsp;Territoris&nbsp;XLM,&nbsp;Barcelona</li></ol>

Rahul Mehrotra is a prominent architect and academic known for his work in urban planning and design. He is the founder and principal of RMA Architects, an architecture firm based in Mumbai and Boston. His practice engages with projects across India, including corporate campuses and restoration of historic sites. In academia, Mehrotra is a Professor of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He has held the position of Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design and has been the Director of the Master in Architecture in Urban Design Degree Program. Mehrotra’s work is characterized by a commitment to engaging disparate worlds with each other, often focusing on “softening thresholds” between different sectors of society. He has written extensively on these topics and has been a critical voice in the discourse on contemporary architecture in India.

 Michael A. Manfredi is the co-founder of WEISS/MANFREDI and a Senior Design Critic at Harvard University. His New York City-based multidisciplinary practice is known for the dynamic integration of architecture, art, infrastructure, and landscape. Notable projects include the Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park, recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the &ldquo;top ten architectural marvels.&rdquo; His work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Sao Paulo Biennale, the Guggenheim Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt, the National Building Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. His firm has been recognized with the New York Center for Architecture President&rsquo;s Award, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture, and the 2020 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press has published monographs on WEISS/MANFREDI&rsquo;s work, including PUBLIC NATURES: Evolutionary Infrastructures. He is a founding board member of the Van Alen Institute and a board member of the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City. He is also a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a National Academy inductee. 

 Marion Weiss is co-founder of WEISS/MANFREDI and the Graham Chair Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania&rsquo;s Weitzman School of Design. Her New York City-based multidisciplinary practice is known for the dynamic integration of architecture, art, infrastructure, and landscape. Notable projects include the Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park, recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the &ldquo;top ten architectural marvels.&rdquo; Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Sao Paulo Biennale, the Guggenheim Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt, the National Building Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. She is a National Academy Inductee and recipient of Architecture Records 2017 Design Leader Award. Her firm has also been recognized with the New York Center for Architecture President&rsquo;s Award, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture, and the 2020 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture. Princeton Architectural Press has published monographs on WEISS/MANFREDI&rsquo;s work, including PUBLIC NATURES: Evolutionary Infrastructures.  

 Based in New York City, Diana Kellogg founded Diana Kellogg Architects in 1992. Her work is rooted in sustainable design and has evolved from residential projects into working with nonprofit and community groups to create a sense of place and interconnectivity. A guiding core principle of the Company is its deference to an existing sense of place and history - creating spaces that provide for communal interconnectivity. Kellogg received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a BA from Williams College. Prior to establishing her own firm, she was associated with the firms of Gluckman Tang Architects and Selldorf Architects. Her work has been featured in various publications including The New York Times, Dwell, Architectural Digest and New York Magazine and has won multiple international design awards. 

Abin Chaudhuri founded Abin Design Studio, which is exploring the &lsquo;unknown&rsquo; journey, experimentation with materials and technology, and the engaging art and culture, aiming to create &ldquo;places &ldquo;for the people. He founded Kolkata architecture foundation and Kolkata design collective. 

Shefali Balwani is co-founder of Architecture BRIO, established in 2006. Born in Mumbai, she studied at the CEPT&rsquo;s School of Architecture in Ahmedabad. After graduating she worked with Rahul Mehrotra Architects (RMA) in Mumbai on a variety of projects including the first phase of the Magic Bus campus in Karjat. She later joined the office of Channa Daswatte in Sri Lanka, where she worked on some of the office&rsquo;s prestigious hospitality projects. Shefali is a frequent speaker at institutions and forums around the world. She has lectured at the KVD forum at CEPT in Ahmedabad; the Landscape Architecture conference in Sydney, Australia; the MASA conference in Bengaluru; the Malaysian Institute of Architects in Kuala Lumpur and at Columbia University&rsquo;s GSAPP in New York. She appeared in the BBC documentary World&rsquo;s Most Extraordinary Homes together with Robert Verrijt. 

Robert Verrijt is a founding partner of Architecture BRIO, established in 2006. Born in the Netherlands, Verrijt received a Master of Science in Architecture at the Technical University of Delft in 2003. Fascinated by Geoffrey Bawa&rsquo;s architecture, he moved to Sri Lanka shortly after graduating and joined the office of Channa Daswatte, where he assisted on a retrospective exhibition of Geoffrey Bawa and worked on a variety of residential and hospitality projects prior to relocating to Mumbai. Verrijt has taught at various colleges of architecture in Mumbai and lectures extensively in India and abroad. He is one of the founding members of the Bandra Collective. With billionBricks, an NGO committed to eradicating homelessness, he established and leads the bB Design Studio. Verrijt is a registered architect in The Netherlands. In 2020 Architecture BRIO established an office in Rotterdam broadening the practices field of intervention even further. 

Melissa Smith co-founded BandukSmith Studio in 2011, and is the Program Chair for the Bachelor of Urban Design program at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, where teaches in the school&rsquo;s Architecture and Planning faculties. Her interests, explored through the investigation of the incremental, unplanned transformation of aging modernist planned cities, and continued through the examination of settlement formation in India, follow how inhabitants tend to restructure their built environments over time, with an eye toward how these unplanned, recurring interventions could inform design processes for the public realm.  Smith received her Master of Architecture and Master of City &amp; Regional Planning degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and received her BA with concentrations in German, Asian Studies and Art History from Calvin College, Michigan. 

Sachin Bandukwala co-founded BandukSmith Studio in 2011.  Before founding BandukSmith, he worked as an independent architect in Ahmedabad, and also documented a number of architecturally significant temple complexes and stepwells around western India. Throughout his career he has explored the subject of the person and his inspiration from nature. He is perpetually in pursuit of understanding through observation the aging of material and its effect on tectonics, and the institutionalization of rituals in architecture. Sachin holds a B.Arch from CEPT University. 

 Bijoy Ramachandran is a partner at Hundredhands Design, a Bangalore based architectural practice. He currently serves as the Design Chair at BMS College of Architecture, Bangalore. Bijoy has an undergraduate degree from Bangalore University and a masters degree (in Architecture &amp; Urbanism) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.  He has also attended the Glenn Murcutt Masterclass. Apart from architecture he has also produced two films on the celebrated Indian architect Sri B.V. Doshi and &lsquo;Architecture and the City: A Bangalore Perspective&rsquo;, a documentary on practice in Bangalore. 

Born in northern India, Sameep Padora established sP+a in Mumbai in 2007, and is the Director of sPare, a research initiative looking at issues of urbanization and architecture in India. sPare’s maiden project, a documentation and analysis of historic housing types within the city of Mumbai resulted in a traveling exhibition entitled ‘In the Name of Housing’ and a book published by the UDRI. He is one of the founding members of the Bandra Collective, an organization of architects focused on the design of public spaces in Mumbai. Padora is a member of academic councils for a number of architectural schools in India and is a member of the National Technical Committee of Habitat for Humanity, India. He completed his undergraduate studies in Mumbai in 1996, followed by post-graduate studies at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2005.

Ankur Choksi founded Studio Lotus with his two partners in 2002 and is a Design Principal at the practice.  He is a graduate of the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad. Choksi leads the Integrated Architecture &amp; Interior Design initiatives for the firm with a focus on hospitality and residential design, rooted in the firm's principles of Conscious Design - celebrating innovation through local resources, cultural influences, an inclusive process, and keen attention to detail.   He has spoken at various national design forums such as Festival of Architecture &amp; Interior Design and has served as visiting faculty and juror at prestigious institutions including National Institute of Design and CEPT in Ahmedabad, and National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi. 

Sidhartha Talwar founded Studio Lotus in 2002 along with his two partners and is a Design Principal at the practice. A graduate of the TVB School of Habitat Studies in New Delhi, Talwar started his career with architect Gautam Bhatia in 1996. He has been a visiting faculty member at the TVB School of Habitat Studies, as well as part of visiting juries at the Sushant School of Architecture and other colleges.   At Studio Lotus, Talwar leads the Architecture &amp; Master Planning initiatives for the firm, working extensively on large scale developments for a diverse clientele. In 2011, Talwar won the National Architectural Design Competition held for the National Police Memorial, Shanti Path, New Delhi. 

 Born in Abu Dhabi, Vinu Daniel founded Wallmakers in 2007. The firm&rsquo;s name was christened by its first project &ndash; a compound wall &ndash; and is sometimes referred to fondly as a &ldquo;vagabond&rdquo; firm making poetic structures out of brick and mud. Daniel completed his B. Arch in 2005 from The College of Engineering in Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram), and then worked with the Auroville Earth Institute for the United Nations Development Program&rsquo;s post-tsunami relief efforts in Tamil Nadu. This led to Daniel&rsquo;s resolve to devote his energies towards the cause of sustainable and cost-effective architecture.        Daniel notes that he owes interest in material innovation, design philosophy, and, indeed, his career, to a chance meeting with the pioneering British Indian architect Laurie Baker at his home in Trivandrum at a time when Daniel was considering a different career in music (Baker died in 2007). Daniel&rsquo;s work was featured in Rahul Mehrotra&rsquo;s 2011 book Architecture in India Since 1990. Wallmakers was elected by ArchDaily as the only Indian practice in the 20 Young Practices of 2020. 

This is one of the capital improvement projects that came out of the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan after the 9/11. The linchpin of all the multiple planning projects were the infrastructure improvements. The Port Authority rebuilt the Path Terminal and the MTA began redoing their two large terminals at South Ferry and Fulton Street. Fulton was the biggest challenge since a spider web of subway lines intersect at that point with dank corridors and staircases connecting them. It was a huge challenge to incorporate new standards for accessibility and make the subterranean spaces feel more welcoming. The solution was a huge skylight covering a 3 story atrium with upscale retail.

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