MEET THE 2022 JURY
Jurors for IFI’s Global Awards Program (IFI GAP) feature some of the most celebrated practicing interior architects, designers and thinkers of today. They determine the winning submissions for each component of IFI GAP, recognizing and awarding design excellence at the world level.
Jurors representing major design institutions consider nominations for IFI’s highest honor, the IFI PRIZE and the IFI Design Journalism Award (IFI DJA), both of which recognize the exemplary contribution of individuals in strengthening and progressing Interior Architecture/Design. In the form of a global design competition, IFI’s Design Distinction Awards (IFI DDA) jurors are charged with selecting the best-built projects from around the world. Featuring preeminent international Interior architecture and design practitioners, the IFI DDA jury considers entries across ten different categories.
IFI is pleased to present the 2022 IFI GAP Jury, representing both major design institutions and the international practice of Interior architecture and design.
Jury for IFI PRIZE and Design Journalism Award (IFI DJA)
Recognizing exemplary Interior Architecture/Design leadership and talent across the world
Steve Leung (Program Chairman & Jury Chair)
IFI Past-President 2020-2022 / Founder of Steve Leung Design Group – SLD (Hong Kong SAR, China)
Steve Leung is a leading international architect, interior and product designer born in Hong Kong, China. His works reflect the projects’ unique characters with his contemporary touch, taking inspiration from the Asian culture and arts. Honored as the Winner of the 19th Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year Award, Steve’s projects have been credited with more than 130 design and corporate awards worldwide. Steve is the Founder of Steve Leung Design Group Ltd., which has 600 talented designers and dedicated professionals to work on projects in over 100 cities worldwide. Steve currently serves as President of IFI and on the Board of Directors of Hong Kong Design Centre, and in 2014 established “C Foundation” to actively promote the education and development of the region’s design industry.
Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis
Professor of Industrial Design, Politecnico di Milano; Former Director of Milan Triennale Museum (Italy)
Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis is an Architect, Professor of Industrial Design and Dean at the Design School of the Politecnico di Milano. For ten years Arturo was President of the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, during which time he developed a new concept for the evolving museum, advanced editorial lines on new Italian design, the masters and international design movements. He is also Founder and President of the Milan Fashion Institute, a cross-university partnership supporting the field of fashion management and design. Artutro recently became Director of the new International Art and Design Center in Shenzhen, China, where he leads the soon to open Design museum.
David Gensler
(United States of America)
During his 23-year career at Gensler, the largest design firm in the world, David held multiple key leadership roles and helped exponentially grow the company’s workforce and revenue. For the last ten years there he was Co-CEO. David currently manages a vineyard in Sonoma County, is involved in several real estate development projects, is on the board of multiple companies in the real estate and technology space and serves on the Advisory Council for the Stanford Distinguished Career Institute. He has been actively involved in a number of civic organizations including the Cornell College of Art, Architecture and Planning, the Cornell School of Human Ecology and Junior Achievement of Southern California. David holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Alice Rawsthorn
2020 IFI Design Journalism Award (IFI DJA) Recipient / Design Critic & Author
Alice Rawsthorn is an award-winning design critic and author whose latest book is the critically acclaimed Design as an Attitude. Her weekly design column for The New York Times was syndicated worldwide for over a decade. Alice has spoken at important events including TED and the World Economic Forum in Davos. Born in Manchester and based in London, she is chair of trustees at The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in Yorkshire and Chisenhale Gallery in London. Alice was awarded an OBE for services to design and the arts and is a member of the UK government’s Honours Committee for Arts and Media.
Rosanne Somerson
President, Rhode Island School of Design – RISD (United States of America)
A designer, professor and academic leader, President Rosanne Somerson has been advancing art and design since she was a student at RISD in the 1970s. She returned to the College in the 1980s to teach and in 1995 founded the Furniture Design Department before serving as Provost and chief academic officer. As RISD’s 17th president she is committed to expanding inclusion, equity, and access in order to enhance a genuinely rich learning environment that consists of diverse experiences, viewpoints, and talents. President Somerson also maintains a creative practice, designing and creating furniture for exhibitions and commissions, and frequently speaks and writes about the power of critical thinking and making, underscoring the value of art and design to advancing life in the 21st century.
Jury for IFI Design Distinction Awards (IFI DDA)
Awarding excellence in the design outcome of built interiors projects worldwide
Steve Leung (Jury Chair)
IFI Past-President 2020-2022 / Founder of Steve Leung Design Group Ltd. (Hong Kong, China)
Steve Leung is a leading international architect, interior and product designer born in Hong Kong, China. His works reflect the projects’ unique characters with his contemporary touch, taking inspiration from the Asian culture and arts. Honored as the Winner of the 19th Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year Award, Steve’s projects have been credited with more than 130 design and corporate awards worldwide. Steve is the Founder of Steve Leung Design Group Ltd., which has 600 talented designers and dedicated professionals to work on projects in over 100 cities worldwide. Steve currently serves as President of IFI and on the Board of Directors of Hong Kong Design Centre, and in 2014 established “C Foundation” to actively promote the education and development of the region’s design industry.
Soo K. Chan
Founder & Principal, SCDA Architects (Singapore)
Soo K. Chan is a practicing architect based in Singapore. He is the founding principal and design director of SCDA, a multi-disciplinary firm engaging in architecture, interior, landscape and product design. Soo is the recipient of several awards, including the inaugural Singapore President’s Design Award, Designer of the Year, the SIA-Getz Architecture Prize for Emergent Architecture in Asia and three RIBA Awards. A graduate of Yale University, Soo is Professor of Architecture (Practice) at the National University of Singapore. SCDA’s portfolio ranges from master planning, resorts and hotels, high-rise luxury residences, commercial and institutional buildings, and private homes spanning Asia/Oceania, Africa, Europe and America.
Randy Howder
Managing Director, Gensler San Francisco (United States of America)
As Managing Director of Gensler’s San Francisco office, Randy focuses on helping transform their clients’ organizations through new approaches to design, research, and experience. With a background in strategic consulting and workplace design initiatives for a diverse range of industry-leading clients, Randy is always questioning how spaces work while striving to find ways to make them more effective and to improve people’s lives. He has been a featured speaker at several international design conferences and his writing on design and urban issues has been published extensively. In 2015, Randy was named one of the San Francisco Business Times’ 40 Under 40. He is an alumnus of the University of Michigan and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
Marcio Kogan / Renata Furlanetto
Founder / Director, Studio MK27 (Brazil)
Marcio is the founding architect of studio mk27, where he leads the studio team and authors all projects. Born in the chaotic city of São Paulo, he graduated from the School of Architecture and Urbanism of Mackenzie Presbyterian University (FAU Mackenzie) in 1976. He is a guest professor at the Politecnico di Milano and Escola da Cidade, where he recently concluded his Master’s in Education, Society and Culture. He worked as a movie director until after he shot his first long feature in 1988 and then, bankrupt, had to content himself with being an architect. He is an honorary member of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) and of the council of the Museum of Art of São Paulo (MASP).
Renata is an Architect who joined the team at studio mk27 in 2001. She graduated from FAU-Mackenzie in 1997 and specialized in ‘Design in Time’ at UPC in Barcelona. Her project ‘From Local to Global’ won the Europandom Award and her ‘House in Araçoiaba’ project won the Young Architects Award from IAB. Renata has headed 15 competition projects at studio mk27 and currently coordinates one architecture team. She is currently responsible for the development of a hotel project in the Maldives. Among other projects, Renata co-authored Mirindibas House (2006); Lago House (2008); Pátio House (2009); Little brick House (2009); V4 House (2011); NC House (2012); Rocas House in Chile (2012); B+B House (2013) and Ramp House (2014).
Amanda Stanaway
Principal, Global Leader – Workplace Interiors, Woods Bagot (Australia)
Amanda sits at the forefront of workplace design and has been instrumental in creating some of the most cutting-edge workplaces in Australia – workplaces that have delivered clients real business advantage and positive organizational change. As both a principal and Wood’s Bagot’s global workplace design leader, Amanda’s role encompasses strategy and design across the commercial, lifestyle and public sectors. She skillfully advises on projects and guides multi-disciplinary design teams with a communicative approach that is clear, organized and collaborative.
Paul Tange
Senior Principal Architect and Chairman, Tange Associates (Japan)
Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1958, Paul Noritaka Tange attended high school at Le Rosey, in Switzerland and received both his AB (1981) and Master of Architecture (1985) from Harvard University. Immediately after graduation, he began his architectural career with Kenzo Tange Associates, the architectural firm headed by his father, the well-known international architect, Kenzo Tange. Paul became President of Kenzo Tange Associates in 1997 and founded Tange Associates in 2002. He became Chairman of Tange Associates in 2016. Paul is a registered architect of both Japan and Singapore. He has served extensively as a juror on international design award panels, including the judging panel of DFA Lifetime Achievement Award, the Selection Committee for Tradition Creatrice Award, and Asia Young Designer Award.
Adam Tihany / Alessia Genova
Founder / Managing Partner, Tihany Design (United States of America)
Adam Tihany is widely regarded as one of the world’s preeminent hospitality designers. He established his own multidisciplinary New York studio in 1978. Adam has created hotel and dining interiors at some of the most iconic properties around the globe. He has also become a leading name in the cruise industry and is currently serving as Creative Director for Costa Cruises and Cunard. Adam has licensed product lines for notable companies including Christofle, Kartell, Roda and Poltrona Frau. Adam has received numerous honors and awards and served on boards for such institutions as Design Museum Holon (current) and Pratt Institute’s Board of Trustees. He frequently lectures around the world and has published several books on his work.
Alessia was named Managing Partner in 2020, 13 years after she began her career at Tihany Design. This signified a new chapter in the firm’s 42-year history. In addition to her years of experience in international luxury hospitality design, Alessia brings a truly global perspective and uniquely innovative outlook to every project. She frequently collaborates with world-renowned chefs to create signature restaurant interiors and has been instrumental in Tihany Design’s integration into the cruise industry. Her ongoing commitment to design excellence, meaningful and effective client relationships and mentorship within the studio have distinguished her as a young leader within the design industry.
George Yabu / Glenn Pushelberg
Founding Partners, Yabu Pushelberg (Canada)
George Yabu loans thoughtful depth and creativity to the conceptualization, development and execution of Yabu Pushelberg’s projects and products. With great appreciation for craftsmanship and authenticity, George ensures each component of the studio’s work is a forward-thinking representation of the art of design that withstands the test of time.
Glenn Pushelberg drives ideas forward, pushing the envelope and expanding the studio’s disciplines and scope of work to deliver singular experience through design. Standing as the main connection between industry, client and studio design teams, Glenn strives to continue elevating design to the next level, layering strategic expertise throughout each stage of the process.
Both received their BA in Interior Design, as well as an Honorary Doctorate from Ryerson University.
Woody Yao
Director, Zaha Hadid Design – ZHD (United Kingdom)
Since joining Zaha Hadid Architects in 1994, Woody has worked on a number of winning competition designs including Cardiff Bay Opera House, The Rosenthal Centre for Contemporary Art Cincinnati, MAXXI Rome and the Changsha Meixihu International Culture & Arts Centre. During this time Woody has also delivered key architectural projects including the Spitellau Viaducts Housing Project in Vienna, Hotel Puerta America Madrid, Guangzhou Opera House, ROCA London Gallery and the Jockey Club Innovation Tower at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has been instrumental in the development of the ZH Archive and exhibitions program. Woody completed his schooling in Hong Kong, China, and Merchiston Castle, Edinburgh, before graduating from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, in London.
2021 IFI DDA Media Jurors
Sarah Douglas
Editor-in-Chief, Wallpaper* (United Kingdom)
Sarah Douglas is Editor-in-Chief for Wallpaper*, where she is responsible for the print magazine, digital platforms, in-house creative agency Bespoke, brand partnerships and events. Joining Wallpaper* in 2007 as Art Editor, Sarah became Creative Director in 2012, before being named Editor-in-Chief in 2017. During this time, she has commissioned an array of illustrious artists and designers including Jean Nouvel, Yayoi Kusama, Tom Sachs and Jenny Holzer; championed next generation talents such as Bethan Laura Wood, Philippe Malouin, Paul Cocksedge and Craig Green; and overseen partnerships with leading brands including B&B Italia, Prada and Rolex. Sarah is also a member of the judging panel for the London Design Medal, and regularly judges for international design competitions.
Paul Keskeys
Content Director, Architizer (United States of America)
Paul Keskeys is Content Director at Architizer, the world’s largest online platform for architects and interior designers. A seasoned writer and editor, Paul is a registered UK architect who graduated from UCL and the University of Edinburgh with distinction and was nominated for the RIAS (Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland) Silver Medal. As well as having hundreds of editorials featured on Architizer, Paul has also been published in Phaidon’s compendium “The World’s Best Architecture”, Architectural Digest, PIN—UP Magazine, Archinect, Aesthetica Magazine and PUBLIC Journal.
Jessica Ma
Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Designwire (China)
Jessica Ma is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Designwire, a comprehensive We-media, integration and communication platform for global real estate and design resources. Since its inception, Designwire has collaborated with over 300 national and international real estate companies, hosted several international design forums, and attracted more than one million readers. After graduating from Tianjin Chengjian University in Environmental Art Design, Jessica Ma worked as the Editor-in-Chief of Interior Design China (2006-2014), where she championed high-quality international projects and spearheaded opportunities for young and emerging designers. Through her work, Ma is keen to integrate design and art into the life of Chinese people and focuses on international and contemporary values.
IFI GAP 2022 STRATEGIC MEDIA PARTNERS
