UnIATA '18

Mark Hemel is director of Information Based Architecture, Amsterdam. Mark taught for over 20 years at a diverse range of universities all over the world; the Architectural Association in London, CUHK and HKU in Hong Kong, Chalmers in Sweden, TU Delft & TU Eindhoven. His office, Information Based Architecture (IBA) was set up in London in 1998 as partnership between architects Mark Hemel and Barbara Kuit. Using the newest technologies the practice challenges conventional thinking and seeks to exploit new opportunities to enrich our cities with conceptually interesting, and well thought through environmentally responsible architecture. The practice is specialized in high-profile public buildings as museums, theatres, concert halls and large-scale projects like hotels, towers and infrastructural projects. IBA has won several high profile competitions, the most famous one being the design for the Canton tower, completed in 2010. IBA’s work was published and exhibited widely. In 2002 IBA was short listed for the Young Architects of the Year Award in the UK. They have received support from Dutch Department of Trade and Industry and received several encouragement-grants from the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design & Architecture. In 2010 Mark was awarded the title of most influential designer in China. Based in Amsterdam, IBA continues its work on large and small projects in Europe and Asia, including urban master-planning, architecture, landscaping and furniture design.

Paris based architecture design studio founded in 2011 by Nicolas MOREAU (fr) and Hiroko KUSUNOKI (jp). The two started their professional experience in Tokyo and gathered invaluable lessons from SANAA, Shigeru BAN and Kengo KUMA. In June 2015, Moreau Kusunoki was awarded 1st prize in the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition. Hiroko Kusunoki studied architecture at Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo. She worked for Shigeru Ban Architects (Tokyo) and Hara Warde/Atelier Jean Nouvel before establishing her own practice with Nicolas Moreau in 2011. She has been working on projects of various scales and temporary structures such as the Nomadic Museum which traveled from New York and Santa Monica to Tokyo.

Emmanuel Blamont is Senior Design Partner & Director of External Relations at Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Emmanuel Blamont graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1984. In 1977 to 1985, he collaborated with Jean Nouvel firstly as an architectural assistant and then as a project manager on more than sixty projects. He worked as an associate partner of Jean Nouvel et Associés. In 1990 to 1995, he created Blamont & Caroso Neiva Architects, and participated in various design studies and competitions, both in France and abroad and built “Le Phènix” theatre in Valenciennes. From 1995 to 2003, he lived in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, where he designed and coordinated a large urban planning project in a shantytown: Projeto Ta Rebocado - Favela do Candeal. This project won a Best Practice Award from the UNHABITAT UNO in 2002. Emmanuel also created and managed “DUNE”, a Non-Governmental Organization for the conception of sustainable development projects in semi-arid areas. Since June 2003, he has been collaborating again with Jean Nouvel as a Senior Design Partner. From June 2014, he was named Director of External Relations for AJN.

Paris based architecture design studio founded in 2011 by Nicolas MOREAU (fr) and Hiroko KUSUNOKI (jp). The two started their professional experience in Tokyo and gathered invaluable lessons from SANAA, Shigeru BAN and Kengo KUMA. In June 2015, Moreau Kusunoki was awarded a 1st prize in the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition. Nicolas Moreau studied architecture at Belleville School of Architecture in Paris. He worked for SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates) and Kuma Kengo Architecture and Associates before establishing his own practice with Hiroko Kusunoki in 2011. He was a co-founder and CEO of Kuma Europe during 2008-2011, working also as a chief architect on a cultural project such as the Contemporary Art Center in Marseille and Music school in Besancon.