Jury Alumni

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  Hartmut Gaßner

  Founding Partner, Gaßner, Groth, Siederer & Coll.

  2016 Built Environment Jury Member

  Hartmut Gaßner is a founding partner of Gaßner, Groth, Siederer & Coll. He focuses on renewable energy law (photovoltaic, geothermal, wind power projects), nuclear law, emissions trading, Stadtwerke, PPP procurement, recycling business, ministerial and municipal consulting, associations and policy advice. He studied law in Berlin, was a research associate of the Bundestag Greens (Otto Schily, Flick committee of inquiry), and had a traineeship in Berlin, admitted in 1987 before establishing GGSC.

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  Charlie Gepp

  Founder, INTENTIONALLY BLANK

  2018 Built Environment Jury Member

  Charlie Gepp is a patron and avid collector of Art and Design, mainly modern and contemporary. He is co-founder of Melissa Shoes USA, the leading global manufacturer of jelly shoes and a pioneer in forging design collaborations with Architects, Artists and Designers such as Zaha Hadid, Mariko Mori, Sebastian Errazuriz and Muti Randolph. Charlie Gepp is also founder of INTENTIONALLY BLANK, which acts as agent and provides coaching and strategic advice to a stable of artists and designers. He is also actively involved with Creative Time, Mariko Mori’s FAOU Foundation and the Storefront for Art and Architecture.

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  Scott Hickman

  Creative Director, Coca Cola

  2024 Built Environment Jury Member

  Scott creates design-driven experiences and environments for the best-known brands in the world. He leads teams that specialize in experience design, digital media, architecture, place making, interactivity, environmental graphic design and fabrication to develop branded environments that are multi-sensory and nontraditional. Scott is a tech-savvy storyteller that connects brands to massive markets with immersive digital and physical interactions. His journey has taken him from boutique West coast studios to global East coast agencies, and he is currently the Creative Director for the World of Coca-Cola, a first-mover in branded spaces.

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  Alice Hines

  Writer

  2019 Built Environment Jury Member

  Alice is a writer in New York City. She contributes essays, criticism, features, and interviews to the New York Times, Bloomberg, and New York Magazine, and other publications. Alice also copywrites for fashion brands and startups.

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  Arthur Huang

  Co-Founder/CEO, MINIWIZ

  2016 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Arthur Huang is a structural engineer, architect and innovator of loop economy building material solutions. He founded Miniwiz in 2005 and has led the firm since.
  
  Miniwiz is a global leader in post-consumer recycling technology with applications focused around built infrastructure and architectural solutions. For over 10 years, Miniwiz has been challenging the existing linear supply chain by using post-consumer recycled materials for high performance applications, retail store interiors, factory campuses and consumer goods.
  
  Miniwiz gained recognition worldwide for first executing upcycling technologies and developing solutions that enable the switch to the circular economy. Three National Geographic Channel Episodes have been dedicated to Miniwiz , documenting the following Miniwiz Projects: The Ecoark Museum, the worlds first nine story tall museum made form post-consumer Materials (2010), Polliboat (2011), SDTI electronic waste recycling campus (2015). Miniwiz brought trash materials to the retail industry, equipping Nike’s high-end stores (Nikelab) with fixtures made from trash, in the heart of the world’s most premium cities: NYC, London, Paris, Milan, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.
  
  Among other honors, Miniwiz under Arthur Huang’s leadership won the Financial Times’ “Earth Award” in 2010 and The Wall Street Journal’s “Asian Innovation Award” in 2011. Miniwiz received the “Technology Pioneers 2015” title by the World Economic Forum, recognizing the potential of the new industry that Miniwiz is leading and the positive impact of its activities on the state of the world.
  
  Miniwiz holds invention patents and trademarks for various mechanical and chemical up-cycling technologies, including Polliber™, a composite made of reprocessed organic waste with recycled polymers, Natrilon™, a yarn made of recycled PET reinforced with Nano SiO2 from rice husk, Pollibrick™, a mechanical interlocking system, and many others.

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  Hsu-Jen Huang

  Professor of Architecture, Savannah College of Art and Design

  2020 Built Environment Jury Member

  Professor of Architecture Hsu-Jen Huang, originally from Taipei, Taiwan, received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Architecture from the Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow University, Scotland. He has been teaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Savannah since 1998. Huang’s experience includes urban design, architecture design, and electronic design and simulation. His academic expertise includes architecture design and presentation, urban design and planning, digital representation, traditional rendering methods, and hybrid media presentation.

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  Will Hunter

  Founding Director, London School of Architecture

  2015 Built Environment Jury Member

  Will is the deputy editor of The Architectural Review, and is the founder of Alternative Routes of Architecture (ARFA), a think-tank exploring alternative educational models. He has previously been editor of the monthly magazines of The Architects' Journal (AJ) and Building Design (BD). He has taught architecture at both London Metropolitan University and the Royal College of Art; at the latter as a design unit master and chair of the architecture school's public lecture program.Will has judged numerous competitions, including the Global Architecture Graduate Awards(chair) and the RIBA President's Medals dissertation prize 2013. He has recently completed a report for RIBA Building Futures, and is currently working on a monograph of Peter Salter's Walmer Yard project in West London (AA Publications).

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  Sheila Kennedy

  Founding Principal, KVA Matx

  2017 Built Environment Jury Member

  Sheila Kennedy is an American architect, innovator and educator. She is a founding Principal of KVA Matx, an interdisciplinary practice that designs architecture, urbanism and resilient infrastructure for emerging public needs www.kvarch.net. Designated as one of Fast Company’s emerging Masters of Design, Kennedy is described as an “insightful and original thinker who is designing new ways of working, learning, leading and innovating”. Kennedy is the 2015 recipient of the Rupp Prize, the 2014 Design Innovator Award and is the 2016 recipient with SELCO India of an Inventing Green grant from the Lemulson Foundation. Kennedy is Professor of the Practice of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  
  Kennedy directs KVA’s material research division MATx which works with industry leaders, universities and public agencies to explore new applications for natural and emerging materials. Kennedy’s work focuses on the design of public space and next generation resilient infrastructure in networked cities and urbanizing regions. MATx has developed designs for Dupont, Siemens, Osram, Herman Miller, 3M, The North Face, the United States Department of Energy, Volkswagen “Think Blue” and the green Electrical Utility Company of Portugal in Brazil. The KVA MATx Portable Light Project, a non-profit global initiative to create energy harvesting textiles in the developing world has been recognized with a 2012 Energy Globe Award, a 2009 US Congressional Recognition Award, the 2009 and 2012 Energy Globe Awards and a 2008 Tech Museum Laureate Award for technology that benefits humanity.

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  Kristin Kreppner

  Senior Project Manager, CBRE

  2024 Built Environment Jury Member

  Kristin Kreppner is a Senior Project Manager with CBRE’s Project Management team in Atlanta, GA. Ms. Kreppner utilizes her twelve years of experience in the architectural and interior design industry to consult some of the most notable owners and occupiers in the Atlanta area as well as nationally including Cox Enterprises, Nike, and Google. Her understanding of experiential design, as well as her attention to detail and client service, brings tremendous value to her clients throughout the region. Before joining CBRE, Ms. Kreppner practiced interior design and project management at both Gensler and, most recently, Interior Architects (IA). As an interior designer, Ms. Kreppner has been involved in large-scale projects, experiential and exhibition design, and branded environments that focus on the end-user and visitor experience. This includes the renovation of approximately 2.3M SF of Coca-Cola’s headquarters Campus. With a special focus on leading the storytelling and showcasing the replica of Robert Woodroof’s office and display of his innovative thought leadership in the Central Reception Building (CRB). In addition, she has also managed the design and construction of multiple production studios and innovation labs for Nike, Papa Johns, and Cox Enterprises. She had led efforts on interior renovations for Cobo Hall Convention Center and Ritz Carlton Japan Lobby and amenity spaces. Kristin has led several large headquarters assignments in the Atlanta Metro area and multimarket accounts. Most recently, Ms. Kreppner served as the design team lead for Brown Forman’s Immersive visitor experience center and renovation of a historically registered barrel warehousing facility showcasing their vast amount of products, local distilling process, company history, and tasting room.

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  Sheryl Leysner

  Founder, Sherylleysner Interior Architecture & Project Management

  2022 Built Environment Jury Member

  Sheryl Leysner holds a bachelor degree in interior architecture from the Willem de Kooning Acadamy in Rotterdam. She founded her own design and project management studio in 2011 after working for several leading interior design companies. Sheryl’s 22 years of experience, her professionalism and enthusiasm have led to many successful projects in the areas of Dynamic Office Design, Hospitality, Retail, Health Care Facilities and Private Houses. Her goal is to design functional spaces with a pleasant atmosphere that positively affect the mood and performance of the user, and uses recycled, bio based materials whenever possible. 
  
  Sheryl also founded her own label “Ruwe Bolster” for unique custom made artlights and furniture so she can offer her clients more creative solutions. 
  www.sherylleysner.com / www.ruwebolster.nu

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  Alda Ly

  Principal, Alda Ly Architecture PLLC

  2021 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Alda Ly is founder and principal of Alda Ly Architecture (ALA), a New York-based architecture and interior design firm that specializes in using biophilic principles to transform how healthcare, commercial, and cultural spaces work, look and, more importantly, feel. ALA was founded in 2017 when groundbreaking co-working platform The Wing tapped Alda to design its East Coast and California locations. ALA now works with a growing number of entrepreneurs, startups, and established organizations looking to overhaul traditional work, care, and retail models. Clients have ranged from Bloomberg and functional medicine provider Parsley Health to women’s loungewear company ThirdLove and social-action technology firm Blue State.
  
  Alda was born in New Zealand and raised in a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, where she watched her cabinetmaker father draw kitchen elevations and accompanied him to open houses to see how people shaped their spaces. From the moment she studied freehand drawing as a UC Berkeley undergrad, Alda knew she wanted to become an architect, and went on to earn a master’s in the field from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Before opening ALA, Alda worked at Rafael Viñoly Architects, 212box, HWKN, and Leong Leong. Alda is a Registered Architect in New York.

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  Dick Mulders

  Founder, DMD Amsterdam

  2022 Built Environment Jury Member

  Dick gained his experience as an interior designer by completing his bachelor’s degree in Interior Architecture and Design at Raffles International School of Commerce in Shanghai and Sydney. Dick was also inspired by living in metropolises such as London, Shanghai and Sydney. Before founding DMD Amsterdam, in 2017, he gained experience by working at the internationally renowned architectural firm OMA and COARE in Amsterdam.
  
  Dick's main sources of inspiration have been the international influences, travels and experiences over the years. He likes to create environments that are distinctive, have something surprising, something striking, something unique and alluring that conveys bold luxury.

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  Cass Nakashima

  Associate, FOOD New York

  2019 Built Environment Jury Member

  Cass Nakashima is an associate at Food New York working as a Project Lead for a renovation of a 2500sf residence in Soho, new galleries for Milk Studios, renovation of Need Supply Co. flagship, residences for Kanye and Kim Kardashian West in Los Angeles and the Services Building of + POOL.

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  Todd Palmer

  Director, Diversity in Design Collaborative

  2023 Built Environment Jury Captain

  Todd Palmer is a strategist, curator, and cultural leader of purpose-driven platforms at the intersection of design, public learning and spatial equity. As Director of the Diversity in Design Collaborative he steers a start-up driven by over 56 design-focused organizations that are aligned to confront systemic barriers faced by Black talent at critical moments in the design lifecycle.
  
  Palmer orchestrated the second and third editions of the Chicago Architecture Biennial as its’ Executive Director, defining the platform’s identity as a global catalyst connecting design experimentation with civic urgencies. As Curator and Associate Director of Chicago’s National Public Housing Museum (2013-2016), Todd ensured exhibits and programs served grassroots efforts to rehabilitate a community site as a cultural framework for confronting poverty.
  
  Palmer’s transdisciplinary efforts have been profiled in range of media outlets - most recently the DID Collaborative under Palmer’s leadership was recognized by a 2022 Fast Company Innovation By Design Award. As an independent creative Todd co-founded Program Collective, the design team behind immersive exhibitions tackling sustainability at the core of Spain’s World Expo 2008. He has also designed urban justice prototypes for Harlemworld at the Studio Museum (2004) and published critical essays in Columbia University’s The Avery Review (2015) and Illinois Institute of Technology’s 2022 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize catalogue. As an educator, Todd has created high school design curriculum for Miami’s Design and Architecture Senior High School, and taught professional certificate and advanced degree courses in design and curatorial practices at NYU and for RISD’s M.Arch program.

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  Sasa Radulovic

  Co-Founder, 5468796

  2017 Built Environment Jury Member

  5468796 architecture is a Winnipeg-based studio established in 2007 by Johanna Hurme and Sasa Radulovic and joined shorty by the third partner Colin Neufeld. In the past [nearly] ten years the firm has achieved national and international recognition and its work has been published in over 200 books and publications. Project specific awards include Progressive Architecture Awards; Awards for Emerging Architecture & Future Project Award from from Architectural Review; Governor General Medals in Architecture and Awards of Excellence from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, as well as recognition as a finalist of IIT’s emerging MCHAP award on two consecutive years, to name a few. Firm recognitions include the 2014 Rice Design Alliance Spotlight Award, the RAIC Emerging Architectural Practice Award, WAN 21 for 21, as well as the Architectural League of NY Emerging Voices lecture series and the Design Vanguard issue of Architectural Record.
  
  5468796 makes design advocacy an ongoing pursuit through critical practice, professorships at the Universities of Manitoba, Toronto and Montreal; and through numerous public engagements. In 2012 5468796 represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in Architecture and in 2013 they were selected as recipient of the 2013 Prix de Rome Award in Architecture for Canada by the Canada Council for the Arts.
  
  In addition to practice Johanna + Sasa are activists and advocates. They are passionate about making architecture an integral part of broader culture by spearheading ventures like Table for 12 + 1200, Chair Your Idea and Design Quarter Winnipeg. Sasa is a member of the University of Manitoba Partner’s Program Executive Board and currently serves on the Presidential Advisory Committee for the selection of the Dean at the University of Manitoba.

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  Hassan Rahim

  Art Director / Designer, 12:01

  2019 Built Environment Jury Member

  Hassan Rahim is an artist and art director originally from Los Angeles, now working out of New York.