Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright have been announced as Archello Awards 2024 jurors, strengthening an international panel of esteemed architects and designers. Read on to learn more about their careers and work:
Doriana Fuksas leads Studio Fuksas, an international architectural firm with offices in Rome, Paris and Shenzhen, together with Massimiliano Fuksas. Over the past 50 years the company has developed an innovative approach through a wide variety of projects, ranging from urban interventions to airports, museums, cultural centers, spaces for music, convention centers, offices, interiors and design collections.
In tandem with continuous research and thanks to an innovative approach, the studio has completed works all over the world with a consistent attention to sustainability and inclusivity. The office’s works include: The Line, Neom, Saudi Arabia (ongoing); Gelendzhik Airport, Gelendzhik, Russia (2022); Guosen Securities Tower, Shenzhen, China (2019); New Rome - EUR Convention Centre "the Cloud" and Hotel, Rome, Italy (2016); Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, Terminal 3, Shenzhen, China (2013); and the National Archives of France, Pierrefitte sur Seine-Saint Denis, Paris, France (2013). Fuksas has also collaborated with Alessi, Poltrona Frau, Venini and iGuzzini.
Fuksas was born in Rome where she graduated with a degree in History of Modern and Contemporary Architecture at the University of Rome La Sapienza. She later also earned a degree in Architecture from ESA, École Spéciale d’Architecture, Paris. She has completed academic work at the Institute of History of Art at the Faculty of Letters and Arts and at Industrial Design Department ITACA at La Sapienza University in Rome. Fuksas has curated four Special Projects at the VII Mostra Internazionale di Architettura di Venezia. She began working with Massimiliano Fuksas in 1985 and has led, as a director, Fuksas Design since 1997. In 2002, she was decorated with the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la République Française, and in 2020, she was awarded the title of Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur Française. In 2023, she was honored as Commander of the Order 'for Merit of the Italian Republic'.
Architect Martin Lesjak co-founded Graz, Austria-based INNOCAD architecture in 1999 and has since completed numerous projects of diverse scale and scope in architecture and interior design in the residential, office, hospitality, healthcare, mixed-use, educational, public and retail sectors. His transdisciplinary team is renowned for its out-of-the-box thinking and its analytical and pragmatic approach to architecture and design by creating solutions with purpose and meaning. Lesjak’s foresight and expertise in architecture, design, and craft – as well as an affinity for art – has guided his firm in innovative directions.
Together with his partners, Lesjak leads multifaceted international projects combining creativity without boundaries. In 2013, he founded with Anastasija Lesjak the product design studio 13&9 Design. The team works for international companies developing product collections, while also operating as a label producing its own products with small-scale manufacturers. Lesjak has been honored as Designer of the Year in 2015 by Contract Magazine in the USA, as well as Architect of the Year in 2016 by BUILD Magazine in the UK.
Li Xiang is the Founder and CEO of X+Living, which she established in 2011 in Shanghai, China. X+Living works at the intersection of art, fashion and business. Li has gained cross-field achievements by exploring interior design as an architect, creating design works with commercial and aesthetic value in cultural, retail, hotel and other sectors. Her designs have won international recognition with several awards. In 2020, she was selected as the only Chinese designer in Fast Company's: ‘Global: Most Creative People in Business’.
X+Living pursues the perfect integration of artistic aesthetics and practical functions. Its core concept is “design creates value” and insists on achieving the highest quality of design works from conceptual design to final completion. With expert skills and outstanding service awareness, X+Living prides itself on creating special experiences for consumers and unexpected brand values for customers.
Steven Wright is a Principal at the New York City headquarters of international firm Perkins Eastman, and a specialist in its healthcare practice. Wright brings a wealth of expertise to his designs rooted in past residential, academic, civic and institutional work. He’s also adept at broader programs such as airports and transit hubs and large-scale mixed-use projects. In his four decades of practice, Steven has become a skillful collaborator with colleagues, clients and community stakeholders. Wright earned his B.Arch degree from the University of Virginia, and his M.Arch degree from Yale University.
