Jury

Saimir Kristo, Ph.D. is an architect and urban designer, Vice-Dean and lecturer in the Faculty of Architecture and Design at POLIS University. Saimir is also an alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program organized by the State Department of the U.S.A and a member of civil society. He is active in engaging communities and developing a common platform for discussion in the field of architecture and urban planning. He is the curator of Tirana Architecture Week 2014 - [En] Visioning Future Cities and Tirana Design Week 2015 – Design NOW, following his experience in several Urban Regulatory Plans in Albania. Keynote speaker in several conferences and member of international award juries.  He is a board member of A10 new European Architecture Cooperative in the Netherlands, Future Architecture Platform project manager for Albania and organizer of PechaKucha Night Tirana. His research activities extend out of Albania with books and various publications in international journals.

I am a practicing architect based in Cyprus and doctoral student at the Univeersity of Oxford reading Sustainable Urban Development. I have graduated with distinction from the University of Cambridge in Architecture and Urban Design and from the University of Sheffield in Architecture. My master’s thesis research was honoured with the Susan and Geoffrey Twining Egginton Scholarship from Downing College and the UCF/IAMCR Urban Communication Research Grant in 2017. I recently taught Design Studio at the University of Cyprus and I teach Design Research Methods on a postgraduate level at the Cyprus University of Technology as well as co-supervise and guest reviews diploma and studio projects in Architecture. 

Gaetano De Francesco is the founder of DFR Architecture, a based in Rome design practice that investigates the contemporary condition of inhabited territory searching strategies and space solutions to make it livable, loveble, inclusive and resilient.

He is Phd in Architecture - Theories and Project at Department of Architecture and Project - Sapienza University of Rome, where make activities of research and teaching assistance and he is Authorized Rhinoceros Trainer and Adjunct Professor at Quasar Design University in Rome.

I am an architect and researcher focused on the points of convergence between space, politics and society. 

My work spans a range of mediums and scales - from ambitious built projects to temporary installations and published research - all with a focus on the political and social role of architecture.