The Team
Editor-in-Chief: Diana Biggs
Diana Biggs has served as design exchange magazine’s Editor since 2008. With a lifelong passion for design and communications, Diana involvements in these fields both professionally and personally have taken her to Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. She brings this passion to design exchange magazine, pushing the exploration of design to the next level and expanding the magazine’s global footprint. Prior to joining design exchange magazine, she worked in international communications for IIED and Cohn & Wolfe. Having studied in Canada, France, Germany, Austria and Mexico, Diana holds a Masters in Business from ESCP Europe and a B.Sc. in Architecture from McGill University.
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Editor: Mariana Pestana
Mariana Pestana lives and works in London. She’s a qualified architect, writer and curator, her work revolves around places where art and architecture meet. She uses her practice as a way to develop critical comments about the built environment.
Mariana holds an MA in Creative Practices for Narrative Environments from Central Saint Martins, previous to this she worked in Lisbon, Torino, Paris and Berlin in the fields of interior and exhibition design.
Mariana is a founding member of The Decorators, an experimental art and design collective based in London. She was a visiting critic at Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Art & Design and London Met and currently works as a freelance creative consultant for Lacoste.
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Feature Editor: Lucas Gray
Throughout his career Lucas Gray has focused on international architecture while living and practicing in various cities around the world. This includes spending a year in Bangkok, Thailand and two in Shanghai, China where he collaborated on competition entries for Brearely Architects and Urbanists. After his time in Asia Lucas returned to school, earning a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, while designing various retail environments as a freelance designer. He then moved to Berlin where he won an architectural design competition for extending and renovating an historic gymnasium. Along with developing the competition project, Lucas collaborated with various firms on the design and renovation of residential properties around Berlin, submitted international competition entries, and curated an art and architecture exhibition. Lucas currently lives in Portland, Oregon where he continues to pursue his passion for architectural design, and writes for various design magazines and websites. He has also the creator and editor of the architecture blog,
Architecture
Lucas’ architectural interest delves into the study of materiality, tectonics and how to introduce natural light into a building in innovative ways while being sensitive to the surrounding environment. This interest leads to a phenomenological approach to design, focusing on the experience of each user being a unique act in an ever-changing temporal existence. By using design to reveal seasonal and climactic change he strives to create an experience where people are aware of the unique aspects of each moment in the existence of a building. Like the artist Ned Kahn, Lucas uses the natural phenomena of wind, water and light to make dynamic architecture, where a static building becomes alive with movement. Incorporating plant life further visualizes temporal change as well as merges the building with the surrounding landscape, leading to sustainable architecture.
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Feature Editor: Ilsa Parry
Ilsa Parry is a product designer, writer, active researcher and qualified lecturer in three dimensional design, a creative practitioner with an interest in all fields relative to the design process. Ilsa owns a design consultancy which works with clients such as Starck, Mcdonalds, Liverpool Biennial, National Museums, United Utilities, Liverpool Biennial, Bo Concept, Lego, Sony and Unilever and is also creative director for the REthinkthings product brand. www.ilsaparry.com
REthinkthings is a collection of inventive and lively everyday products designed and produced by a range of creative practitioners who license their work into the brand. Each item has been conceived to provide an element of life enhancement and self development for the consumer through a rationale with a socially responsible focus. The products themselves evoke emotive responses and aim to build stronger product / consumer relationships. www.REthinkthings.co.uk
Ilsas possesses an infectious passion for design. Her latest venture is the 5ml design collective, an idea conceived by Ilsa in partnership with Tom Sutton and Michael Cloke. As commercial director, Ilsa strives to offer affordable market testing opportunities for new innovative product brands through major international trade shows to enable talented creative individuals to find new markets for their work before committing to production. Ilsa believes that design should be accessible and capture the imagination of the user and is keen to continue providing opportunities for creatives to sustain their imaginative excellence and grow their businesses to benefit the home economy. www.5-ml.com
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Feature Editor: Stuart Blakley
Stuart Blakley is a freelance writer and photographer who has been published in a range of national and international magazines and newspapers over the last 17 years. His main interests are all things artistic but in particular, architecture and interior design. His blog allows him to comment personally on the new and the sublime as well as providing opportunities for overseas trips. Savannah, Georgia, was his latest expedition. Originally from Dublin, Stuart’s current project is a period conversion in Battersea. Stuart holds a 1st Class degree in Business Studies and a Masters in Town Planning. He is a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.www.stuartblakley.com
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Feature Editor: Gem Barton
Gem Barton splits her time between running studioBartonBandy and teaching architecture and interior design. Previously she has taught at Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester, Salford and Brighton universities.
studioBartonBandy is a young, progressive architecture and design practice with offices in London and Brighton. sBB spans a wide range of design sectors including furniture, lighting, installations, exhibitions and of course both exterior and interior projects.
Prior to founding studioBartonBandy Gem worked at architectural practices in Leeds and Manchester in addition to continued freelance development. Gem specialises in concept and feasibility and has good industry experience of sustainability issues, particularly BREEAM and CFSH assessments.
Gem is inspired by beauty and simplicity in design function and has a strong passion for diagramming in graphic communication.
“My approach to design is one of realism and purity. The simplicity of geometry evokes emotion in the user; from nostalgia to enlightenment often expressed as a wry + knowing smile”.
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Feature Editor: Karina Monteith-Joseph
Karina Monteith-Joseph is a London based independent curator and writer. She holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art, where she co-curated the film exhibition ‘John Smith Solo Show’ (2010). Her research areas include the Domestic Interior and the Uncanny in art, literature and film. Karina previously worked at Phillips de Pury & Company auction house and Haunch of Venison gallery. Curated group exhibitions include ‘Sirdar Road’ (2011) that took place in a suburban London home, ‘Monochrome Rainbow’ (2010) and ‘Between Shadows’ (2008) at Cordy House.
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Feature Editor: Stefania Vourazeri
Stefania Vourazeri was born in Athens in 1988 and since 2006 lives and works in London.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Journalism and Contemporary History from City University London and Queen Mary University of London and in 2010 she completed an MA in Middle East & Mediterranean Studies at King’s College London. Stefania is freelancing for a number of publications. She is currently undertaking an MA course in International Journalism and during her free time she writes and reports about design , architecture and culture.. Stefania’s passion about the arts, design and architecture has been reinforced while living and experiencing London’s multicultural and vivid society.
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Feature Editor: Robert Pike
Robert Pike is a London based part 2 architectural assistant; co-founder and editor of the website Boidus.co.uk and a keen amateur photographer with the Muswell Hill Photography Society.
Robert holds a BA in Architecture from Plymouth University and PG Diploma from London South Bank University. His final year thesis project addressed his interest in sustainability and the city, with a yearlong study of the Thames Estuary focusing on the potential impact of sea level rise on the landscape. The final proposal sought an holistic urban plan that responded to this issue in pragmatic and economically viable manner. His final dissertation was entitled ‘Place, Memory, and Materials: A Study of the Work of Peter Zumthor’, and has continued in long fascination with the architect’s work.
Through the website Boidus – and now Design Exchange Magazine – Robert has commented on the world around him as he sees it and pays particular attention to the young and up and coming creative professionals and students making their mark in the creative industries. He is particularly interested in addressing issues in a critical way, and expanding a discourse along several lines of enquiry.
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Feature Editor: Jessica Bishop
A focused and creative undergraduate third year university student studying BA (Hons) Writing Fashion and Culture at SouthamptonSolent University.
Prefect at secondary school, graphic designer at college, student representative at university, representing the views of her student peers at regular meetings to campaign for a change, and hopefully a successful graduate. Jess has had previous work experience at fashion magazine More!, and North Devon Journal newspaper. She has organised work experience at the Daily Echo newspaper in Southampton, Ralph Lauren head offices in London and another work placement at the North Devon Gazette.
She has recently been elected to become the editor of Sonar magazine, a publication made by students for students at Southampton Solent University. Previous work has been published in More magazine, Sonar magazine, North Devon Journal newspaper, and within our current edition of ‘de’. Jess is currently researching and covering de’s fashion coverage.
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Art Direction & Design: Yvette Chiu
Currently working towards her MA in Magazine Publishing at the London College of Communication, Yvette Chiu joined design exchange magazine as our designer October 2010. A graduate of the Graphic Arts program at the University of Southampton, Yvette’s previous experience includes working at the picture desk of INK Publishing and as a design intern at Tatler, both in Hong Kong.
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Site Design and Assistant Online Editor: Kingsley Man www.kingsleyman.co.uk
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Guest Editors: Indira Akibo-Betts Wisepart
Indira Akibo-Betts Wisepart is a native of Freetown, Sierra Leone. She moved to Los Angeles, California in 1992 and obtained her BA in Finance along with a minor in French from the University of Houston. Indira moved to London in 2008 graduated from the KLC School of Design and is now pursuing a career in Interior Decoration working closely with the Architects at CZWG. Indira has a very unique style and uses her strong fashion sense to bring pizzazz to her interiors.
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Guest Editors: Carsten Nørregaard-Laursen and Morten Norup Fassov
Carsten Nørregaard-Laursen and Morten Norup Fassov both graduated as M.Sc. in Architecture from Aalborg University, Denmark.
After graduating in 2005 Carsten worked for Asymptote Architecture, New York, before returning to Denmark to work as a competition architect for Copenhagen based 3XN. Whilst studying, he worked with Coop Himmelb(l)au for one year and was involved in the conceptual design for the House of Music, Denmark.
During his studies Morten worked with Tooley & Foster, London, before joining Copenhagen based office Juul & Frost in the period 2004-2007. He was involved with the Master planning of Ørestad City while working for Daniel Libeskind in New York, before returning to Copenhagen to work with Hartkorn Architects.
In 2007 the pair established their own practice, PHOAM STUDIO, in Copenhagen. www.phoam.dk
PHILOSOPHY
The studio deals with contemporary Scandinavian design, and has a critical and committed approach. The work of the studio arises from a firm belief that the architectural project must be grounded in an unremitting attitude to social and environmental issues of the modern age.
The studio is committed to the use of digital technology that liberates and enhances the possibilities of architectural expression. Contemporary construction methods and materials are often implemented along with the use of IT-technology, to secure rational and cost-efficient designs. Phoam Studio has an international outlook and functions as a platform for a continual participation in the architectural discourse.
