Ostrava 2025

Eva Jiřičná

Eva Jiřičná, a Czech architect based in London since 1968, is known for her innovative approach to design and her precise use of materials such as glass, steel and stone. After working with Richard Rogers Partnership and Future Systems, she set up her own studio, influencing the world of retail design. Her iconic features are her elegant staircases. As well as projects for the V&A, Harrods and Boodles, she has also completed major buildings in the Czech Republic, including the Prague Castle Orangery and the library at Tomas Bata University. The recipient of many awards, including the Order of the …

Winy Maas

Winy Maas (Schijndel, NL – 1959), Founding Partner, Urban Planner and Landscape Architect, has led MVRDV’s interdisciplinary team since its establishment in 1993. Co-founded with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, the award-winning Dutch practice has achieved international acclaim for a wide variety of buildings, cities, and landscapes that are innovative, experimental, and merge theory with practice.

Lenka Míková

Lenka Míková is a Prague-based architect and founder of Lenka Míková Architects, an award-winning six-member studio established in 2016. Her work ranges from renovations and interiors to new builds and exhibitions, with a focus on empathetic, timeless design. She studied at the Faculty of Architecture at CTU, completed internships in Paris, and pursued doctoral studies at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, where she has been teaching since 2023.

Patrick Norguet

Patrick Norguet is a leading figure in contemporary French design, known for his thoughtful, collaborative approach and deep understanding of industrial processes. From his early work with YSL and Louis Vuitton to iconic pieces like the Rainbow Chair for Cappellini, he has built a global reputation for creating timeless, innovative designs. His collaborations with brands such as Cassina, Artemide, Pedrali, and McDonald’s Global reflect his ability to merge creativity with functionality.

Lucie Koldová

Lucie Koldová is a leading Czech designer known for her elegant, emotive work in lighting and glass. She began her international career in France with the acclaimed Muffins and Balloons collections for Brokis, where she has served as Art Director since 2014. Now based in Prague, she creates timeless lighting, furniture, and sculptural objects for global clients, blending traditional craftsmanship with advanced technologies. Her signature style combines pure materials, bold proportions, and striking contrasts.

Matúš Vallo

Matúš Vallo has been the mayor of Bratislava since 2018 and was re-elected in 2022. His goal, which he has been fulfilling since taking office, is to make Bratislava a stronger, more resilient, greener, and more transparent city, with quality public spaces, accessible public transportation, and support for disadvantaged groups, together with his team. For his efforts, he received the World Mayor Future Award. He is a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University and has participated in prestigious programs at Harvard and Bloomberg Philanthropies. In 2019, he co-founded the Pact of Free Cities with the mayors of Warsaw, Prague, and Budapest.

Milota Sidorová

Feminist, urbanist, and author in the service of fair cities. Milota is an independent advocate for more inclusive urban spaces, dedicated to improving non-governmental, private, and public projects and reforms across Slovakia and the broader Central and Eastern European region. Her passion for thoughtful, equitable urbanism and travel shapes her work, which focuses on making cities more just, strategic, and better communicated.

Peter Saap

Peter Sapp is an Austrian architect and co-founder of Querkraft Architekten, a Vienna-based studio known for its poetic pragmatism and human-centered design. With over 25 years of international recognition, querkraft is celebrated for its innovative, award-winning projects that emphasize authenticity, identity, and outside-the-box thinking. Peter Sapp also shares his expertise through academic roles, currently serving as a visiting professor at CTU Prague.

Oskar Zięta

Oskar Zięta is a Polish architect, artist, and designer known for his innovative use of metal and parametric design. The creator of one of the lightest chairs on Earth, a constant traveller between the universes of art and engineering. Replacing traditional tools with air and algorithms, he embraces a “controlled loss of control” in his creative process—an approach that has defined his experimental, award-winning studio for over a decade.

Kickie Chudikova

Kickie Chudikova is a New York based Industrial designer, specialized in designing products, furniture, and lighting. Balancing her expertise in between Design & Craft, Kickie is captivated by the timeless beauty of raw materials like glass, iron, or stone and empowering of cutting-edge technology.
Her sculptural approach to form reflects her belief in the lasting value of well-designed products, ones that can be passed down through generations. The combination of organic, evocative forms with the right materials and colors, results in objects that people can connect with emotionally.

Ondřej Chybík

Ondřej Chybík is the co-founder of CHYBIK + KRISTOF, an award-winning architecture studio with offices in Brno, Prague, Bratislava, and London. He studied in Brno, Graz, and at ETH Zurich. The studio is known for transformative projects like the Lahofer Winery and a multifunctional arena in Jihlava, and has received accolades such as the Design Vanguard and Grand Prix of Architects. In 2024, they published Crafting Character, a book on identity in architecture.

Stephan Vary

Stephan Vary is a Vienna-based architect and industrial designer. He founded Labvert in 2005, a studio specializing in retail architecture, interior design, and brand design in the luxury sector. Realizing projects worldwide, for clients such as Parfums Christian Dior, Bulgari, Hennessy, and Rimowa. His work blends spatial and object design, drawing inspiration from the arts and fluidly crossing disciplines with creativity and innovation.

Pavol Paňák

Pavol Paňák is a Slovak architect and co-founder of B.K.P.Š., an architecture studio established with Martin Kusý in 1991. A practicing architect and educator, his work spans urban studies, buildings, and interiors. Notable projects include the National Bank of Slovakia, the Slovak National Gallery reconstruction, and the Slovak Embassy in Berlin. He has taught at the Academy of Fine Arts and is currently a visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Bratislava.

Marcin Szczelina

Marcin Szczelina is an architecture critic and curator, founder of Architecture Snob, and an expert for the European Mies van der Rohe Award since 2014. He has curated notable exhibitions and won the Property Design Awards 2017 for his contributions to Polish architecture.

Otto Ng

Otto Ng is the co-founder of LAAB, a Laboratory for Art and Architecture dedicated to spatial innovation.  Based in Hong Kong, LAAB designs architecture, interiors, public spaces, and public art.  The transformative approach of LAAB has been recognized by the iF Design Award, the Architizer Award, the Archdaily Top 100, and the World Architecture Festival Award.  Otto has previously shared LAAB’s creative process at numerous events, including the Maison&Objet in Paris and Prada Frames at M+ Museum.

Rahul Shankhwalker

Rahul Shankhwalker is the founding partner of Studio HBA, known for his sensory-driven, narrative-based approach to interior design. With over 15 years of experience, he has led award-winning architecture and interior projects across the globe, including luxury hotels, residences, and wellness spaces. His portfolio features renowned names like the Conrad Bangalore, Raffles Bali, Six Senses, and private island resorts in the Maldives.

Marco Dessi

Marco Dessí is a Vienna-based designer and founder of STUDIO DESSí, established in 2008. Known for a practical and process-driven approach, his work spans furniture, product, and spatial design, for renowned clients such as Lobmeyr, Wittmann, and Thonet, as well as with cultural institutions on projects of various scales.The studio emphasizes material experimentation, creating designs that connect concept with craft.

Regina Loukotová

Regina is an architect and Head of ARCHIP (Architectural Institute in Prague), the international architectural school with instruction English in Prague. She combines her architectural and educational activities. Her studio took part in tens of national and international competitions with particular success within Grand Egyptian Museum proposal from 2003. She strongly believes in changing the approach toward building environment in general through education. She is active within the Czech Chamber of Architects, a member of its’ Unit for Education, with her participation in the juries of architectural competitions and also in cooperation with expert press and other media.  She has …

Marcin Sadowski

Marcin is a Warsaw-based architect and co-founder of JEMS Architects. He is also a winner of the SARP Honorary Award (2002) and has designed numerous landmark projects, including GTC Mokotów Business Park, Kredyt Bank Head Office, Platinium Business Park, PIXEL complex in Poznañ, Royal Wilanów and the Polish Embassy in Berlin. He has won prestigious competitions such as Waterfront II in Gdynia and the Polish Embassy in Berlin. His work spans office, residential and public buildings, and has shaped contemporary Polish architecture.

Jozef Olšavský

Jozef Olsavsky, Creative Director at FUTURESEARCH STUDIO is a graduated architect. He acquired his experience while working at Rem Koolhaas’s OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) in Rotterdam. His work ethos is based on continuous testing and designing in a broader context. He considers himself an open and logical thinker with a progressive approach.

Tomasz Konior

Tomasz Konior, founder of the Konior Studio, is an architect specialising in public spaces, especially those for music. Since 1995, he has designed over 200 buildings, including the headquarters of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Symfonia Centre in Katowice, the Music School Complex in Warsaw and the Philharmonic Hall in Brno. In 2021 he won the competition for the new campus of the Academy of Music in Krakow. His award-winning reading rooms in the National Library in Warsaw won the Grand Prix in the Mayor of Warsaw’s Architecture Awards. He has received over 80 awards, including a nomination for …

Natalia Olszewska

Natalia Olszewska is a neuroscientist specializing in architecture and co-founder of IMPRONTA, a research and consulting firm focused on design for health and well-being. With a background in medicine, neuroscience, and applied design (Jagiellonian University, UCL, Sorbonne, IUAV), she has worked with global firms like Arup, Skanska, and Google. A lecturer in the NAAD Master’s program at IUAV Venice, she speaks internationally on how neuroscience can shape better architecture and cities.

Michael Vasku

Michael Vasku is a Vienna- and Prague-based designer and co-founder of Vasku & Klug, a studio working across architecture, interiors, installations, and design strategy. The studio reinterprets cultural archetypes to create emotionally engaging spaces and experiences. Since 2016, Vasku & Klug have served as Creative Directors of Preciosa Lighting, balancing contemporary design with the brand’s historic chandelier legacy.

Dagmar Zvoničková

Dagmar Zvonickova Fredholm is the co-founder of Identity Designers, an international architecture and design studio established in London in 2017. In 2022, she co-founded Novavita Design, a sister company focused on sustainable material research and development, producing materials primarily from recycled ingredients and waste for clients ranging from private individuals to major corporations.

Falvai Balázs

Falvai Balázs is a Hungarian architect and co-founder of dmb műterem studio, which he has run with Nagy Márton DLA and Török Dávid DLA since 2008. He focuses on public and institutional buildings, combining modern architecture with respect for the historical environment. He applied this approach to the revitalisation of Szárító Műhely in Debrecen, where a former drying plant was transformed into a centre for community and creative activities. His work has won the prestigious Pro Architectura and Molnár Péter-emlékdíj awards.

Adam Kvaček

Young designer focused on spatial, research-based, and product design with a strong emphasis on context. Through his work, he explores and communicates environmental, social, and geopolitical themes using media such as video, objects/products, installations, and workshops. His graduation project from the AAAD in Prague was selected for the prestigious Alcova Miami design showcase.

More speakers to be revealed soon!