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Philia
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0 Khoa Vu_press image_photo by Le Nguyen modified
Architects

Khoa Vu

Khoa Vu is a Vietnamese-American architect and the founder of Studio KHOA VU, an independent architecture practice based in New York City. He currently serves as Design Critic in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His work explores the intersection of rational form and embodied spatial experience, with a particular interest in spatial typology, tectonics, and the cultural dimensions of sustainability.

Vu holds a Master of Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he received the Araldo Cossutta Prize for Design Excellence and the Faculty Design Award. He previously earned a B.A. in Architecture with High Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was awarded the Eisner Prize for creative achievement in the arts.

His professional experience ranges from socially driven urban housing and cultural projects at Michael Maltzan Architecture to research-led innovation at OXMAN. Alongside his practice and teaching, Vu’s work has received international recognition through platforms including WAF 40 Under 40 North America, the Lexus Design Award, the Venice Biennale, and the Architecture MasterPrize, reflecting an approach to architecture that brings together design experimentation, research, and a considered engagement with contemporary culture.

“Being an architect is not only about designing buildings. It is about developing a way of seeing the world.”
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21 August 26
Huw Wellard Portrait modified
Architects

Huw Wellard

Huw Wellard is the architect behind Wellard Architects, a Melbourne-based architecture and design studio. Known for creating lasting impressions through built form, the studio delivers thoughtful outcomes with a sensitive, measured approach that responds to both people and place.

Working across urban, coastal, and rural environments throughout Australia, the practice engages in a process of refinement and shared dialogue to design highly resolved spaces that evolve with life and context.

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20 February 26
Tommy Zung Portrait modified
Interior Designers

Tommy Zung

Tommy Zung is an architectural designer and curator with over three decades of experience, whose work spans architecture, fashion, and his own eponymous architecture and design studio. His practice reflects a seamless integration of technical mastery and a holistic, mindful approach to design, shaped by a lifelong dialogue between structure, nature, and human experience.

Deeply influenced by his upbringing within a family of renowned architects, Zung developed an early sensitivity to form, balance, and cultural perspective. His passion for surfing and close relationship with the ocean have further informed his understanding of nature’s raw power and unpredictability, elements that subtly resonate throughout his work.

The son of Thomas T.K. Zung — a partner of visionary thinker R. Buckminster Fuller who worked alongside figures such as Eero Saarinen and Edward Durell Stone — Tommy Zung inherits a rich intellectual and architectural legacy. This background has shaped his design philosophy into a nuanced balance between Eastern and Western sensibilities, where architecture becomes both a spatial and philosophical practice.

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19 February 26
Nelson de Araujo Portrait modified
Designers

Nelson de Araújo

Nelson de Araújo is a Portuguese designer and the founder of Nelson de Araújo Design, a conscious luxury furniture label rooted in a deep commitment to craftsmanship, material integrity, and timeless design. His work explores the balance between beauty, comfort, and functionality, resulting in refined pieces that are both expressive and enduring.

Designed and handcrafted in Portugal by skilled local artisans, Nelson’s creations emphasize thoughtful construction, high-quality materials, and quiet sophistication. Through a sensitive and deliberate approach, he seeks to create furniture that not only serves a function but also evokes atmosphere, longevity, and emotional connection.

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17 February 26
Dutra_Mateus_Headshot 2 modified
Designers

Mateus Dutra Picks From Philia Collection

Mateus Dutra is a Brazilian-born designer based in New York and the founder of Atelier Dutré, a practice positioned at the intersection of sculpture and function. Shaped by an international background spanning fashion, photography, and interior design—and experiences across New York, Paris, and Scandinavia—his work reflects a cross-disciplinary and culturally layered perspective.

Working primarily with stone, Dutra approaches marble as a material of both physical and emotional gravity. His sculptural yet functional objects explore form, proportion, and surface, balancing solidity with restraint and subtle movement. Rooted in a family lineage connected to stone extraction and craftsmanship, his practice engages in a dialogue between inherited knowledge and contemporary experimentation, reinterpreting traditional materials for a modern sensibility while preserving a sense of permanence.

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14 February 26
Tosin Oshinowo photo by Bashar Belal 2 scaled modified
Architects

Tosin Oshinowo

Tosin Oshinowo is a Lagos-based Nigerian architect, designer, and curator, and the founder of Oshinowo Studio, established in 2013. Her practice is recognized for its socially responsive approach to architecture, design, and urbanism, with projects spanning civic, commercial, and residential sectors across Nigeria. Notable works include collaborations with the United Nations Development Programme to create a new community for a village displaced by Boko Haram, Maryland Mall in Lagos, and Adidas’ flagship store in West Africa.

Oshinowo’s work explores the intersection of culture, identity, and contemporary African design. Alongside her architectural practice, she is an active curator and researcher, having co-curated the 2019 Lagos Biennial and curated the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial. A registered architect and member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, she has worked internationally with firms including Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture before establishing her independent studio.

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13 February 26
Brooke Mennen Talsma Portrait modified
Interior Designers

Brooke Mennen-Talsma

Brooke Mennen-Talsma is the founder of Brooke MT Interiors, established in 2023 after nearly a decade of experience across several design studios. Based in North Liberty, Iowa, she launched her independent practice with a desire to create a more intentional, flexible, and personal approach to interior design, balancing family life with her creative vision. Her studio quickly grew through referrals and social media, allowing her to carefully select projects that align with her aesthetic and values.

Brooke’s work is defined by a thoughtful balance between beauty and functionality. She focuses on high-quality materials, refined finishes, and durable solutions suited for everyday living. Known for her use of detailed 3D visualizations, she helps clients clearly envision their spaces from the earliest stages, creating cohesive, sophisticated interiors that feel both elevated and warmly livable.

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12 February 26