Philia
Magazine
Noz Nozawa
Noz Nozawa is a San Francisco-based interior designer and founder of Noz Design, a studio she established in 2014 after leaving a career in the corporate world to pursue her passion for design. Her practice is rooted in the belief that interiors should reflect the individuality of the people who inhabit them, creating expressive, personal spaces that encourage a sense of belonging. Rather than following a particular aesthetic, she embraces unexpected combinations of colors, materials, and details to create environments that tell the stories of her clients.
Her work has earned recognition from Architectural Digest’s New American Voices, House Beautiful’s Next Wave, Sunset Magazine’s Best of the West, and the Luxe Magazine Gold List. Alongside her design practice, Noz is committed to fostering a studio culture centered on kindness and putting people first. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ayşe Yasaman Demir
Ayşe Yasaman Demir is an Istanbul-based interior architect and designer whose practice spans interior architecture and collectible design. Through Studio Ayşe Demir, she creates sculptural mirrors and objects that explore the interplay between materials, light, and perception, bringing together artistic expression and functionality.
With craftsmanship and experimentation at the heart of her practice, Demir approaches each piece through an intuitive, hands-on process involving modelling, mould-making, casting, and careful finishing. Her work is characterised by organic forms, expressive surfaces, and a curiosity for the possibilities of different materials. Moving between sculpture and functional design, her creations invite a closer consideration of reflection, materiality, and the relationship between objects and the spaces they occupy.
Eilidh Izat
Eilidh Izat is a Scottish architect and co-founder of Izat Arundell, an architectural practice rooted in a deep respect for landscape, craftsmanship, and the relationship between buildings and the communities they serve. Her early interest in architecture was shaped by her grandfather, fostering an appreciation for materials, making, and the role of architecture in everyday life. After studying architecture and gaining experience with international practices, she co-founded Izat Arundell with a focus on thoughtful, context-driven design.
Her approach brings together contemporary architecture, local materials, and traditional craftsmanship, with an emphasis on creating buildings that respond sensitively to their surroundings. Through close collaboration with craftspeople, she explores how architecture can foster a lasting connection between people and place. Her own home, Caochan na Creige, on the Isle of Harris, embodies this philosophy and was awarded the RIBA House of the Year 2025, recognising its considered relationship with the landscape and local craftsmanship.
escapefromsofa
escapefromsofa is an Istanbul-based multidisciplinary design studio founded in 2009, working across architecture, interior and product design. The practice develops residential, hospitality and commercial projects, bringing together contemporary design with a strong sensitivity to context, materiality and craftsmanship. With an approach that balances aesthetics and functionality, the studio creates spaces that are both distinctive and deeply connected to the people who inhabit them.
At the heart of escapefromsofa’s practice is an exploration of natural materials, textures and the relationship between architecture and everyday life. Drawing inspiration from art, nature and its cultural surroundings, the studio combines refined detailing with a thoughtful use of colour, light and form. Through close collaboration with clients and craftspeople, escapefromsofa seeks to create timeless, welcoming environments that reflect the character of each project while offering a meaningful spatial experience.
Kodai Suga
Kodai Suga is a Japanese metal artist and sculptor whose practice explores the expressive possibilities of metal through sculptural form and patination. After completing his Master’s degree in Arts and Crafts at Kanazawa College of Art in 2020, he developed an approach to bronze that combines precise, minimal forms with richly varied surfaces, using chemical reactions to create distinctive colours and textures.
Working with bronze casting and self-developed patination techniques, Suga embraces the changing and unpredictable qualities of metal as an integral part of his process. His works often balance a sense of strength and delicacy, exploring the relationship between material, form and perception. His work has been presented internationally at fairs including TEFAF Maastricht, Treasure House Fair, FAB Paris, Art SG, and ZONAMACO, as well as in exhibitions with A Lighthouse called Kanata in Tokyo.
Bernal & Semerciyan
Bernal & Semerciyan is a collaborative practice founded by Graziella Semerciyan and Camillo Bernal, bringing together their complementary backgrounds in art, curation, interior architecture and design. Semerciyan’s experience spans the auction and gallery worlds, with a particular focus on decorative arts and design, while Bernal’s practice is rooted in interior architecture and a close engagement with craftsmanship and specialised workshops. Their collaboration grew from a shared interest in how objects are understood not only through their histories, but also through the spaces, materials and contexts that surround them.
Working across exhibitions, scenography, interiors, furniture and objects, the duo approaches curation and spatial design as part of a continuous process. Their projects bring historical and vernacular pieces into dialogue with contemporary design and craftsmanship, creating connections across periods, cultures and disciplines. Rather than following a fixed aesthetic language, Bernal & Semerciyan develops each project in response to its particular context, with an emphasis on research, materiality and the relationships between objects and space.
Brendan MacFarlane – Jakob+MacFarlane
Brendan MacFarlane is a New Zealand-born architect and co-founder of the Paris-based architecture, urbanism, research and design practice Jakob+MacFarlane, established with Dominique Jakob in 1998. A graduate of SCI-Arc, he received his master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Through Jakob+MacFarlane, MacFarlane has developed an experimental and socially engaged approach to architecture, responding to contemporary environmental, cultural and urban challenges. Key projects include the Frac Centre-Val de Loire, the Orange Cube, the Docks – Cité de la Mode et du Design and Restaurant Georges at the Centre Pompidou. In 2025, the practice represented France at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, in association with Eric Daniel-Lacombe and Martin Duplantier, with Living With, exploring adaptation to climate and geopolitical crises.
