Hospice – Home for the Terminally Ill / Edition #5 Jury panel!

Dichen Ding, Andrea Steele Architecture
Rubén García Rubio, studioVRA
Nirit Pilosof, Sheba Medical Centre
T R Radhakrishnan, Interboro Partners 
David Charles Reat, University of Strathclyde
Susanne Siepl-Coates, Kansas State University
Sonsoles Vela Navarro, studioVRA

Dichen Ding, AIA is a Brooklyn-based architect and civic design leader with over a decade of experience delivering socially responsive, sustainability-driven public architecture. As Senior Architect at Andrea Steele Architecture, she has led award-winning cultural and institutional projects in collaboration with organizations such as NASA, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), and the New York Public Library. Her portfolio includes the L10 Arts & Cultural Center in Brooklyn—a multidisciplinary hub uniting MoCADA, 651 ARTS, and Brooklyn Public Library—which received the 2025 NYCxDesign and SARA NY Design Awards. She also served as Senior Designer for the NASA Glenn Research Support Building in Cleveland and the Make the Road New York Community Center in Queens, both recognized for innovation and community impact. Earlier, she led the adaptive reuse of the 53rd Street Branch of the New York Public Library, earning multiple honors including the AIANY Honor Award and the MASterworks “Best Urban Amenity” prize. Ding’s thought leadership includes published work on sustainability and modular housing, speaking engagements with Urban Design Forum and Open House New York, and mentorship through AIA networks. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Storefront for Art and Architecture and the Franz Mayer Museum. She holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University GSAPP and a B.S. in Economics and Finance from Tsinghua University.

Rubén García Rubio is an architect and co-founder of studioVRA based in Zaragoza, Spain. He holds Ph.Ds. in Architecture from the University of Valladolid and the University of Roma Tre. He has been a “Visiting Scholar” at the American Academy in Rome. Currently, he is Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Tulane University. He previously taught in several schools of architecture and institutions in Europe and the Middle East, where he was able to work on projects that combined his teaching objectives, research interests, and professional work. His work has been distinguished with several architectural awards, both design and built, and published in international architectural magazines. He is Editor-in-Chief of the architectural weblog CajondeArquitecto.com.

Dr Nirit Pilosof is an architect and researcher exploring the intersection of Healthcare, Technology, and Architecture. Nirit is the Head of Research in Innovation and Transformation at Sheba Medical Centre in Israel. She is a Faculty Member at the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University and an Associate of Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS) at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Nirit also works as a consultant for international healthcare organizations and serves as the executive member of Israel at the UIA Public Health Group. She holds a Ph.D. from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, a Post-Professional M.Arch from McGill University, and an EDAC from the Center for Health Design in the USA. Nirit gained experience in the design process of major medical facilities as a project manager at leading architecture firms in Israel and Canada and won international awards, including the prestigious AIA Academy of Architects for Health award, the American Hospital Association (AHA) graduate fellowship, and the Azrieli Foundation fellowship.

T. R. Radhakrishnan is an urban designer at Interboro Partners in New York, where his work focuses on the intersection of science, technology, and artistic expression to address urgent global challenges, including climate change. With a multidisciplinary background, his design and research span buildings, cities, and products, combining systems thinking with cultural and environmental sensitivity. Radhakrishnan holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he was a Dean’s Merit Scholar and contributed to both teaching and research. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture with distinction from Anna University in India. His professional journey includes training with renowned firms such as RCR Arquitectes in Spain and Sou Fujimoto Architects in Japan, as well as consulting for governments, NGOs, and private clients across diverse contexts. An active voice in architectural discourse, Radhakrishnan frequently lectures on design and sustainability and serves as a juror for academic studios and international competitions. His work has been recognized with awards and grants from institutions including MIT and Harvard, and reflects a deep commitment to collaborative, sustainable, and inquiry-driven design practice.

David Charles Reat is Director of Cultural Studies (History & Theory) at the Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde. He is a practicing architect and academic, currently concluding his PhD. With over 20 years of international teaching experience, Reat’s career is rooted in notable architectural practice. He has worked for prestigious offices such as James Stirling & Michael Wilford, contributing to projects like the British Embassy in Berlin and The Lowry in Salford. He also collaborated with Enric Miralles Benedetta Tagliabue/RMJM on the New Scottish Parliament Buildings in Edinburgh. At Strathclyde, Reat served as the Year 4 Director, where he led a series of hospice design projects. These projects challenged students to engage with Glasgow’s key public parks, fostering a unique intersection of architecture and public space.

Susanne Siepl-Coates received her Diplom Ingenier (Dipl.Ing.) degree in architecture at the University of Hannover, Germany in 1979 and her Master of Architecture (M. Arch) degree as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley in 1982. At Berkeley she studied with the internationally renowned architect and educator Christopher Alexander and worked at his Center for Environmental Structure.Siepl-Coates was a member of the architecture faculty at Kansas State University for over thirty years. Her teaching focused on the exploration of the relationships between the built environment and human health/well-being. In collaboration with Gary J. Coates, Siepl-Coates examined the health-supporting aspects in the architecture of Swedish architect Erik Asmussen, with special emphasis on the Vidar Clinic in Järna. She has reported on her research at international conferences and in papers and articles published in professional and scholarly journals.

Sonsoles Vela Navarro is an architect and co-founder of studioVRA based in Zaragoza, Spain. She holds a BArch from the University of Valladolid, a Master of Science in Architecture and Sustainable Environment from the University of Extremadura, an MBA from Kühnel Business School, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Design and Digital Architecture from the San Jorge University. Sonsoles is a practicing architect with 15 years of experience working alongside private clients and builders to develop architectural designs on residential, commercial and healthcare projects. Her work has been distinguished with several architectural awards, both design and built, and published in international architectural magazines. Currently, she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Tulane University.