Iceland Slow Sauna

Teoman Ayas, a graduate of Yale University, settled in London in 2013. Since then, he has gained experience at leading practices including Zaha Hadid Architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), UNStudio, and FreelandBuck. From 2015 to 2018, he worked as a senior designer at SOM, contributing to the design of Karlatornet — a residential tower in Gothenburg that has since been completed. Alongside his professional work, Teoman co-runs MIMStudios, a London-based, design-led practice focused on bespoke residential and commercial projects, with an emphasis on thoughtful and contemporary design supported by digital tools.He is also active in academia and design research. Teoman teaches master’s-level design studio at the University of East London, where his work engages with architectural discourse and the evolving role of digital design tools in architectural practice.

Louise Braverman is an internationally recognized architect whose work is driven by a commitment to creating architecture grounded in art, conscience, and social purpose. A graduate of the Yale School of Architecture and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, she founded her New York–based practice on the belief that compelling design can meaningfully improve the way people live. Her studio works both locally and globally, consistently embracing the challenge of innovation while pursuing aesthetic excellence rooted in sustainability and community engagement. Braverman’s built work ranges across diverse cultural and geographic contexts. Notable projects include the Centro de Artes Nadir Afonso in Portugal, a museum with a green-roof park designed to foster public interaction with art; the Derfner Judaica Museum in the Bronx, conceived to encourage multigenerational engagement; and the Village Health Works Staff Housing in Burundi, a fully off-the-grid residential project supporting healthcare workers. Her practice has been honored with more than sixty design awards and has been invited to present at seven editions of the Venice Architecture Biennale, reflecting the broad impact and international recognition of her work.

Edward Birnbaum is the Director of Planning and External Relations with Therme Canada where he is working to develop North America's largest waterpark and wellness facility. Previously, Edward was the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Toronto where he led the overhaul of the City's planning regulations. He studied City Planning and Urban Design at the University of Toronto and worked on radio documentaries for CBC and Deutche Welle.  

Dagur Eggertsson is an Icelandic architect and co-founder of Rintala Eggertsson Architects, a practice recognized internationally for its experiential, site-driven approach at the intersection of architecture and public art. He is a professor at the Iceland University of the Arts in Reykjavík and teaches regularly at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Eggertsson has lectured widely and has served as a visiting professor at institutions including Cornell University, the University of Virginia, the Fay Jones School of Architecture in Arkansas, and Monash University in Melbourne. He holds a master’s degree from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design and a post-professional master’s degree from the Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University), where his education was shaped by the phenomenological, cross-disciplinary teaching of Juhani Pallasmaa and early full-scale building experiments with his future partners. Together with Sami Rintala and Vibeke Jenssen, Eggertsson has developed a practice grounded in hands-on collaboration, often engaging students and clients directly in 1:1 building workshops. Recent works include the Gufa sauna in Vopnafjörður (Iceland), the Okulus outdoor art arena in Harpefoss (Norway), and the Corte del Forte dance pavilion for the 2018 Venice Biennale. The firm’s projects have been widely exhibited, published, and recognized with numerous international awards.

Martin Fenlon is the principal of Martin Fenlon Architecture in Los Angeles. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from Ohio State University and established his practice in 2004. His work focuses on sustainable architecture that is shaped by the unique qualities of the site and region, the needs of the client, and the logic and efficiency of construction. Fenlon has received multiple AIA awards, and his work has been recognized locally and internationally.

Manuel Irsara, Co-founder of S I R S , leads an award-winning boutique studio with a reputation for delivering unique, high-quality designs across a range of fields. Founded in 2010 by Manuel Irsara and Sebastian Soukup, the London and Vienna-based team specializes in crafting architecture grounded in sustainability, context, materiality and user experience. The studio works across scales - from furniture and interiors to arts, cultural, healthcare, hospitality, private housing and residential projects – collaborating closely with clients, design teams and fabricators to create tailored solutions that stand the test of time. Research and innovation lie at the core of the practice to achieve designs that are elegant, functional and environmentally conscious with the goal of making a meaningful impact on people's lives, both today and in the future. Manuel studied architecture at TU Vienna, TU Delft and The Bartlett in London before qualifying as an architect in Venice in 2006. He joined London based Future Systems / Amanda Levete Architects in 2007, gaining extensive experience in innovative design & fabrication and has been invited to architectural congresses and as visiting design critic in the UK and abroad.

Einar Jarmund is a Norwegian architect who graduated from the School of Architecture in Oslo in 1987 before completing a Master’s degree in Architecture at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1989. After returning to Norway, he co-founded Jarmund/Vigsnæs AS Arkitekter MNAL in 1996, a practice that became known for its thoughtful, concept-driven architectural work across a wide range of scales. In 2019 he established the Oslo-based studio Einar Jarmund & Co AS Arkitekter MNAL, continuing his long-standing commitment to carefully conceived and precisely detailed architecture. Jarmund’s practice works across Norway and other European countries, undertaking projects that span urban planning, landscape, buildings, and interiors. His approach is rooted in understanding the spirit of each site—urban or rural—and developing an independent concept for every project rather than relying on a predetermined stylistic direction. The studio gives priority to early involvement in creative programming and maintains an attentive relationship to context, aiming to respond to surroundings with clarity, sensitivity, and purpose. Through this work, Jarmund has established a practice defined by its breadth, its rigor, and its dedication to exploring all corners of the architectural field.

Gustav Jerlvall Jeppsson is founder of STRÅ Arkitekter in Oslo. With a strong focus on context, materiality, and craftsmanship, he develops thoughtful designs across scales, from bespoke homes to institutional projects. Grounded in Scandinavian design tradition, his work integrates structure, light, and texture to create spaces that are clear, inviting, and enduring, where quality, longevity, and human experience meet.  

Sai Luo is a RIBA Chartered Architect and Chinese registered architect with more than a decade of experience leading award-winning projects across culture, hospitality, and community-focused design. He is the co-founder and principal of LEL DESIGN STUDIO, an interdisciplinary practice established in 2015 with studios in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Mogan Mountain. His work blends cultural narrative, vernacular heritage, and contemporary living, with a particular emphasis on cultural regeneration and adaptive reuse. Sai’s portfolio includes luxury boutique hotels, cultural venues, and community hubs, each shaped by an approach that integrates traditional elements with modern spatial needs. His parallel role as co-founder of the Bigfish Community Design Center—a non-profit dedicated to participatory design and placemaking—reflects his commitment to connecting high-end design practice with social impact. His work has been internationally recognized, with distinctions including a Shortlisting in the Cultural Category of the 2023 Dezeen Awards, the 2025 DNA Paris Design Award, the Best Luxury Boutique Hotel Architecture title at the Luxury Lifestyle Awards 2024, and the Gold Award in Hospitality Design at the Architectural & Design Collection Awards 2024. He continues to explore architecture as a medium for connecting people, culture, and nature across diverse contexts. 

Gonçalo Marrote is an architect and CEO at Madeiguincho, based in Cascais, Portugal. The seeds that gave birth to Madeiguincho were planted by Gonçalo’s grandfather, who taught the art and secrets of carpentry to Gonçalo’s father. Officially open since 1990, Gonçalo started to collaborate with Madeiguincho in 2005. After finishing his studies in Architecture and postgraduate studies in Sculpture, he lived and worked abroad in India, the United States and Australia. After returning to Portugal in 2014, he is now leading Madeiguincho as CEO and Architect, joining three generations of knowledge in carpentry, architecture and art.

Caspar Schols is a Dutch designer, architect, and artist whose work explores the meeting point between architecture, ritual, and human presence. Originally trained in physics at the University of Amsterdam, he later broadened his focus through studies at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Arts and a scholarship at the Architectural Association in London. His practice is deeply informed by an early life spent building shelters in the forest and by a lifelong interest in how physical interaction shapes perception. In 2016 Schols designed and hand-built Garden House, a forest guest pavilion created for his mother, a project that quickly drew international attention and led to nominations for the Dirk Roosenburg Award, Radical Innovation Award, and Dezeen Small Building Longlist. This work laid the foundation for Cabin ANNA, the kinetic wooden structure for which he is best known. Developed through his studio, ANNA has received global recognition, including Architizer’s A+ Project of the Year, World Hotel Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival, and awards from Arc22, FRAME, and AHEAD Europe. Schols now leads Studio Caspar Schols and is co-founder of the Carroccera Collective in Northern Italy, where he continues to develop kinetic habitats, sculptural installations, and spatial concepts that deepen the relationship between dwelling and the natural landscape.

Antonio Yemail Cortés, founder of Yemail Arquitectura, is an architect and industrial designer from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, with a Master’s degree in Construction from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Born in Bogotá in 1982, he is currently pursuing a PhD in Architecture through a joint program at the Universidad de la República (Uruguay) and the Universidad de Alicante (Spain), while maintaining a parallel artistic practice. His work has been recognized with multiple distinctions, including First Prize at the Colombian Architecture Biennial (2012, 2024), the Ibero-American Design Biennial (2012), and the Quito Architecture Biennial (2016). His projects have been featured in A+U, Harvard Design Magazine, C3, ArchDaily, and Arquitectura Viva. He has been nominated for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative (2014), the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize (2024), and the Ammodo Architecture Award (2025). Yemail founded his Bogotá-based studio in 2007, bringing together professionals from architecture, art, design, and technical disciplines to explore spatial strategies across multiple scales. The practice emphasizes ecological, material, technological, and social diversity, and is known for experimental work defined by structural clarity, resource economy, and adaptive systems. This intellectual and operational openness has enabled the studio to engage with a wide range of project types, from the renovation of heritage buildings and the construction of productive rural housing to the development of installations, pavilions, and museums addressing contemporary cultural challenges—particularly memory, environmental repair, and decarbonization. He is also a professor at the School of Architecture at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, where he promotes architecture as a medium capable of establishing connections between diverse forms of life, both human and more-than-human.