Morocco Oasis Retreat Jury Panel!

Sam Brown, O’DonnellBrown 
Yang Fei, Field Object Lab
Roxanne Kaye, SAOTA
Marta Maccaglia, Asociación Semillas
Francesca Perani, Francesca Perani Enterprise
Lera Samovich, Fala Atelier
Tom Schroeder, Patkau Architects
Liwei Shen, SASAKI
Lei Zheng, Zaha Hadid Architects

Sam Brown is co-founder of Glasgow-based O’DonnellBrown. ODB is a growing studio with a strong social conscience and a mission to bring about positive change. Sam oversees projects of various scales throughout the UK, including large-scale housing, commercial refurbishment and extension, master planning and education schemes. He also manages all areas of the practice. Prior to founding the studio, he was architecture team leader at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for seven years. There he was responsible for all projects, involving coordination, design management, client liaison, dispute resolution and consultant appointments, as well as project liaison, cost management and contract administration. During his time at Tower Hamlets, he also fulfilled the role of Client Design Advisor, attending regular project meetings to comment on design, check drawings and technical details, advise on any direct design queries and how best to resolve obstacles. Sam is also actively involved in architectural education, having filled the roles of Associate Lecturer, Study Support Tutor and Professional Practice Examiner at Central Saint Martins in London, and more recently as Studio Design Tutor at the University of Strathclyde. He currently teaches at Glasgow School of Art as a Studio Design Tutor. Sam has lectured around the UK at various education institutions, conferences and events and is also a judge for the Glasgow Institute of Architects’ annual design awards.


Yang Fei is the founder and director of Field Object Lab, an architecture and landscape design consultancy based in Boston and New York City. He holds a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and served as a project designer at Kohn Pedersen Fox in New York for over three years, contributing to notable projects such as the HKUST Guangzhou Campus and the CITIC Tower in Beijing. Currently, he leads Field Object Lab, focusing on creating spaces and sensory experiences that resonate with both individuals and broader contexts. Yang Fei has a diverse range of experience, particularly in adaptive reuse. His previous works include revitalizing buildings such as a 17th-century townhouse in Montreal and Kenzo Tange’s Kagawa Prefecture Gymnasium in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. He strives to re-contextualize and re-situate old structures within contemporary life while preserving the authenticity of their origins. His work has been recognized with awards such as the Harvard James Templeton Kelley Prize, the Architizer A+Awards, the Architecture MasterPrize, and the International Design Awards. Additionally, his projects have been exhibited at the European Cultural Centre’s “Time Space Existence” in Italy and at the UABB 2022 “Exodusolarism, Walking Cities in Light” in Shenzhen.

Roxanne Kaye is a Principal at Cape Town-based SAOTA. Roxanne completed a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Cape Town in 2007. She joined SAOTA directly after graduating as an architect-in training and gained early experience taking a project from concept to site. Roxanne soon established herself within the company with her ambition, work ethic and camaraderie. Her design skills, project management capabilities and devotion to delivering to the client while retaining integrity of design has seen her quickly become a senior member of staff. Roxanne was appointed as Principal at SAOTA in 2022.

Marta Maccaglia is Founder of Peru-based Asociación Semillas. She deals with architecture projects, and has become a specialist in educational, academic and research spaces in the Peruvian Amazon emerging contexts’ and human settlements of Lima.  She is Professor at the architecture department of Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de América Latina (Ucal), finalist for the Dorfman Award of the Royal Academy 2022, AR-Emerging Award 2020, Winner of the 2019 Architecture Sans Frontiéres International Award, Winner of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2018, and honorary member of the Curry Stone Social Circle since 2017.

Francesca Perani is an architect and designer. Her work ranges from interior architecture to interactive design, from illustration to activism. In 2007 she established Francesca Perani Enterprise, an award winning studio she runs based in Bergamo, Italy. Material and visual experimentation, trial and error, emotional and communicative charge finds its expression in spaces, objects and graphics. The practice is driven by the power of shared creativity as an effective instrument to bring about change. She is also co-founder and curator of activist project RebelArchitette advocating for equality in Architecture through the open dissemination of 1000 female role models. And she is the founder of cutoutmix: an internationally popular free open platform as an answer to the growing need for more equal and diverse cutouts populating design renders.

Lera Samovich is an architect at Fala Atelier in Porto, Portugal. She studied architecture at Moscow Institute of Architecture and Moscow Architecture School. Previously she collaborated professionally with Bureau Alexander Brodsky, Asse Architects.

Tom Schroeder is a senior architect with Patkau Architects and a guest critic / adjunct faculty at the University of British Columbia.  Tom has led teams of architects on a broad range of projects including some of the most distinguished and innovative academic, cultural, civic and residential projects in Canada.

Liwei Shen, ASLA, LEED AP, is a landscape designer at SASAKI. She received a Master of Landscape Architecture degree with distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture degree with distinction from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. As the 2022 LAF Olmsted Scholar from Harvard University, Liwei believes that landscape architecture should address global dynamics and risks while maintaining precision in local cultural representation. Her research focuses on the potential of design to contribute to climate and environmental justice, advocating for new forms of resource and power distribution. Liwei's accolades include the LA+ EXOTIQUE First Prize, the GSD Graduate Thesis Prize, the Peter Walker Fellowship, the Boston Society of Landscape Architecture Excellence Award, and the World Landscape Architecture Student Merit Award. Her work has been presented at the American Society of Landscape Architects 2023 Annual Conference and the Boston Society of Landscape Architecture 2022 Summit. Additionally, she has served as a jury member for the Boston Society of Landscape Architecture 2023 Awards and the TerraViva International Architecture Competition, as well as a peer reviewer for the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture International Conference in 2024. Liwei's writings have been published in the Ecological Restoration Journal and on the World Landscape Architecture website. At SASAKI, Liwei plays a significant role in campus planning and public landscape design. Her expertise includes geological and hydrological analysis, planning framework design, stormwater management system design, and grading strategies for accessibility in complex topography. Her proficiency has been demonstrated through projects such as the UC Berkeley Accessible Paths and Places Master Plan, which received the SCUP 2024 Jury’s Choice Award, as well as the Texas Christian University Campus Master Plan, the UT Austin East Mall and Precursors Commemorations, and the Boston City Hall Plaza, among others. Her practice is committed to innovation and sustainability in public and institutional realms.

Lei Zheng is an associate at Zaha Hadid Architects. She has extensive experience in engineering and architecture projects in China, participating as a consulting engineer on a number of international competitions. Lei’s research has focused on the capability of new digital technologies to investigate the relationship between architecture and engineering in buildings in urban scenarios. Lei is a course lecturer at the Architectural Association, where she teaching technical studies, as well as a visiting lecturer at the Bartlett, where she teaches computational design,. She has an engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Science in Emergent Technologies and design from the Architectural Association.