Buildner is pleased to announce its jury for the Sansusī Forest Food Court competition!

Paula Gāgane, Fold
Uldis Trapencieris, Latvian National Symphony orchestra, TJZK, Sansusī
Armands Siliņš-Bergmanis, opera singer, Sansusī
Ivars Veinbergs, NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture)
Oskars Kotello, MERU arhitekti 
Marija Katrina Dambe, NOMAD architects

Paula Gāgane is an architect, editor of the Latvian creative industries platform Fold. Interested in exploring the interaction and communication of various design disciplines.

Uldis Trapencieris is trained as a carpenter but his greatest expertise for 15 years was in desktop publishing and in the advertisement - making magazines, books, brand identities and ads. Since 2014 he’s part of "Alternative chamber music festival Sansusi" building, making and inventing the festival’s creative backbone. In 2016 he left the publishing business for good to join "Latvian National Symphony orchestra" as technical director. In 2018 he founded his very own concert hall "Tu jau zini Kur!" (TJZK) where he with like minded colleagues are looking for ways to reinvent and revitalize academic music and combine it with all other stage arts - dance, theatre, circus and poetry. Three seasons later TJZK expanded with Space for Contemporary Art “TUR_Telpa” which aims to utilise its unique space to stimulate artists to present novel approaches to their artistic practice through exhibitions organised in collaboration with the space organisers.

Armands Siliņš-Bergmanis is an opera singer who in 2013 started the idea of alternative festival for chamber music “Sansusī”. He is a board member of association Sansusī and one of the co creators of most of the formats developed in this festival. In 2016 started to devolop artist residency center in Susēja. As a singer works in Latvian National Opera more than 15 years and known as music curator and producer as well.

Ivars Veinbergs is an architect at the Riga based office NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture) with a portfolio of public and cultural buildings, including the Riga Circus renovation. He has been the co-curator of the Latvian pavilion at the Venice biennale in 2014 and 2021. Besides his architect's practice Ivars has been involved in a number of graphic design projects and has worked on stage set designs for theatre.

Oskars Kotello is an architect and co-founder of MERU arhitekti based in Riga, Latvia. He holds Barch from thr Riga Technical University. Oskars is practicing architect with 15 years of experience working on architectural projects in private and public spectrum. Projects vary from private and residential buildings to public and educational buildings alongside with urban planing projects. Oskars is a big fan of Sansusi festival, and has a deep comprehension about phisical space that festival surrounds.

Marija Katrina Dambe is a sustainable architect and founder of NOMAD architects. She studied architecture at the Vienna Academy of Arts and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She currently teaches in Vidzeme University's Sustainable Buildings Construction program, has given lectures at Art Academy of Latvia and Riga Technical University and led international students in the Mood for Wood workshops. NOMAD architects is a small office that works with projects of various scales - from building design and various types of research to public education. The guiding principle of the office is that sustainable construction forms the core of good architecture. It is a challenge to fit within planetary and social boundaries while at the same time providing a healthy, adaptable and long-lasting built environment. Being aware that only together it is only possible to create significant changes in the construction industry, NOMAD strives for networks and creating cooperation between various experts in the field of construction, and also focuses on promoting awareness in society of what impact the construction industry has on the environment.

The Sansusī Forest Food Court competition is being run in partnership with the festival, tasking architects and designers to create a food court structure that would function as the center of the festival. The structure would need to be able to be assembled by hand and should be constructed of sustainable materials.

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