Mark Wigley (1956)
New Zealand-born architect and author Mark Wigley is Dean of Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, New York. He is one of the foremost architectural theorists and critics of his generation, and has written extensively on the theory and practice of architecture. In 2005, Wigley co-founded Volume Magazine together with Rem Koolhaas and Ole Bouman. As a guest curator he made widely attended exhibitions at a.o. the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Witte de With, Rotterdam.
    www.arch.columbia.edu

Branded by Space
The 20th century witnessed the Bilbao Effect: the ability of architecture to put an organization and even a city firmly on the world map. Now that architecture with a built-in wow effect has become the norm, attention is shifting to the interior. What’s the secret behind the current power of this amalgam of fashion, design and architecture? And how does interior design influence the private and public domain?



Robert Thiemann (1964)
Educated as a chemical engineer, Robert Thiemann began his career as a copywriter and later turned to journalism, where he specialized in design, with a strong focus on interiors. In 1997 he co-founded Frame: The Great Indoors, an international bimonthly magazine of interior design of which he is still editor in chief. He is a shareholder of Frame Publishers, a company that released its first book on interior design in 2001. In 2005 he co-founded Mark: Another Architecture, a bimonthly magazine on architecture, of which he is also editor in chief. Thiemann has served on juries for numerous design competitions and has lectured throughout Europe.
    http://www.framemag.com

Moderator for The Great Indoors Conference 'Branded by Space'.



Fabio Novembre (1966)
Milan-based Fabio Novembre is not only architect and designer, but also author, poet and provocateur. His interiors for boutiques, hotels, bars and restaurants present a mix of neo-baroque luxury, minimalism, kitsch and classic quotations. His furniture − mainly for Cappellini − is always a manifesto. Novembre has outdone Philippe Starck in the love of scandalous photo sessions and paradoxical statements.
    http://www.novembre.it

Ego-Tecture?
To an ever-increasing degree, the interior acts as an organization’s calling card. It tells the outside world a lucid story composed of colour, form and material. It’s the designer’s job to interpret and realize that story in a memorable way. But how well does this task coincide with a designer’s unique signature? How much of his personality can he reveal before it intrudes on the client’s narrative? Italian architect Fabio Novembre finds a rich source of inspiration in his own experiences.




Jürgen Mayer H (1965)
Founded in 1996 in Berlin, Germany, Jürgen Mayer H. Architects focus on work at the intersection of architecture, communication and new technology. From urban-planning schemes and buildings to installation work and objects featuring new materials, Jürgen Mayer H.’s portfolio reflects a relationship involving the human body, technology and nature: three ingredients that form the background for a new production of space. Jürgen Mayer H. also teaches at Columbia University in New York.
    http://www.jmayerh.de

Inside Out
Although his professional roots are in the design of trade-fair stands and installations, German architect Jürgen Mayer H. is currently causing a stir with buildings whose interiors and exteriors fluidly merge and mingle. His buildings can be read as enormous objects suitable for any number of sites. Do you get another kind of architecture when you design a building from the inside out? What can architects learn from interior designers?



Hella Jongerius (1963)
Dutch designer Hella Jongerius works on the cusp of design, craft, art and technology to fuse traditional and contemporary influences. In her opinion, useful objects are saturated with references to specific contexts and specific moments in history. ‘If you refer to that history explicitly and include all the associations in a new story, then you are communicating something – and it’s something about useful objects.’ Among her clients are companies such as Vitra, IKEA and Maharam, but also New York’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum and Galerie Kreo of Paris. Her first monograph was published in 2003.
    http://www.jongeriuslab.com

Skin Stories: Interior Surfaces
Images prevail in today’s society. They immediately capture attention and consequently transmit messages. How to address this phenomenon in interiors? Can the skin of objects and the finishes of spaces tell their own stories?



Li Edelkoort (1950)
Li Edelkoort is a world-renowned trend forecaster. Travelling, shopping and exploring the world from pole to pole, she constantly gathers information about lifestyles and emotions. Working for leading brands in the automobile, cosmetic, fashion and design industries, she reports on foreshadowing signals of consumer tastes, without ignoring economic reality. Her analyses and forecasts have been published in magazines such as Bloom and View on Colour, but also in trend books and customized business reports. She lectures all over the world, compiles exhibitions and is director of the Design Academy Eindhoven.
    http://www.edelkoort.com

COVERED / UNCOVERED: lifestyles and interiors for 2009
Colour trends affect every conceivable product, from cars and shoes to mobile phones, lamps and wallpaper. Since interiors unite many of these objects, they are no exception. What’s more, interior design has become closely intertwined with fashion. How to address future colours? Which textures and materials will be en vogue in the coming years? And what are the steering mechanisms behind these interior trends?



Guus Beumer (1955)
Trained as a sociologist and philosopher, Guus Beumer started his career in fashion. Together with Alexander van Slobbe he ran Orson + Bodil a women's label, followed by SO by Alexander van Slobbe for men. From fashion he stepped into design and was the artsitic director of the Rotterdam Design Prize. He is currently director of Marres, center for contemporary culture, Maastricht and director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute Maastricht. Meanwhile he also established himself as a design critic writing for various Dutch and international magazines.
    http://www.naimaastricht.nl

Moderator The Great Indoors Conference 'Branded by Space'.