JURY

Been an Architect with a vision to keep and transform in a sustainable and resilient way the world of design.

Krutika Shah is a licensed architect (USA and India) and urban designer recognized for her leadership in commercial and civil architecture. As the Lead Architect, she oversees multidisciplinary teams delivering complex public-sector, institutional, and commercial facilities in the U.S. and internationally. Her work is grounded in technical excellence, sustainability, and a commitment to creating resilient, accessible environments.In addition to her professional practice, Ms. Shah serves on the Board of Directors for AIA Potomac Valley and contributes to sustainability and equity initiatives through the Committee on the Environment (COTE). She mentors emerging professionals through national leadership and green building programs and speaks on architectural leadership, inclusive design, and the societal impact of the built environment.She brings to the Inspireli Awards a global perspective, a record of design stewardship, and a strong commitment to advancing the next generation of architects.

My architectural focus is shaped by a commitment to bringing clarity, purpose, and technical rigor to complex built environments. I work at the intersection of architectural design, systems thinking, and human centered performance, where every decision must respond to safety, resilience, and the lived experience of occupants. My background in architecture and space architecture has strengthened my ability to translate constraints into opportunities for innovation, especially in environments that demand precision and long term reliability.Space architecture continues to influence my approach to terrestrial design. It offers a lens through which the future of architecture can be understood, because it requires us to imagine habitats that support life in places where resources are limited and conditions are extreme. The future of space architecture will shape new methods of construction, new material strategies, and new models of environmental control that can inform sustainable and resilient design on Earth. I am motivated by this evolving frontier, where research and practice come together to redefine what is possible for human habitation.In my work, I value communication as a core design tool. Architecture succeeds when ideas are expressed with clarity and transformed into drawings, models, and documents that guide teams toward a shared vision. Whether reviewing student work or contributing to professional projects, I look for strength of concept, evidence of thoughtful decision making, and a clear connection between intention and outcome. My focus is to support design that is imaginative, technically grounded, and responsive to the future of our built environment.

Cen Shen graduated from Columbia University and has over seven years of experience in architecture, working across architectural design, building envelope design, and architectural research. Her work has received international recognition, and she has won more than ten design awards, including the iF Design Award, MUSE Design Awards Platinum, and the Architectural MasterPrize. She is also the founder of CSLab, a design and research platform focused on the intersection of future architectural design and industrial production, exploring how design can better respond to functional and environmental challenges through new biological materials, advanced building materials, and emerging production methods.In her professional practice at Elicc Group, a facade and architectural design company contributing to the New York skyline, she collaborates with leading architectural offices such as SHoP, BIG, and Handel in the development of building envelopes. Her work focuses not only on facade design, but also on improving architectural performance, environmental response, and facade feasibility through envelope design. This experience allows her to understand the logic behind architectural design and evaluate projects not only by their appearance, but by their environmental, social, and architectural value. When reviewing projects, she focuses on the underlying design ideas, spatial logic, and environmental strategies rather than only the visual outcome.

Cultural Projects:Museums, Libraries, Music Venues, Universities, Recreation Centers, Galleries, Community Centers, etc.Addtl. special interest in residences, especially contemporary renovations of historic structures

Yi Wang is a licensed architect based in New York and the founder of Yione Studio, an award-winning interdisciplinary design practice working at the intersection of architecture, computation, and spatial research. She has practiced across five countries and three continents, contributing to internationally recognized offices including Christian Kerez, SO–IL, Dorte Mandrup, Meier Partners, and Kengo Kuma & Associates. Her work spans cultural institutions, high-rise developments, and residential projects, with notable contributions to the Bahrain Car Park, the Williams College Museum of Art, and the Exile Museum. Her independent work explores architecture as a system of relationships between cultural memory, spatial logic, and emerging technologies, extending into installations, film, and mixed-reality applications. Her work has been recognized by The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards, Architizer A+ Awards, and the Metals in Construction Design Challenge, and has been published internationally in Designboom, The Architect’s Newspaper, and The Architectural Record. She is also a member of American Institute of Architects (AIA), Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), NCARB, LEED Green Associates.

Better lives, by design: Doing rational (not excessive) architecture that serves directly people's needs. Efficient planning is key to sustainability and equity of resources across the board. another focus: raising the leadership role of the architect, lost in today's world; giving more women a chance to have meaningful role in the profession.

Marani Architects s.r.o. Founder Professional settings

Brent is a registered architect in Kenya, emerging medical planner and researcher working as a designer II at Perkins & Will’s New York studio. He is a recipient of the 2020 Diana Award, was shortlisted for the 2021 Lexus Design Awards and the 2024 Drawing of the Year Award and graduated as the 2024 Yale Architecture School’s David M. Schwarz Traveling Fellow. With a bias to expressing his architectural research and design through culturally grounded illustrations, he is interested in infrastructure, healthcare and placemaking and developing practice that brings history, heritage and contextual narratives to the fore of design discourse in an equitable and empathetic way.

Hospitality

Architecture, Urban Planning and teaching.

Jun Deng, AIA, is an architect currently working in New York City. He grew up in China and later moved to the US to study architecture before embarking on his career in New York City. He has contributed to diverse projects across Asia and North America, immersing himself in various program types. Jun worked with many renowned firms. Many projects Jun led or participated in were published on platforms such as dezeen, designboom, archdaily, gooood.hk etc. He contributed to projects that were exhibited in the Venice Biennale and Chicago Architecture Biennial. His work has won international acclaim such as Architizer A+ Award, German Design Award, AN Award, etc. Passionate about mixed-use programs, Jun focuses on initiatives that enrich communities and contribute to urban density. His work includes leadership roles in projects such as a rural mission hospital in the Philippines and supertall projects in China and North America. Currently, Jun is actively involved in the design and technical developments of a leading tech campus in China. Aside from his many contributions to the team, Jun loves to explore the application of parametric tools to enhance interoperability across different programs. His efforts have been instrumental in bridging the workflow between Rhino and Revit. Besides this, Jun is interested in the relationship between architecture and health. He’s currently working on many projects focusing on health and sustainability with the built environment.

Architecture...

Academic, Director of the School of Architecture, Clemson University

Provide opportunities for architects to be a force for positive change in the world.