Design Council chief executive Minnie Moll and architects Omar Gandhi, Zhu Pei, Olga Bogdanova and Byoungsoo Cho have been announced as Dezeen Awards 2023 judges.
Dezeen Awards 2023, in partnership with Bentley Motors, is open for entries. There is less than one month left to submit your project before midnight London time on 1 June and avoid late entry fees.
Now in its sixth year, the programme has become the ultimate accolade for architects and designers everywhere, with winners selected by a prestigious panel of international judges.
Read on to learn more about the new names that will form a part of the judging panel this year:
Moll is the chief executive of the Design Council, the UK's national strategic advisory for design. Since joining the council in 2021, she has led the Design for Planet mission to help address the climate crisis.
Moll has worked in innovation, design, advertising and brand consultancy. She was a managing partner of advertising agency HHCL and global marketing director of innovation at consultancy What If, which was awarded Great Place to Work Institute's Best Place to Work in the UK for two consecutive years.
She has been a board member of two Business Improvement Districts, a geographical area in which the local businesses have voted to invest together to improve services, and the Town Deals Board, a £3.6 billion fund investing in towns as part of the government's plan to level up UK regions.
In 2020 Moll was voted Vistage UK Business Leader of the Year and in 2016 she was appointed as the ambassador for responsible business in the East of England by King Charles III.
Gandhi is the principal of Omar Gandhi Architects, an architectural practice founded in 2010 with teams in Halifax and Toronto.
He was named one of Monocle Magazine's Most Influential Canadians and chosen as one of the Architectural League of New York's Emerging Voices of 2016. In 2018, Gandhi was appointed the Louis I Kahn visiting Assistant Professorship in Architectural Design at Yale University's School of Architecture.
Studio Omar Gandhi Architects was awarded the Canada Council for the Arts Professional Prix de Rome and has been included in Wallpaper Magazine's Architects Directory. In 2018, the firm received the Governor General Medal in Architecture for its cabin project Rabbit Snare Gorge in remote Nova Scotia.
Recent projects by the Canadian studio include a mountaintop retreat in British Columbia, a cedar-clad home in Nova Scotia, a vaulted wood interior for a restaurant and a house featuring three offset volumes.
Pei is the founder of eponymous Beijing-based practice Studio Zhu Pei.
The Chinese architect has been a visiting professor at Harvard University and Columbia University and an architecture jury member for the Mies van der Rohe Award. He is currently dean of the School of Architecture at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and a visiting professor at Yale University.
Pei's works have been exhibited at locations including MoMA in New York, Venice Architecture Bienniale, GA Gallery in Tokyo, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Dresden State Art Museum, Sao Paulo Art Biennial, as well as in solo exhibitions at Aedes Architecture Forum, Harvard University, MAXXI museum in Rome.
Recent projects by office Studio Zhu Pei include an art centre in the easter province of Shandong with sweeping concrete roofs, a performing arts centre in Dali and a museum informed by traditional brick kilns.
Bogdanova is the chief architect and art director of studio Bogdanova Bureau.
Practice Bogdanova Bureau advocates for sustainable luxury and specialises in architecture and design. The studio is also a consultancy that helps furniture brands with creative management and product development.
Bogdanova is committed to promoting and nurturing Ukrainian design and showcasing it globally. She directed and supervised the first presentations of Ukrainian design at Paris design week, Dutch design week and Milan design week.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, practice Bogdanova Bureau's team spread across Europe and switched its focus to international projects. The firm is currently working on rebuilding the Makariv medical ambulatory next to Kyiv, which was destroyed by a Russian missile.
Cho is the founder of Seoul-based architecture practice BCHO Partners.
He has taught at Harvard University, Universität Kaiserslautern, Montana State University and Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark as a chair professor.
Together with Eui Young Chun, Cho is curating the 2023 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. Now in its fourth edition, the Seoul Biennale is hosting its 100-year Masterplan Exhibition which follows the theme of Multi-Layered Land Use and Green Network and will establish long-term plans for the city, including eco-friendly solutions and new infrastructure.
The South Korean studio has received several awards including the Korean Institute of Architects (KIA) Award for the Hanil Visitors Center and Guest House and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Montana Honor Award for Earth House.
Dezeen Awards 2023
Dezeen Awards celebrates the world's best architecture, interiors and design. Now in its sixth year, it has become the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The annual awards are in partnership with Bentley Motors, as part of a wider collaboration that will see the brand work with Dezeen to support and inspire the next generation of design talent.