Current Jury

Adham Nadim

Adham Nadim

Egypt

CEO of NADIM Industries since 1999. With over 40 years in various capacities
managing NADIM Industries.
Started training at NADIM, at age 14. Receiving a degree in Islamic Art and Architecture, AUC
1986.
Worked on prestigious projects throughout the world. With a passion for traditional arts and
crafts Nadim participated in the six year restoration and conservation of Al Darb Al Asfar area
including the 16th century Bayt el Suhaymi.
Nadim is co-founder and board member of the NADIM Foundation. The foundation is
documenting historic woodwork and working on the Egyptian woodwork encyclopedia, 5000
years of industry.

Dina Shaker

Egypt

Dina Shaker is an interior architect turned fashion deconstructionist, reimagining classic
heritage codes for Neo-Egyptian cultural narratives. With a background in fine arts and
interior architecture, she is known for architectural forms expressed through deconstruction,
asymmetry, and hybridization. Her philosophy embraces timelessness, raw beauty, and
minimalism, redefining luxury beyond consumerism. She founded her first brand, SPICY, in
1999, and in 2013 launched her signature label, showcased at leading trade shows in London,
Paris, and Tokyo. In 2024, she became the first Egyptian brand on Portugal Fashion Week’s
main runway with 35 looks, gaining international acclaim and media recognition.
○ Main Base of Operations: Cairo, Egypt
○ Website: www.dinashaker.com
○ Social Media: Instagram @dinashaker

Dina Shaker
Dr Aysar Ghassan

Dr Aysar Ghassan

Egypt

Dr Aysar Ghassan has been a design educator for 20 years. He has worked at Coventry
University since 2013; in that time, he has taught on the university's prestigious
undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Automotive and Transport Design, leading the
latter for 6 years. Additionally, as well as writing on Automotive Design for a range of
publications, Aysar has written and narrated a programme on the subject for BBC Radio 3's
'The Essay'.

Dr. Amr Abdel Kawi

Egypt

Dr. Amr Abdel Kawi is Professor of Practice in Architecture at the American University in
Cairo,
and Director of NextARCH Lab, an interactive research and engagement platform that
empowers all stakeholders of the built environment. His tenure in education also includes
extensive periods at Ain Shams University and the Arab Academy. Dr. Abdel Kawi played a
role in the local and regional professional discourse in his capacity as publisher and editor in
chief of two of Egypt’s leading architecture and design magazines: “Medina” a nd “Magaz”.
This is in addition to over three decades of professional practice and consulting in
architecture
and interior design. Dr. Abdel Kawi is also one of the key experts in the field of technical
education and vocational training in Egypt.

Dr. Amr Abdel Kawi
Hisham Ghorab

Hisham Ghorab

Egypt

Hisham Ghorab is the co-founder and managing partner of Style Design, a multidisciplinary architecture and design firm established in Cairo in 1989.
With over 30 years of industry experience, he has earned a reputation for creating and executing timeless and inspiring designs across a wide range of notable projects, including Khufu’s Restaurant, King Khufu Center at the Great Pyramids of Giza, Silversands Hotel and Villas in Grenada, Tahrir Cultural Center and Cafeteria at the American University in Cairo, Consoleya Co-Working Space in downt own Cairo, and many more.
By following “invisible design” approach seamlessly blends each space into its surroundings, emphasising minimalism, sustainability, functionality, and the promotion of positive energy and well-being.

Jack Watson

...

Jack Watson is a multidisciplinary designer with experience across aviation, automotive, and
yacht industries. His work includes projects such as production vehicles for Rolls-Royce, CEER,
and FAW Group. As well as the 2017 Singapore Airlines business class seat and luxury yacht
collaborations. Jack is currently based in London, UK as Director of NER Design. With
expertise in exterior design, he focuses on refined sculptural forms, blending simplicity,
geometry, and human-centered principles as well as integrated sustainable thinking. Beyond
design, he is also an Artist and YouTuber, exploring creativity as a universal part of daily life.

Jack Watson
Jochen Braun

Jochen Braun

Germany

Jochen Braun is a German designer, educator, and consultant based in Cairo, Egypt. He is Director and Professor of the Graphic Design Program at the American University in Cairo (AUC), where he teaches UX/UI Design and Creative Coding. Trained in Software Engineering and Graphic Design, his practice explores generative typography, visual identity systems, and computational aesthetics through coded experimentation. He is the founder of the design studio BRDGE and co-founder of the 100/100 Hundred Best Arabic Posters competition, with over 20 yea rs of international professional experience.

Kegham Djeghalian

France

Kegham Djeghalian is a Paris and Cairo based creative director, fashion practitioner, visual
artist and educator whose work lie in the intersection of fashion practices, education, image
and the archive. He is Professor of Fashion Practices and Visual Culture at the German
International University (GIU) where he is the Artistic Director of the Fashion Department. In
2023, he launched an educational partnership with Christian Dior Paris and Egyptian fashion
design students at the GIU (Dior x GIU Lab), the first international design edu cation project of
Dior. He worked, consulted and collaborated with a diverse repertoire of local and
international fashion houses, agencies and publications the likes of Dior, Hermès and Kenzo;
his visual arts work and interventions were exhibited internationally in galleries, institutions
and museums the likes of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, The Sharjah Art Museum in the UAE
and the Photographers’ Gallery in London.

Kegham Djeghalian
Khaled El-Ashry

Khaled El-Ashry

United Kingdom

Khaled ElAshry bridges architecture and computer science in his professional work. He is a Partner in the Applied Research and Development (Applied R+D) group at Foster + Partners and has previously taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. He holds a master's degree in Adaptive Architecture and Computation from UCL. Khaled’s recent work focuses on applying advanced technologies to architectural design, with expertise in geometry optimisation, fabrication, robotics, virtual reality, and software development. Hi s contributions have been central to landmark projects such as the new KSIA airport in Riyadh, Mobility Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, 425 Park Avenue in New York and the Lusail World Cup Stadium in Doha. He has also collaborated with Boston Dynamics on research exploring the role of robotics in the construction industry.

Lefteris Heretakis

Egypt

Lefteris is a designer, educator, and podcaster with extensive international experience
spanning multinational corporations, cultural organisations, and start-ups. As an educator, he
has taught visual communication across the UK, Spain, China, Turkey, Vietnam, and Latvia,
combining traditional and digital skills to equip students for today’s fast-changing design
world. He founded The New Art School to nurture designers through observation and hand
eye coordination, and established the Design Education Forum to connect global speciali sts
in art and design education. As host and producer of Design Education Talks, and through
mentoring worldwide, he promotes accessible, expert-driven mentorship in design.

Lefteris Heretakis
Mohamed Fares

Mohamed Fares

Egypt

Mohamed Fares is a leading figure in Egypt’s creative scene and the Co-founder of Alchemy Group, alongside founding roles in MF & Associates, Alchemy Experience, Tamara Haus, and Alchemy Architecture. Representing Egypt at the IYDE Awards in London in 2008, Fares has built a career spanning architecture, hospitality, design, and the arts. His creative pursuits extend into eyewear, photography, music, and filmmaking, where he demonstrates a strong talent for storytelling and visuals. His ongoing iPhone Series, launched in 2017, has been showca sed internationally, highlighting his ability to capture beauty in everyday life. Based in Cairo, Fares’ projects span the globe, blending imagination, clarity, and narrative depth across disciplines.

Monica Alberte

France

Monica Alberte is an interna/onally acclaimed Produc/on Designer and Set Decorator with
over 20 years of experience in film and television. Based between Paris, London, Madrid and
Budapest, she has worked across the US and Europe on produc/ons such as Yves Saint
Laurent, Edge of Tomorrow, Allied, The AJermath, Terminator: Dark Fate, and Alien:
Romulus. A graduate of ECAM Madrid Film School, with further studies in Los Angeles and
Paris, she is celebrated for her me/culous eye for historical detail and crea/ve storytelling.
Her accla imed work on The Great (“Wedding”) earned Emmy, ADG, and SDSA nomina/ons
for outstanding produc/on design and set decora/on. Monica Alberte blends authen/city
with ar/stry, shaping immersive visual worlds that elevate both blockbuster films and period
dramas.

Monica Alberte
Paolo Cardini

Paolo Cardini

..

Paolo Cardini is a designer, educator, and cultural provocateur whose work playfully
challenges dominant narratives through critical and discursive design. A Full Professor and
Graduate Program Director at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), he blends design
practice, foresight research, and global engagement to explore how identities shape, and are
shaped by, design. With a background spanning three continents, he designs and consults
for various international firms and he is lecturing in conferences and design schools
worldw ide contributing actively to the field with papers and publications.

Rami Riad

Egypt

Rami Riad is CEO of Giorgetti USA, managing the North and South American territories of an
Italian high-end furniture manufacturer. He studied business at Alexandria University,
furniture design in the Netherlands, and interior design at the Fashion Institute of
Technology in New York City, where he is currently based. He has over 20 years of experience
working at the intersection of art, design, and commerce across four continents. He
specializes in communicating design principles across commercial and artistic milieus and is
recog nized for his strategic leadership.

Rami Riad

Past Jury

Annabel Kassar

Annabel Kassar

London, UK

Annabel Karim Kassar is a French-Lebanese architect and designer. She attended the School of Architecture (Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris) and graduated DPLG. As the founder of AKK Architects, with offices in Beirut, Dubai, and London, she has developed masterplans, commercial, cultural, and historical residential buildings, and interiors for office spaces, bars, clubs, and restaurants using its unique furniture and lighting collections.

Her career has been devoted to exploring the frontier between eastern and western design in a series of majo r building projects across North America, the Levant, and the Gulf.
 
Current projects include a four-story London townhouse renovation; hospitality projects including Ella Funt restaurant in New York; two restaurants for the Rixos 5-star hotel chain in Dubai and Abu Dhabi; and a golf club in Ajman, UAE.

Bahia Shehab

Lebanon - Egypt

Bahia Shehab is an artist and author based in Cairo. She is Professor of design and founder of the graphic design program at The American University in Cairo. Her work has been exhibited internationally and has received a number of international awards including the BBC’s 100 women’s list, a TED Senior Fellowship, a Prince Claus Award, and the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture. She is the founding director of TypeLab@AUC, her latest publications include You Can Crush the Flowers: A Visual Memoir of the Egyptian Revolution and the award- winning co-authored book A History of Arab Graphic Design.

Bahia Shehab
Brendan MacFarlane

Brendan MacFarlane

Architect

Brendan MacFarlane has taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture and the Architectural Association in London; the Special School of Architecture in Paris; the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arc) in Los Angeles, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, MA.

In 1998, he and Dominique Jakob co-founded Jakob+MacFarlane, a multi-disciplinary practice focused on architecture, urban planning and design. Their projects and works have been exhibited in museums worldwide, including Centre Pompidou (Paris), Museum of Architecture (Moscow), and Victoria & Albert Museum (London)
SFMOMA (San Francisco), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), and Carnegie Mellon (USA).

Dima Rashid

Palestine

Dima Rashid, a jewellery designer with Palestinian roots, was born in Kuwait and raised in Saudi Arabia then moved to Canada before settling in Egypt. In 2003, she founded Dima Jewellery, which uses the finest 18kt hand hammered gold, dazzling diamonds, carefully selected precious, and semi-precious stones sourced from all over the world, Persia and India for an example. Each piece is meticulously hand-crafted and tailor-made, showcasing the natural and asymmetrical rhythms of the artisanal stones. Dima has excelled at blending the ancient and modern worlds, infusing her designs with a unique fusion of tradition and contemporary style. Her beautifully handcrafted jewelry reflects her exposure to diverse cultures and her life in Egypt, drawing inspiration from the vibrant colors and rhythms of the country's rich history. Dima's creations have adorned international celebrities and world leaders, including Queen Rania of Jordan, Yousra, Mona Zaki, Hend Sabry, Naomi Campbell, Gisele Bundchen, Heidi Klum, Gigi Hadid, Vanessa Williams, Susan Sarandon, and Eva Mendez.

Dima Rashid
Eduardo Aires

Eduardo Aires

Porto, Portugal

Eduardo Aires lives and works in Porto, Portugal. He graduated in Graphic Design at Porto University's Faculty of Fine Arts (FBAUP, 1987), where he is associate professor and was awarded his PhD (2006) with a thesis on Editorial Design. At FBAUP he would later be founder of the MA in Graphic Design and Editorial Projects. He is artistic director of Studio Eduardo Aires, a multidisciplinary design agency focusing on communication. Among the Studio's many internationally awarded projects is the identity of the city of Porto (2014). In addition to commissioned projects, he is dedicated to the creation of unique objects.

Gauthier Guillaume

UAE / Dubai

Gauthier Guillaume is an award-winning interior designer. He founded GG & Grace International in 2010 with studios in Dubai, Cairo, and Nairobi. Gauthier has designed and delivered more than 30 hotel projects on four different continents and in 14 different countries. More recently, he founded Grace Virtual Reality, a dedicated team of experts specializing in designing and developing interactive and immersive virtual reality projects. Gauthier gets under the skin of brands and consumers to create captivating, meaningful virtual and physical rea lity experiences. He constantly opens his mind to un-thought-of design possibilities that make destinations magnetic, details that surprise, and experiences that touch the heart.

Gauthier Guillaume
Guillaume Crédoz

Guillaume Crédoz

Beirut - Lebanon

At the forefront of the digital manufacturing revolution, Crédoz recognized it as a natural and tangible extension of his expertise. Following stints in various countries where he founded multiple architectural practices, he eventually established "Bits to Atoms," a distinctive venture dedicated to harnessing the potential of digital manufacturing to enhance craftsmanship in both architecture and design.

In 2015, he founded the collective "BeirutMakers," and in 2020, he became part of Philip Beesley's "Living Architecture Systems Group" (LA SG) collective.

Today, Crédoz's award-winning architectural firm, "Bits to Atoms," boasts a recent portfolio of projects includes the prestigious National Theater of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, contributing to the urban transformation of its port. Additionally, they've designed a pivotal third-place building for Tripoli in Lebanon and introduced "Ubic," an innovative system of modular prefabricated housing.

Karim El Hayawan

Egypt

Karim El Hayawan, cofounder and principal designer of Design Point Studios founded and based in Cairo, Egypt in 2001.
Priding itself on its multidisciplinary nature, immersed in diverse aspects of design,
art, culture, and social engagement. Design Point has collaborated and engaged with well-respected designers, artists, artisans, and institutions both regionally and
internationally to produce an array of projects, products, and installations. For Design Point, expression through various mediums and domains serves as a tool for raising ques tions, shifting mindsets, and creating impactful change. The studios’ diverse design ethos stems from the diversity of the founder's interests.

Karim El Hayawan
Michael Schneider

Michael Schneider

Southern Germany

Michael Schneider, founder of designschneider, has shaped the design landscape since 1993 with his innovative approach to product, furniture, and exhibition design. Educated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and with experience at Phoenix Design, Schneider's designs balance beauty with function. Over the years, he's been recognized with prestigious accolades including multiple red dot awards. Whether mentoring the next generation at institutions like the University of Arts in Berlin or traveling the globe for inspiration, Schneider remai ns a driving force in the design world.

Miroslaw Leczek

Poland

Miroslaw is a graduate engineer in Industrial Design from FH JOANNEUM University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria. Born in Poland and raised in Germany, he worked as a Product and Industrial Designer in an extended field of industrial design, including consumer goods, electronic appliances, and furniture. Since the beginning of 2020, he has been appointed Ass. Prof. at the Industrial Design Department of the Design Faculty at GIU German International University, Cairo. He was leading, both conceptually and hands-on, the general establishment of the Industrial Design Department throughout the last three years.

As a multicultural spirit passionate about design and nature, he currently deals with discourses and designs towards sustainable technologies of care. He questions, in a holistic and detailed sense, how, where, when, and why we introduce care into our practice as designers.

Miroslaw Leczek
Mohamed Attia

Mohamed Attia

Egypt

Mohamed Attia is an Egyptian award-winning art director
and production designer who has established a prominent
name in the industry across Egypt and the Arab region.
He started his career in 2004, working on Klephty film by
director Mohamed Khan. Following that, he collaborated
with Mohamed Khan once more on Banat Wist El-balad
and Fi Shaket Mar El Gedeeda. Throughout his career,
Attia worked on key Egyptian films by prominent directors,
including Marwan Hamed, whom he worked with in the
horror film series The Blue Elephant, The Origi nals and
Diamond Dust.
Attia has also been one of the key artistic directors behind
various public events, Including the execution process for
The Pharaohs' Golden Parade, the World Youth Forum in
2018 and 2019, the latest three consecutive editions of the
Cairo International Film Festival and the third edition of El Gouna FIlm Festival.
In 2021, Attia became a jury member of Set Design
Competition of Cairo Design Awards and took part in the
parade celebrating the restoration of Luxor's Al-Kebash
Road (Rams Road) as a production designer. Attia's 2021
works also include the design for Coco Chanel, which marks
Sharihan's remarkable comeback, and Al Aref: Awdat
Younis (The Knower), starring Ahmed Ezz, which grossed
more than 50 million EGP.

Monica Alberte

France

Monica Alberte is a Production Designer, and Set Decorator currently located between Paris, London and Budapest. She has more than twenty years of experience working in many countries like the US, England, France, Spain, Czech Republic and Hungary. Monica is known for Yves Saint Laurent (2013), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Allied (2016), The Aftermath (2018), Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar Children (2016), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), and Alien Romulus (2024). She graduated in 2004 from the ECAM Madrid Film School, Production Design/Art dire ction for Film & TV. She also did further “Production Design” studies in California State University, Los Angeles and in the “Les Gobelins, L école de l' image” in Paris France. Recently, Monica got nominated on her role of set decorator by the Emmys Awards for the “Outstanding Production Design for A Narrative Period or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)” for the Tv Series “The Great” (Episode 10: Wedding), she got as well nominated as Set decorator by the SDSA awards, and ADG awards

Monica Alberte
Okhtein "Aya & Mounaz"

Okhtein "Aya & Mounaz"

Egypt

OKHTEIN, founded by Egyptian sisters Aya and Mounaz, creates unique handmade fashion that blends art and history. They empower and celebrate modern Arab women while challenging stereotypes. The brand values family, unity, and sharing life's joys. In 2021, they joined forces with Bidayat Investment Group, led by Engineer Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who chairs Valentino and runs Mayhoola, the parent company of Balmain. This partnership is aimed at supporting OKHTEIN's aspirations to become a global leader in premium fashion.

Tarek Atrissi

Netherlands

Lebanese-Dutch designer Tarek Atrissi is the founder of Tarek Atrissi Design, a design studio based in Barcelona and with offices in the Netherlands. The studio’s typographic and cross cultural design approach produced projects that left a significant influence on the contemporary graphic design landscape in the Middle East, and gained Atrissi international recognition. 

Atrissi received the distinguished Alumni awards from both the American University of Beirut and the School of Visual Arts in New York, from where he holds an MFA in de sign entrepreneurship. His other awards include the prestigious D&AD award in London. The Type Directors Club award in New York; and a nomination to the German Design Awards. His clients include Apple, the V&A museum in London, BBC, Dubai Television and the Arab Museum of Modern Arts "Mathaf".

Atrissi founded the Arabic Type Foundry, designing and distributing Arabic & multilingual typefaces for branding needs. Atrissi received a major grant for supporting the development of typographic practice in Egypt, from the highly esteemed " Creative Industries Fund NL": the biggest cultural funds in Holland supporting cultural design projects with funding from the Netherland’s ministries of culture and education. 

Tarek Atrissi
Tha'er Qub'a

Tha'er Qub'a

Jordan

Tha'er Qub'a, founder and managing director of Tha’er Qub’a Architects, based in Amman, Jordan, since 1992 and an industrial professor at the German Jordanian University since 2012.

He has great experience in designing residential and commercial projects in Jordan and abroad. He won many local and regional architectural competitions, including the Dewan Award for Architecture (Tamayouz) in 2019.
 
He supervised students’ graduation projects at GJU, which won many local, regional, and international awards.
 
A jury member for unde rgraduate projects in universities in Jordan and Palestine
He earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from Jordan University in 1989.

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