Hadi El Hage is an architect and urban planner and the Coordinator of Public Programmes at the European Cultural Centre in Venice and internationally. He is the co-founder of the Shaping the City Forum, a platform dedicated to bridging architecture, urban planning, and policy (www.shapingthecity.org). His work spans across research and the curation of architecture and urban planning exhibitions at the ECC Venice Architecture Biennale. Hadi is currently pursuing his PhD at the Chair of History of Architecture and Urban Planning at TU Delft, in the Netherlands. His research investigates land–water thresholds in port cities under the escalating pressures of the climate crisis. Since 2021, he has also been affiliated with the Planning Climate Change Lab at University IUAV of Venice, where he works as a lecturer and researcher.

Based in Venice, she co-curates major exhibitions like Time Space Existenceand Personal Structures, and leads institutional partnerships. In 2018, she founded Shaping the City: A Forum for Sustainable Cities and Communities, hosted in Venice with international editions in Chicago and New Orleans. The forum convenes global experts to explore inclusive and sustainable urban futures. Through her work, Lucia connects practitioners, academics, and institutions, fostering meaningful dialogue on architecture, culture, and urban transformation.

John Hanna is an architect, lecturer, and researcher in the History of Architecture and Urban Planning group at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology. His research addresses the spatiality of urban conflicts, with a focus on Paris and Beirut. His wider research interests include Mediterranean and Red Sea port cities, quarantine spaces, architecture and literature, and the urban histor(ies) of Africa and the Middle East, particularly in relation to colonialism and nationalism.

Nick is a Partner at SimpsonHaugh Architects, with over 20 years’ experience in leading complex, mixed-use regeneration projects across the UK. Since joining the practice in 2001, he has been instrumental in the design and delivery of high-quality, contextually responsive architecture that supports the creation of sustainable, thriving communities.

He played a lead role in the delivery of Circus West Village, the first phase of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment, and has led several major projects in Manchester, including the regeneration proposals for the Great Northern Warehouse, as well as developments such as Manchester New Square, St Gabriel’s, Artisan Heights, and Victoria House.

Graduating from his Bachelor of Design course in 2012, Kaia has now been a model maker for over 14 years. Kaia joined SimpsonHaugh in 2015, and is now their lead Model Maker, working across the practice and the project teams in their Manchester, London and Birmingham studios. Kaia’s work aids the practice in creatively pushing boundaries throughout the design development process.

In his role, he develops physical models at a variety of scales and levels of detail, ranging from early foam massing studies that explore and refine initial concepts to more detailed presentation models that help articulate the final scheme to clients and the public.

Mistry Swire architects is an exciting young practice based in Stockport, established in 2021 by Jay Mistry and Eleanor Swire. The practice is committed to rigorous, crafted, and informed contemporary architecture, with meticulous attention to detail at every scale.

The studio’s commitment to craft, composition, and atmosphere extends across their drawings, models, and portfolio of built work, which has received awards and national recognition and publication. Their work has featured in the Architects Journal and they have recently been selected for New Architects 5, highlighting them as one of the UK’s most promising emerging architectural practices. This publication, produced by the Architecture Foundation, presents the work of 93 firms established in the last ten years, offering a definitive guide to Britain’s emerging architectural talent.

Jay previously spent seven years at OMI Architects delivering private housing, supported-living schemes and city-centre apartments; he graduated with distinction from the University of Nottingham, where his thesis was shortlisted for the RIBA President’s Silver Medal.

Jay and Eleanor regularly teach and lecture at the Manchester School of Architecture, contributing to the Continuity in Architecture unit. This unit focuses on contextual and grounded architectural design, with particular emphasis on learning from historical precedent to inform contemporary practice. Their involvement in teaching reflects the studio’s commitment to thoughtful, context-sensitive design and engagement with the next generation of architects.

Joe Morris is an architect spearheading Morris+Company across two studios, one in the creative district of London’s Hackney, the other in Copenhagen. In a career spanning more than 30 years of professional practice which has achieved widespread international recognition, Joe has increasingly advocated a sense of urgency for fair and transparent practice, inclusivity and equality, through open dialogue and critical debate, whilst encouraging the broader company to take ownership of projects and develop their own careers and interests. Joe has represented the practice on a global platform, lecturing on the work of the studio in many leading UK universities, as well as in Barcelona, Bilbao, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Liege and Romania.

He has taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, the Universidad de Navvara in Pamplona and La Salle School of Architecture in Barcelona and has been a visiting examiner at Plymouth and Oxford Brookes universities. Joe is a founding participant in Londonon, a global self-initiated ted research programme exploring a world view on cities across Europe, and has also contributed to a number of local authority design review panels including Lewisham, Brent, Hackney, Southwark and Islington.

Morris+Company is a growing studio, recently included on the AJ100 definitive record of the UK’s largest architecture practices, and its direction and governance is a shared endeavour across the director team and beyond. Accordingly, each member plays a vital part in driving the practice to achieve exemplary service and output. Joe believes in the potential for a more compassionate, sustainable global economy and seeks to raise awareness of interdependent global issues whilst following a strict vegan philosophical attitude to life.

An Associate Director at OMI Architects, Philip joined the practice in 2012 and has since delivered projects across a range of scales and typologies including RIBA Regional Award winning Mustard Tree and shortlisted Manresa House, heritage and retro-fit projects such as Fourways and Havelock as well as large scale residential projects such Castle Wharf.  He has strong interest in how the iterative design process, through drawing and model-making, informs and enriches design solutions that ultimately manifest in built form.

Philip is listed on the RIBA Conservation register and is a member of the Modernist Society, regularly contributing to The Modernist Magazine, and has had models exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Venice Biennale as well as a shortlisted entry to an international competition exhibited at the Gallery of Australian Design, Canberra. He has also guest lectured at the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield and Salford and guest tutored at Manchester and Arts University Bournemouth.

Jason is an architect and director at Artform, an award-winning practice he co-founded in 2014 with business partner Simon.  Since its inception Artform has built a reputation for producing sensitively designed, contemporary buildings that respond to context and place.  Jason has led of number of key projects working across a range of sectors, covering a variety of scales from individual homes to urban masterplans.  He is also Head of Events at Northwest Small Practice Forum (NSPF).

Yan Wing Le is an architectural designer, co-founder of Common Practice and mum of three boys. She spent 20-years progressing to a senior level before taking the leap to start her own studio.

As a daughter of refugees, Yan understands how lived experience informs the way we see the world and why representation in the construction sector matters. She believes our differences can be the tools we use to shape our built environment. To this end, architecture must be accessible, inclusive and should strive for a deeper connection to the people it serves.

The tactile quality of model-making is one of the most meaningful ways to encourage collaboration and maintain human connection throughout the design process.

Toby leads WW+P’s workshop in London and has a wealth of experience in designing and producing models across different industries.

Although he has predominantly worked in the world of architecture, Toby also has experience in film, museum and bespoke fabrication environments and, whether crafting beautiful objects or solving complex problems, he is driven by a considered use of materials and a logical design approach.

As well as making, Toby promotes and facilitates modelmaking as a design approach, not just an outcome – assisting global studios in their thinking through making and anchoring our practice approach in craft.

John Piercy Holroyd is an Associate Partner at Purcell and Studio Lead in Manchester, with over 25 years of professional experience delivering civic, cultural, and community-focused architecture across the UK. His work spans both new-build and adaptive reuse projects, with particular expertise in regeneration programmes and the transformation of historic buildings for contemporary use.

Working closely with public and institutional clients, John often takes a strategic role in shaping complex projects from early vision through to delivery. This includes coordinating multidisciplinary teams, developing long-term masterplans, and ensuring that design teams are supported to explore ambitious and thoughtful architectural responses.

Current work includes the transformation of Haigh Hall in Wigan into a major cultural destination as part of a wider regeneration programme for Wigan Council. In this role, John works closely with the client to help shape the long-term vision and delivery strategy for the estate, coordinating a programme of projects that includes the restoration of the Grade II* listed hall alongside a series of new cultural, landscape, and visitor-focused interventions across Haigh Woodland Park. He is also involved in the ongoing restoration and adaptation of the Portico Library in Manchester, a project that forms part of the festival’s building tour.

As Studio Lead in Manchester, John’s role is also to support and enable colleagues to explore and communicate architectural ideas in meaningful ways. This includes creating the conditions that allow practices such as physical modelmaking to flourish, supporting those who are passionate about making and helping raise the profile of modelmaking within the studio and across the wider architectural community in Manchester.

Gemma is an Associate Architect with over 20 years of professional experience. Her work has helped secure planning approval and deliver a wide range of residential, hotel, and office projects, including both historic reuse and new-build schemes. At Purcell, this has developed into strong expertise in the conservation, repair, and sensitive adaptation of historic fabric.

Quality design is valued at every scale, with particular interest in the energy-conscious creative reuse of heritage assets as a means of supporting a more sustainable future. Creating accessible environments for all is also a key priority, with particular attention given to those facing physical challenges and hidden disabilities.

Alongside her professional work sits a long-standing passion for architectural model making. In an era increasingly dominated by digital visualisation, the tangible qualities of physical models, and their ability to communicate spatial ideas intuitively, remain especially valuable. Rather than simply representing finished proposals, models form an integral part of the design process. Making and testing ideas in physical form allows mass, proportion, and spatial relationships to be understood quickly, often revealing opportunities and challenges that drawings or renderings cannot. They also create a shared language between architect, client, and community, enabling complex ideas to be understood by a wide audience regardless of technical background.

Current projects include the repurposing of Haigh Hall in Wigan as a multi-use cultural destination, alongside several smaller interventions within the wider woodland park. Early design development included the creation of working models made from simple materials such as paper, card, and basswood to test the form and materiality of a new roof-terrace intervention. Two models from this project are included in the Making Matters exhibition.

Work at the Portico Library in Manchester will also feature in the festival programme, where a guided tour will explore the project’s development and the role of modelmaking in shaping and communicating the design. A model of the Portico Library proposal is also featured within the exhibition.

Alongside her role as an Associate at Purcell, she is a Tutor for BA Architecture BA2 at the Manchester School of Architecture, where both BA Architecture and BA (Hons) degrees were previously completed. Teaching encourages students to engage with both digital and physical methods of design exploration, recognising the enduring value of making as a way of understanding space.