As judging in the first Archello Awards draws ever closer (the last day for project and product entries is 29th September 2023), Archello is delighted to introduce four more members from an esteemed panel of jurors.
Read on to learn more about José Toral, Gemma Kim, Marshall Blecher, and Martina Martino.
José Toral is a partner at Barcelona-based Peris + Toral Arquitectes, a studio whose work focuses predominantly on public housing and the urban space. The studio is particularly committed to addressing the challenges posed by both the climate and housing emergencies. From Toral’s perspective, form follows material: the architect prefers to use as little material as possible in the pursuit of higher quality buildings.
Toral is an associate professor in the Department of Architectural Projects at Barcelona School of Architecture, UPC. Recent projects include 43 Viviendas Sociales, a passively heated and cooled social housing complex in Ibiza, built with blocks of compressed Spanish soils, and 85 social dwellings in Cornellà de Llobregat, a timber-framed residential building constructed using wood from the Basque Country.
Gemma Kim is a partner at global architecture firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA). Receiving her master's degree in architecture from Yale University, Kim first joined RAMSA in 2003. In her partnership role, she works across all project types and is instrumental in realizing many of the firm's luxury apartment buildings and mixed-use developments. Kim is especially committed to designing spaces and places that are inspiring, contextually appropriate, and culturally respectful.
Kim is currently working on the development of 1 Mayfair in London, a new mansion block-style apartment building that aims to restore a sense of scale and rhythm within the historic upmarket district. She recently designed a 16-story limestone-trimmed brick apartment house on New York’s 150 East 78th Street. The structure encapsulates a tradition in the city’s Upper East Side where residential buildings are rooted in classical proportions and detailing.
Marshall Blecher is a co-founder and director of maritime architecture studio MAST. He is also the founder of Studio Marshall Blecher. An Australian architect based in Copenhagen, Blecher established MAST in 2021 along with Danish maritime designer and architect Magnus Maarbjerg. The studio’s mission is to improve the relationship between the city and the sea. Blecher has carried out research on vernacular floating architecture and received a master's degree in architecture from the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation.
MAST’s projects include a mix of public spaces, houseboats, and floating communities. The studio’s “Land on Water” initiative recognizes the urgency of rising sea levels and the increased risk of urban flooding. “Land on Water” is envisioned as an easily transported system of flat-packed modules made from recycled, reinforced plastic, that can be assembled in numerous configurations. MAST is currently developing a prototype floating pavilion using this system.
Martina Martino is the CEO at architectural and design firm Mario Cucinella Architects (MCA). Martino has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the Università Roma Tre and previous research experience at the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining MCA, she worked in leadership roles at several international companies in the fields of engineering and real estate development/consultancy.
MCA is focused on architectural design that integrates environmental and energy strategies; the firm’s design practice is informed by its own R&D department. MCA will design Italy’s Pavilion for the Osaka World Expo 2025. Notable architecture projects include the Santa Maria Goretti Church, a sentinel-like building whose entrance forms an external cross, and a playful, wooden rib-like kindergarten in Guastalla, Italy, which replaced two schools damaged by an earthquake in May 2012.
