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Olivia Argentini
Office Director - ARCHEA BRASIL
Olivia Argentini, an Italian-Brazilian architect, built her academic background in Europe, earning both her bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Architecture from Università di Roma Tre, with an exchange period at the École d’Architecture de Marne-la-Vallée, in Paris. A specialist in Project Management from Poli-USP, São Paulo, she has led Archea Brasil since 2019, after joining the firm in 2017.
Fluent in four languages and committed to sustainability in the construction industry, she is currently a board member at the Green Building Council Brasil, promoting more responsible and innovative practices in the sector.
António Choupina
Director of Architecture - Serralves Foundation, Founder Studio CH.A (CHoupina.Architects)
António Choupina, a Portuguese architect from the University of Porto’s FAUP, founded CH.A studio in 2010, coinciding with his ESAD collaboration. Key projects include interventions at Granada’s Palace of Charles V and Sverre Fehn Pavilion (2015 Portuguese Presidential visit to Norway), plus the 2019 Camerich Pavilion at CIFF for Álvaro Siza, with ongoing cultural ventures across continents.
He designed international exhibitions like ‘Visions of the Alhambra’, ‘AlfaroSiza’, ‘Unseen & Unknown’, ‘Two Towers’, ‘The Archive’, and ‘AALTO’ with partners including Aedes, Vitra Design Museum, Aga Khan Museum, and Alvar Aalto Foundation. Curating at Nadir Afonso, Serralves, and other museums, he mounted retrospectives such as ‘Architecture on Canvas’, ‘Maria Antónia Siza, 50 Years Later’, ‘SANAA’, and ‘Primordial Art’, alongside talks with Pritzker laureates, Biennale figures, UNESCO, Docomomo, and CICA.
Supporting Bauhaus100 and New European Bauhaus, he publishes on architecture-art-philosophy for Architectural Review, Casabella, and more; edited A As in Florence; teaches at European University (MArch Valencia); joins the National Academy of Fine Arts; juries awards; speaks at Fuorisalone, Open House, and co-curated 2025 ArchiSummit Lisbon.
As Serralves Foundation Architecture Director, he drives research, debate, and networks. The Álvaro Siza Wing earned a 2025 International Architecture Award from Chicago Athenaeum and European Centre, championing architecture’s world-transforming role.
Christine Kwong
Managing Principal - fjcstudio (Francis-Jones Carpenter Ltd)
Christine Kwong is Managing Principal of fjcstudio (Francis-Jones Carpenter Ltd) in the UK, leading the Oxford office and the practice’s work across heritage, higher education and cultural projects. With over 25 years’ experience in international practice, she has delivered complex projects across the UK, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Australasia, combining adaptive reuse with contemporary architecture in sensitive historic contexts.
She was project lead for Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, awarded World Building of the Year, and for Reuben College, University of Oxford, recognised with the Australian Institute of Architects’ highest international award for heritage architecture. Her work has made a significant contribution to the cultural and educational sectors, particularly through projects for museums, universities and colleges, where she brings together strategic briefing, conservation-led design and contemporary architectural thinking.
Her approach is underpinned by a strong commitment to sustainability, reuse-first principles and the careful integration of new interventions within historic settings.
William Yon
Principal - Gensler
William Yon is an architect and principal at Gensler, the world’s leading design and architecture firm. He joined Gensler in 2019 for the opening of the Paris office and has spurred its growth from a start-up into a well-established team of 70+ professionals delivering the full spectrum of architectural design services.
An engineer and architect by training, William studied at École Polytechnique, École des Ponts ParisTech, and ENSA Marne-la-Vallée. He previously served as a director at Dominique Perrault Architecture and as an investment director at Meridiam, developing a unique expertise at the intersection of iconic architecture and public-private policies aimed at building better cities. Passionate about using heritage and history as active design materials, his work has been recognized by multiple awards in the fields of adaptive reuse and building transformation.
Deeply committed to the real estate community, William has served since 2020 as Co-Chair of the Office & Mixed-Use Product Council at Urban Land Institute France and is Vice-President of X-Ponts-Pierre, École Polytechnique’s real estate alumni association. His leadership has been recognized for five consecutive years by the Choiseul Institute’s Ville de Demain ranking, which features him among the top 100 under 40 French real estate leaders.
