Architecture begins with people. We explore how places shape identity, belonging, behavior, memory, and everyday life, bringing the human concept back to the centre of the architectural conversation.
Places are never static. They evolve through social change, technological innovation, climate challenges, shifting identities, conflict, development, and the continuous reinterpretation of heritage.
Places in Transition explores how architecture can respond to these transformations, not simply by creating something new, but by questioning, adapting, preserving, rebuilding, and reimagining what already exists.
TAF 2026 brings together architects, designers, urbanists, thinkers, institutions, and voices from beyond the profession to examine how our built environment changes and how we can shape that change responsibly.
Read the programme→Architecture begins with people. We explore how places shape identity, belonging, behavior, memory, and everyday life, bringing the human concept back to the centre of the architectural conversation.
Every place carries the past while facing a changing future. From heritage and adaptive reuse to urban transformation, displacement, reconstruction, and new development, we question how places can evolve without losing what makes them meaningful.
No single profession can shape the future alone. TAF connects local, regional and international professionals — architects, designers, urbanists, policymakers, cultural voices, researchers, and communities — creating dialogue where different perspectives meet and new collaborations begin.
Memory Mapping: The Emotional Landscape of a City
Nikoloz Lekveishvili, TIMM Architecture · Joan Gener Gonzales, h3o architects — Georgia / Spain
Book your seatImaginary Architecture: From Story to Sketch
Alexandre Lordkipanidze, writer, playwright, TV show host — Georgia
Book your seatWhat If the Soviet Union Had Not Happened to Georgian Architecture?
Irakli Pipia, TSMU · Tatia Gvineria, Independent Expert — Georgia
Book your seatAfter the Ruins: What Should We Rebuild?
Nutsa Nadareishvili, teamtwo · Giorgi Sulakauri, Landmark Studio — Georgia
Book your seatCan AI Sell an Idea Before It Exists?
Rezi Kratsashvili / Nuka Mgeladze, Render.ge / Elia — Georgia / Spain
Book your seatCrime Prevention in Environmental Design (CPTED)
Luka Kobalia, Landmark Studio — Georgia
Book your seatWhat Nobody Talks About
Wei Yap / Sandro Katsitadze, Wei Yap Architects / Dmark — Georgia / Australia
What Makes a Building Worth Saving? Rethinking Heritage, Memory and Architectural Value
Nikoloz Japaridze, Architects of Invention · Tatia Ghvineria, Independent Expert · Ada Yvars Bravo, Mangera Yvars Architects — Georgia / Spain
Can Cities Become More Resilient by Working With Nature Rather Than Against It?
Paata Shanshiashvili, U.S. Department of the Interior – International Affairs Office · Giorgi Gotsiridze, Geographic – Consulting Center · Michael Gräf, LAND · Jack William Taylor, A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE — Georgia / UK / Italy / Austria
Coffee Break
Architecture Through Her Eyes
Joseph Grima (moderator), Alcova · Marcelina Zielinska, Chapman Taylor · Yevgeniya Pozigun, Mangera Yvars Architects · Nata Tatunashvili, Ubani Cityscape Research Center, NWDS, Aea Culture Initiative · Nino Mshvelidze, Placemakers — Italy / UK / Spain / Georgia
Professional Communities in Transition
Nikoloz Lekveishvili (moderator), TIMM Architecture · Meri Pepanyan / Ashot Snkhchyan, LFA · Takhmina Turdialieva · Vladislav Nedelev, RIBA Europe · Afet Mammadzade, Project Bureau Azerbaijan (PBA) — Georgia / Armenia / Uzbekistan / Azerbaijan
Is Good Legislation the Basis for Good Architecture and Sustainable Spatial-Territorial Planning?
Nino Gventsadze (moderator), AMMA Design LLC · Alexandre Maglakelidze, NKC Consulting · Ilia Tamarashvili, Independent Invited Expert / Consultant · Salome Dvali, Environmental Consultant — Georgia
Jack William Taylor / Vakho Makasarashvili
Associate Director, A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE · Founder, VIEM — UK / Georgia
Marcelina Zelenska / Gvantsa Chubinidze
Group Board Director, Chapman Taylor · Architect, Artstudio Project — UK / Georgia
Amin Taha / Luka Kobalia
Architect, Groupwork · Senior Architect, Landmark Studio — UK / Georgia
Jaime Font / Maryam Novruzi
Co-Founder & Partner, Mesura · Regional Market & Client Manager, Zaha Hadid Architects — Spain
Coffee Break
Wei Yap / Michael Gräf
Managing Partner, Wei Yap Architects · Managing Partner, LAND — Australia / Austria / Italy
Bob Allies / Maryam Novruzi
Founding Partner, Allies and Morrison · Regional Market & Client Manager, Zaha Hadid Architects — UK
Kaveh Dabiri / Vakho Makasarashvili
Partner, OMA · Founder, VIEM — Netherlands / Georgia
Closing & transition
Registration
Opening Speech
Organiser — Georgia
Cultivating the City
Bob Allies, Founding Partner, Allies and Morrison — UK / London
Architecture as Layers of Belonging
Ada Yvars Bravo, Director and Founding Partner, Mangera Yvars Architects — Spain / UK
Thinking With Water: What Design and Anthropology Consider That Planning Doesn’t
Wei Yap, Managing Partner, Wei Yap Architects · Amber Patterson-Ooi, Anthropologist — Australia / Georgia
Beyond Shelter: Rebuilding Homes, Identity and Belonging After War
Moderator: George Melashvili, President, Europe-Georgia Institute (EGI) (Georgia) · Roman Grygoryshyn, Founder, Unicorn Capital (Ukraine) · Nutsa Nadareishvili, Co-Founder, teamtwo (Georgia) · Giorgi Sulakauri (Georgia) · Marcelina Zielinska, Group Board Director, Chapman Taylor (UK / London)
Coffee Break
From Noun Before Verb to Verb Before Noun: How Architecture and Architects Regain Ethical Agency
Amin Taha, Architect, Groupwork — UK / London
h3o architects: Architecture in Between
Joan Gener Gonzales, Founder, H3o — Spain
Transition Through Climate: Designing for a Changing Planet
Luca Bussolino, Partner & Head of Strategy and Innovation, Carlo Ratti Associati — Italy / USA
Alcova, The Itinerant Design Platform
Valentina Ciuffi, Alcova and Studio Vedèt · Joseph Grima, Co-Founder, Alcova — Italy / Milan
Demolish or Transform? The Future of Existing Architecture
Moderator: Irakli Pipia, Anthropologist, TSMU (Georgia) · Givi Machavariani, Adjara Group (Georgia) · Nikoloz Japaridze, Architects of Invention (Georgia / UK) · Joan Gener Gonzales, H3o (Spain) · Kaveh Dabiri, OMA (Netherlands)
Lunch Break
Networking Lunch at Terrace Restaurant
VIP Pass only
Transition Through Heritage: Preserving Memory, Designing Tomorrow
Kaveh Dabiri, Partner, OMA — Netherlands
The Future Grows: Landscape Thinking for a Nature Positive Future
Michael Gräf, Managing Partner, Land srl — Austria / Italy
Two Approaches, One Transition: Lessons From Folkestone and Southampton for Georgia
Jack William Taylor, Associate Director, A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE — UK
Form Follows Fantasy
Pablo Sensat Moya-Angeler, Project Leader / Project Manager / Design Lead, Bofill — Spain
Core Mission, Vision and Values of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Vladislav Nedelev, Eastern Europe Area Representative, RIBA — Bulgaria
Sons of Recession
Jaime Font, Co-Founder & Partner, Mesura — Spain
Architecture as a Material Itself
Ana Sikharulidze, Sound Designer / Composer, TIMM — Georgia
City as Shared Project
Moderator: Vakhtang Nikolava, Director, Urban Media (Georgia) · Pablo Sensat Moya-Angeler, Design Lead, Bofill (Spain) · Nodar Adeishvili, CEO / Partner, Placemakers (Georgia) · Amin Taha, Founder, Groupwork (UK / London) · Jaime Font, Co-Founder & Partner, Mesura (Spain)
Places in Transition
Moderator: Nikoloz Lekveishvili, Founder – Architect, TIMM Architecture (Georgia) · Bob Allies, Co-Founder, Allies and Morrison (UK / London) · Michael Gräf, Managing Partner, Land srl (Austria / Italy) · Giorgi Gotsiridze, Director, Co-Founder, Geographic – Consulting Center (Georgia) · Yevgeniya Pozigun, Director, Mangera Yvars Architects (Spain)
Closing Speech
Gala Dinner (VIP Pass only)
Tbilisi’s Cultural Life (tour in Georgian)
SOVLAB — caravanserais, museums, theatres, cinemas, cafés, clubs and bookshops along Rustaveli Avenue.
Language Georgian
Meeting point Puris Moedani, in front of Matchakhela ↗
Register nowTbilisi: A Journey Through Architectural Time
Zurriuss Tour Guide — from Soviet landmarks, Stamba and the Concert Hall to Liberty Square, Gudiashvili Square and the Sulphur Baths, across the styles that shaped the city.
Language English / Georgian
Meeting point Mzechabuki monument ↗
Register nowGldani Tour
Ana Ramazashvili — markets, Soviet apartment blocks and the changing public spaces of a suburb that reads as a city of its own.
Meeting point Akhmeteli Theater ↗
Register now“Ezologia — Porous Body of Tbilisi”
Ubani
The first public presentation of NWDS and Ubani’s research on the Tbilisian courtyard, told through maps, archival documents, video and new photo essays by Berika Beridze, Nanka Dolidze and Gio Sumbadze. Developed with wit[h]nessing, studio2AM, Tatia Gvineria and independent researchers. Hosted by the Georgian National Museum — Tbilisi History Museum, 8 Sioni Street.
Language English / Georgian
Location Karvasla ↗
Register nowOld Tbilisi Gems — Melik-Azaryants House: Beneath the Surface
Irakli Pipia — newly uncovered underground spaces and historic halls beneath Rustaveli Avenue.
Language English / Georgian
Meeting point Metro Rustaveli ↗
Register now“Ezologia — Porous Body of Tbilisi”
Ubani
The first public presentation of NWDS and Ubani’s research on the Tbilisian courtyard, told through maps, archival documents, video and new photo essays by Berika Beridze, Nanka Dolidze and Gio Sumbadze. Developed with wit[h]nessing, studio2AM, Tatia Gvineria and independent researchers. Hosted by the Georgian National Museum — Tbilisi History Museum, 8 Sioni Street.
Language English / Georgian
Location Karvasla ↗
Register nowRethinking Heritage: Public Art and Industrial Transformation
“Fragments of Memory” | Mziuri Park
Join the Tbilisi Public Art Fund team (Lika Chkuaseli and Elene Kapanadze) for a tour exploring how the institution reinterprets the city’s recent past and architectural heritage through contemporary art interventions.
Meeting point: “Fragments of Memory” by Studio 501 & TIMM Architecture. 30 restored tiles from Vakhtang Kokiashvili’s 1971 “Berikaoba” – stained glass panorama, originally located at the Funicular station, framed within an open iron structure in Mziuri Park.
Nikoloz Lekveishvili (TIMM Architecture) will join the tour.
Location Google Maps ↗
“Allo 02” | Technical University Metro Station
“Allo 02” by Sandro Lominashvili, functional marble benches with 60-degree angled legs that interact with the station’s monumental Soviet mosaic panels.
Location Google Maps ↗
Combinati
Visit to “Combinati,” a former Soviet ceramic factory in Samgori, rehabilitated and transformed by Material Editors into a multifunctional complex. Hosted by project authors Ana Grigolia and Mariam Gvazava, the tour will explore the transformation process, adaptive reuse, and a contemporary addition to the existing industrial structure.
Location Google Maps ↗
Elektrowerk | Tour & Drinks
Visit to Elektrowerk, a former Soviet electric motor factory transformed into a social and art hub. The project will be presented by Givi Machavariani, its conceptualist and lead architect/designer.
Location Google Maps ↗
End of the tour
Language English / Georgian
Register nowOffice visit — Render Group (invitation only)
Office visit — Studio 9 (invitation only)
Georgian Museum of Fine Arts
One of the largest private collections of Georgian art from the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, spanning over 70 years, with over 3,500 works by 100+ artists. Free entrance for delegates, 18–20 September.
Georgian Archeological Museum
A 1980s Soviet building with characteristic circular forms that never opened as a museum and now serves as an archaeological archive, holding artefacts from the Stone Age to the medieval period.
Meeting point Museum entrance
18 Sept – Holiday Inn Tbilisi
19 Sept – Expo Georgia
All 3 Days: 18–20 Sept, including city tours & exhibitions
All 3 Days
Valid student ID required at entry.
All 3 Days
Places are never static. They evolve through social change, technological innovation, climate challenges, shifting identities, conflict, development, and the continuous reinterpretation of heritage.
Places in Transition explores how architecture can respond to these transformations, not simply by creating something new, but by questioning, adapting, preserving, rebuilding, and reimagining what already exists.
TAF 2026 brings together architects, designers, urbanists, thinkers, institutions, and voices from beyond the profession to examine how our built environment changes and how we can shape that change responsibly.
How can we design through change while preserving identity, strengthening communities, and creating places that remain meaningful for generations to come?
Tbilisi Architecture Forum is a platform for open dialogue, shared knowledge, and meaningful collaboration across architecture and the wider fields that shape our built environment.
TAF brings together different professions, generations, institutions, cultures, and perspectives and creates a space where complex and often unspoken questions can be discussed openly, critically, and with mutual respect.
Instead of seeking for a single answer, the forum encourages us to listen, question, challenge ideas, and learn from one another, transforming disagreement into dialogue and dialogue into new possibilities for collaboration.
Through this exchange, TAF aims to strengthen professional culture, build lasting connections, and contribute to more thoughtful, inclusive, and responsible places.
Create a trusted space where different perspectives can meet, difficult questions can be addressed openly, and disagreement can become a starting point for constructive conversation.
Connect architecture with urbanism, design, technology, culture, psychology, policy, heritage, and other fields, encouraging shared knowledge and new ways of thinking.
Build meaningful relationships among local and international professionals, institutions, businesses, emerging talent, and international networks that extend beyond the forum itself.
Challenge assumptions about how we design, preserve, transform, and inhabit places by opening conversations about the most urgent questions that shape our built environment.
Turn dialogue into long-term value by strengthening professional culture, supporting emerging voices, and encouraging more responsible, inclusive, and human-centred approaches to the future of our cities and communities.
Architecture begins with people. We explore how places shape identity, belonging, behavior, memory, and everyday life, bringing the human concept back to the centre of the architectural conversation.
Every place carries the past while facing a changing future. From heritage and adaptive reuse to urban transformation, displacement, reconstruction, and new development, we question how places can evolve without losing what makes them meaningful.
No single profession can shape the future alone. TAF connects local, regional and international professionals — architects with designers, urbanists, policymakers, cultural voices, researchers, communities, and other disciplines — creating dialogue where different perspectives meet and new collaborations begin.
Founder — Groupwork
Partner — OMA
Kaveh Dabiri is a Partner at OMA. Kaveh joined OMA in 2009, and he has since contributed to and led a broad range of architecture, masterplanning, preservation and exhibition projects in the Middle East and Europe. His recent work includes the design of Concrete, an exhibition and events venue at Alserkal Avenue in Dubai; the Al Daayan Hospital of the Future prototype; the scenography of the 2023 and 2025 editions of the Islamic Arts Biennale at the Hajj Terminal in Jeddah; and the expansion plan for JAX, a cultural district at an industrial heritage site in Riyadh. Born and raised in Tehran, Kaveh studied and practiced architecture there before moving to the Netherlands in 2007 to study Urbanism at TU Delft.
Co-Founder — Allies and Morrison
Bob Allies is a founding partner of Allies and Morrison, an architecture and urbanism practice based in London, with offices in Cambridge, Manchester, Dublin, Toronto and Jeddah, where it is engaged in the restoration and regeneration of the World Heritage Site. Allies and Morrison have won fifty RIBA Awards for their work. Recently completed buildings by the practice include the new London College of Fashion in the Olympic Park, shortlisted for the 2025 Stirling Prize. Current projects include new innovation districts for the universities of Oxford, Manchester and Imperial, London. Allies and Morrison is also extensively involved in housing and urban regeneration across the UK, and is the masterplanner for many of London’s major regeneration projects including Kings Cross (shortlisted for the 2024 Stirling Prize), Canada Water, Brent Cross Town, Woolwich Arsenal and the Olympic Legacy. Since 2024, Bob has held the post of Architect in Residence for Bath and North-East Somerset, and is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Bath. Bob is also Chair of the Faculty of Architecture and a member of the Council of the British School at Rome.
Co-Founder — Alcova
Co-founder — Alcova
Joseph Grima is the co-founder of Alcova — the itinerant platform for independent design that has become one of the defining events of Milan Design Week and will launch a new edition during Mexico City Art Week in 2027. An architect, curator and writer based in Milan, he is also the founder of Space Caviar, a design and research studio producing built work, books, films and exhibitions that investigate design's relationship to the human and natural environment. He is currently Head Curator of the Walker Art Center Design Triennial, Beyond Materialism, opening in October 2026, and recently presented A Satellite Symphony at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with Robert Gerard Pietrusko and Ersilia Vaudo. From 2017 to 2025 he was Creative Director and Chairman of the Executive Board of Design Academy Eindhoven, and was previously Editor-in-Chief of Domus, Director of Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York and Chief Curator of Design at Triennale Milano.
Design Lead — Bofill Taller de Arquitectura
Pablo joined the Taller in 2020 and has since contributed to projects across the Middle East and Iberian Peninsula, focusing on the cultural, hospitality, and residential sectors. More recently, his projects in Benin, Georgia and the broader Balkans and Caucasus region have furthered his exploration of materiality in both building envelopes and interiors. Pablo embraces the classical orders and proportions as the foundation of his design approach, aiming to advance the Taller’s legacy through active research and development.
Partner and Head of Strategy and Innovation — Carlo Ratti Associati
Luca is a partner at CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Head of Strategy and Innovation. He works at the intersection of vision and delivery, identifying emerging trends, shaping long-term initiatives, and translating research-driven ideas into concrete, actionable projects that guide the practice’s future direction. He was also part of the core team working on the Biennale Architettura 2025. Trained as an architect and licensed engineer, Luca completed a double Master’s degree with honors in Architecture at the Politecnico di Torino and the Politecnico di Milano, with academic experience at ENSA La Villette in Paris and TU Delft. He also holds a post-degree Diploma in Innovation Management from Alta Scuola Politecnica. Luca joined CRA in 2018 and has since represented the studio in professional and academic contexts, including international conferences and public programmes.
Land srl
Dr. Michael Gräf is Managing Partner of LAND Consulting Austria in Vienna and Lecturer at BOKU University Vienna. His work focuses on the strategic development of Green Infrastructure and Nature-Positive Cities. As a certified mediator, he specializes in collaborative planning and stakeholder engagement. He advocates for a human- and nature-centered approach, creating landscapes that strengthen ecological resilience while improving people's quality of life.
Co-founder — snkh. studio
Yerevan-based architect, educator and co-founder of snkh. studio, a practice focused on context-driven contemporary design. He received his Master’s degree in Architecture with honors from the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia (NUACA) in 2012. His work explores contemporary design discourse, architectural heritage, and the relationship between place and identity. Alongside architectural practice, he is involved in education, research, and curatorial projects.
Founding Director, COAC ARB — Myaa
Wei Yap Architects
Wei Yap, Ooi is an Australian-registered architect, Chair of the International Chapter and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects, and an Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University, Australia.
With over 25 years of international experience spanning Australia, Asia, and the Middle East, Wei Yap has led award-winning architecture, urban design, and large-scale complex mixed-use projects across diverse markets.
Based in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wei Yap Architects offers a distinctive perspective on connecting international design expertise with local delivery capability. Through direct access to a global network of leading architecture, urban design, landscape, engineering, and specialist consultancy firms, his practice helps clients deliver commercially successful, contextually responsive, and technically rigorous projects.
Wei Yap Architects is the first foreign architecture firm to establish a permanent presence in Georgia, offering full Architect-of-Record (AOR) capability across architecture, interiors, and masterplanning.
Anthropologist | Phd Candidate — University of Technology
Amber is a cultural anthropologist whose research interests include anthropological approaches to built environment, material culture, affect, and narrative as embodied phenomena. Methods of photovoice and sonic ethnography are often centrally figured in her work. Amber is currently a PhD candidate within the Faculty of Design and Society at University of Technology, Sydney, Australia. Her research project examines hydro-social narratives of water architecture.
Lead research coordinator — Library For Architecture (LFA)
Meri Pepanyan is an architect and researcher with a Master’s in Architecture and Urban Design from the Polytechnic University of Milan (2023). She completed her Bachelor’s studies at the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia. Since 2024, she has been a research coordinator at the Library for Architecture (LFA), where she contributes to the development of the Live Archive platform, a growing repository of urban and architectural research-based works on Armenia. She also participates in curatorial and research projects, including the Armenia Room of the “Countryside: A Place to Live, Not Leave” exhibition by AMO/OMA in Doha. Meri also serves as a student mentor for “From Data to Change,” a project by HYPHEN4, an architectural and urban studio. The project addresses gaps in data from rural areas of Armenia and engages university students and community members in spatial data collection and rural mapping.
Associate Director — A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE
Jack is Associate Director of A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE. He graduated as an award-winning student from the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow in 2015 with a B.Arch (Hons) and Dip.Arch. Between 2015 and 2021, he worked at ACME on a variety of projects, most notably the ‘REWE Green Building’—an integrated supermarket and aquaponic urban farm in Germany—a timber-structure office building in London, and various projects as part of the Folkestone Seafront Masterplan. Before joining ACME, Jack worked at Sauerbruch Hutton Architects in Berlin, contributing to a wide range of cultural, residential, and commercial projects. In 2020, Jack was a sessional tutor for the BArch at Canterbury School of Architecture, UCA, and he is an ambassador for the Architects Benevolent Society. Beyond academia and professional practice, he has led architecture construction workshops in Cadiz and Helsinki with the European Architecture Students Assembly (EASA). He is also a keen architectural traveler, having undertaken a research trip entitled ‘Silk Steppes’ to the Silk Road in Central Asia and Mongolia. Jack is a creative and energetic designer, involved in all of A IS FOR ARCHITECTURE’s projects, while also leading international business development for the practice.
Co-Founder/ Director — ARCHITECTS OF INVENTION
Nikoloz Japaridze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia (1974). He studied architecture at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and afterwards graduated from Moscow Architectural Institute in 1997. His PhD thesis was entitled ""A Minimal Dwelling for Extreme Situations"". He pursued further studies at the technical university in Delft and in Paris before opening his own architectural studio in 2002. His studio was called AMC (architecture, music, cinematography) and it produced over twenty building projects and collaborations. In 2006, he moved to London where he worked with two UK-based architecture companies: KPF (Park City Development project) and EPR Architects (Poole Quayside Housing Development project). Subsequently, he became a Senior Architect at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam with a specific focus on projects such as: high-rise residential towers and a new masterplan in Dubai UAE; and the Zayed Stadium Renovation Competition in Abu-Dhabi UAE. He is a PhD candidate at RMIT. Recent notable projects: Prosecutor's Office, Lazika Town Hall, National Olympic Committee House, House of Justice, 12 HayHill Club, Birdge Street Development, Nine Elms Bridge, Hanging Gardens of Birmingham, Pharmaceutical HQ, Tatlin Apartments, Lisi Garden House.
Senior Architect — ELIA
Nuka is Georgian architect based in Barcelona, where she studied and graduated in Architecture at the International University of Catalonia (UIC). After graduating, her initial plan was to stay in Barcelona for a few years, gain experience, and learn from this rich and inspiring architectural environment. A few years have passed, and she's still here, working and teaching, while always keeping in mind the idea of eventually returning to Georgia and continuing her practice there. For the past four years, she has been part of ELIA, an architecture practice founded as an extension of OAB - Carlos Ferrater Office, working on large-scale international projects. Alongside her professional practice, she also teach Design Studio at UIC, together with ELIA’s founder and CEO, Borja Ferrater, and three other colleagues from the office.
Founder - Architect — TIMM Architecture
Nikoloz Lekveishvili is a Georgian architect and founder of TIMM Architecture, a Tbilisi-based studio established in 2016. Educated at Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul and Politecnico di Milano, his work combines architecture, urban context, material experimentation, and cultural narrative. His projects have received awards, competition prizes, and international media recognition. Alongside practice, he has taught architecture and participated in international exhibitions and biennials, including the Venice Architecture Biennale. His work explores architecture as a medium for memory, communication, social interaction and contemporary life.
Co-founder - Head Architect — teamtwo - Architects and Engineers
Nutsa Nadareishvili is a Georgian architect and co-founder and CEO of Teamtwo, a Tbilisi-based architecture and engineering practice. She graduated from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 2008, where her diploma project was recognized as the best architecture diploma project in Georgia that year. She later earned a Master’s degree in Architecture and Engineering from TU Delft in the Netherlands. At TU Delft, she worked with the Chair of Methods and Analysis, contributing to research for Casablanca Chandigarh in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Architecture and to work related to the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. After graduating, she joined Rotterdam-based HP Architecten, working across design, construction documentation, and social housing projects. Alongside teamtwo, Nutsa co-founded Urban Experiments, an interdisciplinary design group exploring cities through research-driven, bottom-up approaches to architecture and urbanism.
Anthropologist — TSMU
Irakli is an anthropologist who has been conducting anthropological research in Georgia since 2007. His research interests include urban and rural anthropology, as well as the formation of cultural and social identities in transitional societies. He has worked at various universities as an invited lecturer, teaching courses in Design Anthropology and Medical Anthropology.
Interior Architect — Placemakers
Nino Mshvelidze is an interior architect and interior designer whose two-decade career spans Georgia and the United States. After years of working within New York’s design industry and understanding the city’s dynamic architectural culture, she founded Structura.nyc—a studio dedicated to creating thoughtful, emotionally resonant, and highly functional spaces. Her work draws inspiration from urban diversity, art, light, and the cultural intersections of the cities she calls home. Whether designing private residences, hospitality spaces, or commercial interiors, Nino combines strong structural principles with a refined, human-centered aesthetic. Her practice reflects a belief that design is more than form—it is a lived experience shaped by light, emotion, and movement.
Design Director — Project Bureau Azerbaijan (PBA)
Afat Mammadzada is Design Director at Project Bureau Azerbaijan, bringing more than a decade of experience in architecture, urban design, and urban development. Leading a multidisciplinary team of young architects, she works across residential and educational architecture, urban design, interiors, landscape, and complex multidisciplinary projects. Her practice is driven by a desire to challenge the conventional frameworks of architectural design within a highly regulated local environment in a seismic region. This perspective informs her exploration of new architectural languages, emerging technologies, engineering solutions, and context-sensitive design approaches. Through her work, Afat seeks to connect ambitious design thinking with the practical realities of contemporary development, while fostering a culture of experimentation, collaboration, and professional growth among the next generation of architects.
Partner — h3o architects
Joan Gener is an architect and co-founder of h3o architects, a Barcelona-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 2017. The studio works across different scales, from housing and public space to the transformation of existing buildings and urban environments. H3O seeks to create spaces that transcend the ordinary, fostering meaningful connections between people, context and nature. At the intersection of imagination and theory, their projects explore new spatial and social possibilities in response to contemporary architectural challenges, often working with what already exists — physically, socially and environmentally — as a starting point for transformation. Their work has been recognised through international competitions and awards, including Europan, and is currently being developed across Spain and the Netherlands. Alongside practice, Joan is involved in architectural education, lectures and juries.
Founder — NWDS
Nata Tatunashvili is an architect, curator, and researcher based between Tbilisi and Paris. She is a founder of NWDS, a multidisciplinary architecture office powered by female minds; Aea: Culture Initiative, a creative laboratory exploring female approach to collective making; and Ubani — Tbilisi Cityscape Research Center, a non-profit showcasing the value of Tbilisi's urban form. Nata brings 20+ years of architectural practice across cultural, residential, and hospitality projects. She has extensive experience in large-scale architecture, where projects are tied to visionary thinking, creating coherent worlds, and shaping new spatial narratives. She believes that architecture is defined by its ability to create compelling visions of the futures that blur the boundaries between high and popular culture, creative industries, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Co Founder & Partner — Mesura
Jaime Font, architect with a Master’s in Architecture and a PhD in Advanced Urban Masterplanning from TU-Wien, is Co-Founder and Partner at MESURA since 2010, where he leads research and innovation in design. With a strong interest in change-driven architecture, he advises both private and governmental clients on how design can regenerate communities through new social and economic models. He complements this role with academic work, co-directing the Joint Barcelona Program with the University of Southern California and collaborating with international universities.
CEO/Partner — Placemakers
Real estate professional with over 20 years of experience. Before founding Placemakers, Nodar acted as CEO of Lisi Development, creating award winning developments with world class architecture. He introduced sustainability standards new to the Georgian market. Mr. Adeishvili is alumni of Harvard University Graduate School of Design, holds MBA degree from IE Business School and bachelor’s degree in Law from Tbilisi State University.
Senior Architect — Landmark Studio Georgia
Luka is an architect with an academic background in Architecture for Sustainability at Politecnico di Torino. His professional trajectory encompasses senior architectural practice and entrepreneurial experience within the field of architecture. His interests centre on sustainable design, adaptive urban development, and the relationship between the built environment, society, and ecological systems. Through research and practice, he explore context-sensitive approaches that integrate environmental responsibility, social value, and Aesthetic quality.
Art Director — Render.ge
Rezi is an architect and Art Director at Render.ge, with 15 years in architecture and architectural visualization. Coming from an architectural background, he treat visualization as a design discipline rather than a production step. At Render.ge he leads the studio's art direction - from references and materials through to lighting and the final image. His current focus is on AI-assisted workflows and how generative tools fit into professional visualization without losing authorship, especially at the earliest stage of design, where an idea has to be communicated before the architecture exists.
Principal Architect, Project Manager — Dmark Architectural Company
Aleksandre Katsitadze is an architect, project director, and the founder of DMARK, an architectural practice established in Tbilisi in 2007. Over a career spanning more than two decades, he has led diverse architectural commissions, large-scale projects, and complex technical coordination projects from concept through execution. Aleksandre completed his architectural training at the Georgian Technical University’s School of Fine Art (1998-1999) and Georgian Technical University (1999-2004), supplemented by European professional workshops in Switzerland (EASA) and the Netherlands (EXPODIUM). His work is defined by rigorous technical integration, multidisciplinary team leadership, and pragmatic project delivery
Head of Architecture team — Adjara Group, Studio Circus
Givi Machavariani Graduated Georgian Technical University Institute of Architecture in 2002, since than he participated in design and construction of numerous projects across Georgia, such as Botanical Institute and Herbarium (2010) and Infrastructure rehabilitation projects for Lagodekhi and Vashlovani National Parks (2005) and more recently, Hotel Rooms Tbilisi (2014), Elektrowerk and Open Space Art and Performance Hub (2016-2018), Hotel Stamba (2018) Givi is also Participant of Tbilsi Architecutral Bienal and multiple times winner of international Architectural Award “Archi Award” held annually in Tbilisi. Georgia in nominations such as “Project of the Year”, “Best Reconstruction Project of the Year” and “Best Public Building of the Year” Currently Givi Machavariani is working as head of architecture team in inhouse architectural bureau of Adjara Group L.T.D. Company focused on Hospitality Projects such as Rooms Hotel and Hotel Stamba. At the same time he is Conceptualist and the leading Architect/Designer in “Elektrowerk” project – Transformation of former Soviet Electric Motor Factory Building in to the Social/Art hub. Alongside successful architectural career Givi is founder of Locomotive Promotion, Music promotion company focused on developing Alternative/Rock/Extreme scene in Georgia, organizing concerts of local and international acts, managing several Georgian bands and artists, organizing international tours and signing them with international labels.
Freelance Technical Advisor — U.S. Department of the Interior-Intgernational Affairs Office
He is a program-wide Technical Advisor for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Foreign Affairs Office and an International Freelance Subject Expert, Trainer, and Mentor in Spatial Planning, Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Facility Design, and Protected Areas Governance and Management. Since the early 1990s, a landscape architect, spatial planner, and leader of Georgia’s protected areas movement has authored the framework legislation for protected areas — “Law of Georgia on Protected Areas System” (1996) — and several laws and regulations that established 17 new protected areas (including 1 nature reserve, 5 national parks, 6 managed nature reserves, 3 nature monuments, and 2 protected landscapes) and expanded 4 existing reserves. He is the inventor of Georgia’s new protected areas concept, which is based on the synergistic conservation of natural and cultural values, the equal safeguarding of social and economic interests and of tangible and intangible assets, and the integration of landscape planning and spatial organization. As an international expert in spatial planning, landscape architecture, sustainable facility design, and protected areas governance, he has served as a program-wide technical advisor for the U.S. Department of the Interior's (USDOI-ITAP) International Technical Assistance Program for more than 20 years. He compiled a collection of best practices in spatial and urban planning, landscape research, sustainable design, and protected areas management. He has mentored approximately two thousand professionals in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Bangladesh, and has contributed to USDOI-ITAP’s program planning, including projects in Bangladesh, Ukraine, and the Kura-Araxes Region (South Caucasus). He has been a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas since the early 1990s and has participated in several global task forces on protected areas classification systems, mountain regions, and World Heritage. In 2004, he was nominated for the IUCN/WCPA Fred Packard (Global) Award for service to protected areas above and beyond the call of duty. At the 2014 IUCN World Park Congress in Sydney, Australia, he represented USDOI-ITAP by actively participating and delivering presentations, including a case study on good governance from Georgia titled ""Protected Areas Network as a Foundation for Sustainable Living,"" which emphasized quality principles and innovation. This presentation also contributed to the Global Learning and Capacity-Building crosscutting theme. His second presentation highlighted USDOI-ITAP's global contributions to human well-being, cultural identity, health, and economic prosperity through the sharing of United States best practices. On behalf of the World Bank, he presented a case study on the holistic approach to developing the national protected areas system at the IUCN World Park Congress 2004 in Durban, South Africa. This approach emphasizes the principle of ensuring the fair distribution of benefits both within and beyond the boundaries, focusing on the concentration of greater public goods and universal natural and cultural values. In May 2015, he was selected to deliver the keynote address at the inaugural event marking the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Department of the Interior's International Technical Assistance Program. At the U.S. Department of the Interior's main building, he showcased USDOI-ITAP’s top accomplishments in protected areas work. From 2017 to 2019, he served as an International Consultant for the World Bank’s Regional Development Project in Georgia, providing best-practice guidance on nature conservation and cultural preservation, with a focus on oversight of spatial and urban regulatory, urban upgrade, and urban design subprojects in historic and environmentally sensitive areas, including the historic towns of Mtskheta and Abastumani, the Bakuriani ski resort, and the Truso Valley. From 2006 to 2015 and again from 2015 to 2025, he worked with GIZ's IBiS Georgia Program as a subject expert, trainer, and mentor in Spatial Planning, Landscape Architecture, Sustainable Facility Design, and Protected Areas Governance and Management. In 2024-2025, he served as a technical backstop for the development of the Design Resource and Reference Book/Recommendations for the Tusheti Protected Landscape under the DIAPOL-CE project, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). In his early career, he developed an innovative method for evaluating ethical and aesthetic resources both qualitatively and quantitatively. This approach was designed for use in spatial planning, urban and landscape design, sustainable facility design, and environmental and historic-cultural impact assessments. While working with British Petroleum, he applied his methodology and tools during the predesign landscape study and impact assessment of the Baku-Supsa and Baku-Jeyhun gas-oil pipeline routes.
Architect
Deputy CEO — AMMA Design LLC
An architect by profession, he has 36 years of professional work experience in both the private and public sectors. He has been a Doctor of Architecture since 2013. After 16 years of work in the private sector, from 2007 to August 2025 he worked as a decision-maker in various positions in the public sector. Since 2017, he has been working as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design of the Georgian Technical University. Since August 2026, he continues to work in the private sector.
Architect — Artstudio Project
Gvantsa Chubinidze is a Tbilisi-based architect and urbanist with over eight years of professional experience spanning architecture, urban planning, and sustainable development. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Vienna and the University of Copenhagen and currently works as a Senior Architect and Urbanist at Artstudio Project. Her portfolio includes residential, hospitality, educational, and public projects, with a particular interest in context-sensitive and sustainable approaches to the built environment. In parallel with professional practice, she lectures in Sustainable Planning at Caucasus University and actively contributes to architectural conferences, panels, and professional discourse.
Owner — Nikolman
For the past 15 years, he has been the Founder and CEO of NIKOLMAN, a construction company specializing in residential developments, clinics, hotels, and private homes. NIKOLMAN operates in both Georgia and Poland, where they manage large-scale construction projects and complex development processes. Alongside his work in construction, he is an investor in dozens of companies across a diverse range of industries, with a strong interest in entrepreneurship, business development, and creating long-term value. He also serves as Director of UM.ge, an architectural and urban media platform focused on architecture, urban development, design, and the future of our cities."
Writer, playwright, TV show host
Aleksandre Lortkipanidze is a writer whose work spans plays, screenplays, poetry, and prose. Over the years, his writing has also led him to television. He is the author of seven books, including poetry collections, short fiction, and plays. For several years, Lortkipanidze has hosted *The Bookshelf*, a quiz show on the Georgian Public Broadcaster. He is also the creator and host of *Madziebeli*, a history quiz format he developed for YouTube. A passionate reader and lover of intellectual games, he also enjoys spending time looking at paintings—and, naturally, eating chocolate.
Sound Designr/Composer — TIMM
Ana Sikharulidze is a France-based media composer and sound designer, and an MSc graduate in Creative Music and Sound Design for Visual Media Scoring from Université Côte d’Azur. Approaching sound as architectural space, she works as a Dolby Atmos-certified sound producer for TIMM Architecture, transforming spatial environments into compelling narratives across a wide range of international projects. This structural approach shaped her score and sound design for *House of Iron Doors*, where she meticulously calculated frequencies and decibels to create striking spatial and acoustic contrasts. Her broader creative practice includes a diverse portfolio of works and installations presented on international stages, including the Venice Biennale and the Montpellier Light Festival. She has also received an award at the Estivales du Film Artisanal. The experience of working on *House of Iron Doors* ultimately inspired Sikharulidze to expand her creative practice into directing, bringing architectural approaches to sound design directly into filmmaking.
Co-Founder — NKC consulting
Aleksandre Maghlakelidze has over 20 years of experience in architecture, design, and project management. Early in his career, he developed extensive expertise in the adaptive reuse of existing buildings and hospitality projects. Throughout his career, Maghlakelidze has worked on a number of prominent hospitality projects, including Rooms Hotels, Hotel Stamba, Hotel Bazar, InterContinental, Kempinski, Novotel, and many others. In recent years, he has shifted his focus toward project and design management, working closely with investors and overseeing high-impact projects from concept to delivery. His recent work includes Immobiliare / Kostava 49, the FedEx Warehouse, and other major projects.
Economic Feasibility Studies / Cost-benefit Analysis — Independent Invited Expert/Consultant
Ilia Tamarashvili has extensive experience in economic development, finance, and spatial development. He has conducted several spatial development project feasibility studies, including economic cost-benefit analyses for Tana Valley, Bakuriani, Ureki-Shekvetili, and Gurjaani Park Akhtala. His expertise includes analyzing and designing state support programs based on blended finance models, as well as extensive experience in commercial lending and knowledge management across both the private and public sectors. Tamarashvili has also worked with a diverse range of international development organizations, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), World Bank (WB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), GIZ, USAID, and others.
Director, Co-founder — Geographic - Consulting Center
George Gotsiridze, born in 1972, holds a PhD in Geography and is an expert in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, and hazard risk reduction. His professional experience spans spatial, urban, rural, forestry, and mountain planning, as well as work in climate change, cultural heritage, and early warning systems. His current focus is on addressing challenges related to Georgia’s National Spatial Development Vision.
Environmental Consultant
Salome Dvali is an environmental protection specialist based in Georgia with over ten years of experience in environmental assessment, environmental policy and regulatory compliance.
Eastern Europe Area Representative — Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
Vladislav Nedelev M.Sc. RIBA RIBA Chartered Architect & Eastern Europe Area Representative Vladislav Nedelev is a RIBA Chartered Architect and the RIBA Area Representative for Eastern Europe. Holding an M.Sc. in Architecture and Urban Design from Politecnico di Milano, he has been fully licensed since 2022. Currently an Architect and BIM Manager in Sofia, Vladislav previously held senior roles at Mott MacDonald Bulgaria and other prominent design practices, specializing in complex multidisciplinary coordination for large-scale infrastructure, scientific facilities, and commercial developments. Vladislav is a strong advocate for digital innovation and workflow modernization in architecture. His research includes published work on Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) applied to the Duomo di Milano, championing data-driven conservation, proactive facility management, and long-term sustainability across the building lifecycle.
Founder — Tbilisi Architecture Forum
Natia didn’t study architecture. But she has always been fascinated by it as one of the most human-centred forms of aesthetic expression.
And she knows a thing or two about bringing ideas to life.
With 12+ years of experience in creative campaigns, brand strategy and marketing, Natia has worked across major international campaigns and led teams behind award-winning work.
Her creative journey includes 100+ international awards, including recognition at Cannes Lions, Eurobest, London International Awards, Epica, Golden Drum, ADCE and many more. Besides her passion for architecture She is running international Tech and Design Festivals at Touch Platform and CMO at Cityzen.
But for Natia, Tbilisi Architecture Forum is about something more personal: bringing people, ideas and disciplines together around the future of our built environment.
Landscape Architect, Associate Professor. — BSAC and Landmark Studio
Landscape Architect, Associate Professor at Caucasus University, and Co-Founder of BSAC and Landmark Studio.
With 15+ years of experience, Gvantsa has worked across landscape architecture, sustainable planning and public realm projects in the South Caucasus and internationally. 🌿
She’s passionate about connecting academia, practice and industry — and creating spaces for people to exchange ideas and collaborate.
As Co-Founder and Co-Organizer of the Tbilisi Architecture Forum, Gvantsa is helping bring together architects, landscape architects, urban planners and industry leaders to spark dialogue, innovation and new ideas for the built environment.
Different perspectives. One shared space to connect.
Co-organizer — Tbilisi Architecture Forum / Co-Founder of the Black Sea Architecture Community (BSAC).
Mariam is the Dean of the School of Architecture and Design at Caucasus University, a RIBA Visiting Board Member, and a member of the RIBA Europe Team.
Her work connects education, practice and research, with a strong focus on architectural education, international collaboration and knowledge exchange.
For Mariam, it’s all about one thing: bringing people and ideas together to strengthen the architecture community.
And that’s exactly what she brings to the Forum.
international trade professional, architecture enthusiast, and advocate — US Embassy
Ninnie Gamkharashvili is an international trade professional, architecture enthusiast, and advocate for the built environment sector. With extensive experience in cross-border commercial initiatives, strategic partnerships, and public-private collaboration, she is passionate about creating meaningful connections between Georgian and international architecture and design communities.
She currently works at the US Embassy in Tbilisi and serves as an Invited Professor at Tbilisi State University
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