Tanya Karim is a Partner Architect at the esteemed architectural firm Tanya Karim N R Khan and Associates (TKNRK). She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1990 and stands out as an educator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

She is a registered architect of RAJUK (Capital Development Authority) and a fellow member of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB) where she currently leads as the Convener of Women in Architectural Practice. Additionally, she is a member of ArcAAB (Architecture Alumni Association, BUET) and holds a position as a board member of Bangladesh Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI).

With an impressive 31 years of experience in architectural practice, Tanya Karim is a prominent figure in the architectural realm. Her firm, TKNRK, has garnered numerous awards, and their architectural projects have been featured in various international and local magazines. Tanya has led several international architectural tours, served as a visiting faculty member and advisor at prestigious institutions, and judged esteemed design awards such as the Berger Award for Interior Design, the KSRM Student Awards, IAB Interior Design Awards, and the Asian Paints Beautiful Homes Awards, among others.

Fluent in multiple languages including Bengali, English, Urdu, and Hindi, Tanya Karim continues to inspire and mentor emerging architects, bringing her extensive experience and visionary approach to the global architectural stage.

Suhasini Ayer is an Architect and Urban Planner, and the co-founder of the Auroville Centre for Scientific Research (CSR) Trust. This collaborative organisation works with multiple agents and agencies in applied research for sustainable settlement planning, solar passive architecture, appropriate building materials and technologies, water and waste management, and renewable energy.

She heads Auroville Design Consultants, a planning and architectural design studio focused primarily on planning, designing, and implementing applied research development projects within Auroville. This approach responds to the natural and human geography, local climate, and culture to evolve minimal and elegant built forms. The underlying theme in all the projects is creating integrative systems, including water, energy, waste, building materials, and technology, to create passive sustainable networks between people and the built and unbuilt spaces, empowering them to take responsibility for their environment.

Suhasini hopes to bring her sustainability perspectives to the AYDA participants.

Russell Dandeniya is the Principal Architect at Russell Dandeniya Chartered Architects and the Director at RDC Architects Pvt. Ltd., both of which are small, experimental, studio-based practices. Believing in a practice mode that fuses the client's pragmatic requirements with the architect's inner belief, Russell searches for Architecture that is minimal in resource use, sustainable in environmental response, and conscientious in dealing with the local climate, people, and place.

As an award-winning Architect, he remains humble and is an active contributor to the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA), serving on the SLIA council for over 17 years in various roles & capacities, as the President of SLIA in year 2021/2023, also Zone – A Vice President in year 2021-2023 Architects Regional Council of Asia ARCASIA.

An activist within the Architectural community, Russell initiated many innovative programs and served as the Founder Chairman and Official Juror of the SLIA Online Design Awards Jury for 2019/2020-2021. This year, he hopes to share his experience with the next generation of the architectural community through AYDA.

Benjamin is currently immersed in the dynamic wine retail and bistro industry, where competition is fierce and consumer preferences evolve rapidly. In his role, he oversees the creation of immersive environments that captivate customers and enhance the brand identity of Wine Connection, the largest wine specialty retailer and European full-service restaurant in Singapore and Thailand.

Prior to his current undertaking, Benjamin’s Asia Pacific regional architectural exposure, spanning over 14 years of overseas postings to cities such as Chennai, Bangalore, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bali, provided him with an abundance of multicultural, memorable and invaluable experiences, both personally as well as professionally.

Benjamin began his participation with the AYDA Panel in Vietnam in 2019. Through AYDA, he hopes to inspire young minds to contribute positively and sustainably, mitigating the built environment’s effects on nature.

Sibarani is a passionate urban designer, planner and business leader with extensive experience in various urban projects in Asia, especially Southeast Asia and Indonesia. Focusing on executing sustainable urban development based on an integrated multi-disciplinary approach.

He graduated with B.Arch from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia with the Best student Award and later pursued his Masters in Urban Development and Design from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. Having worked for leading international firms such as RSP Architects Planners & Engineers (Singapore), Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), EDAW and AECOM, Sibarani has gained vast experience and worked on various award winning master planning projects in South East Asia from Vietnam, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India etc.

His recent list of awards includes LASWI Creative District Design Competition, WIKA Realty, Kebon Kacang Public Housing Architectural Competition, Perumnas Indonesia, New Indonesian Capital City Master Plan “Nagara Rimba Nusa”, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Indonesia, Best Landscape Project, Singapore Institute of Landscape Awards and many more…

Upon receiving his master degree in Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design in 1985, Paul Tange joined the architectural firm headed by his father, renowned architect, Kenzo Tange. In 1997, Tange became President of Kenzo Tange Associates and in 2002, he founded Tange Associates. Tange Associates has designed landmark buildings both in Japan and abroad and has designed the Tokyo Aquatics Centre for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Tange Associates' design of the Olympic gymnasiums is the first time that father and son architects have designed the same facilities in the same city for two separate Olympics (Tokyo 1964 and 2020). Paul is a registered architect in both Japan and Singapore.

Nicholas Ho is Chairman of hpa (Ho & Partners Architects), a leading multi-disciplinary architectural design practice headquartered in Hong Kong. Ho is the Hong Kong, China (HKC)'s representative to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC), member of the HKSAR Youth Development Commission and HKSAR Trade and Industry Advisory Board, council member of Lingnan University and Hong Kong Institute of Architects. Dedicated to public service and policy advocacy, Ho is elected as a member of 2021 HKSAR Election Committee.

With landmark projects across 50 cities in 12 countries, hpa has firmly established itself as an international and technologically advanced advisory platform for four decades. Since 2016, hpa has also spearheaded numerous SMART Cities initiatives through partnering with and investing in dozens of tech partners and solution providers globally, actively nurturing an ecosystem for technology development. Our advisory role and comprehensive services add value to clients’ projects, including national governments and private sectors, with whom we have successfully collaborated in over 6 countries.

Ho has a keen interest in exporting Hong Kong professional services abroad, as exemplified by his current projects across Southeast Asia, Europe and the USA. Aligning with the PRC’s mandate to develop the Belt and Road Initiative, he has been actively establishing partnership alliances along the New Silk Road.

Michael Pizarro was a Partner and Principal Interior Designer for Mercado Mercado Amadeo Pizarro Architecture and Interior Design Consultancy Company (MMAP), until he founded his own firm, Michael Pizarro Interior Design (MPID) and its subsidiary company, Acanthus Home Furniture and Furnishing.

Currently, he is an executive board member of the International Federation of Interior Architects/ Designers and the College of Fellows (COF) to the professional interior design association, Philippine Institute of Interior Designers (PIID).

Last but not least, Michael is a long-serving judge and recent outgoing advisory panel member at the Asia Young Designer Awards. In his commentaries, through his journey with AYDA, he exclaims: “What I find exciting for me is not how enticing the future looks like to them. What draws me is the amount of passion, commitment and enthusiasm each and every student devoted over the last months, if not a year. If that is how the future looks based on their intentions, we will be in good hands.”

Datuk Ezumi Harzani graduated as a Bachelor of Housing, Building, Planning and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Science, Malaysia. He also holds a Master of Philosophy from the University of Technology, Malaysia. Since then, he has been the President of Pertubuhan Akitek, Malaysia (PAM) and was a part of the Board of Architects, Malaysia from 2013 to 2021. Consecutively, he was appointed as a member of the Council of Architecture Accreditation and Education, Malaysia from 2010 - 2019, and is also a member of the Focus Group in Dealing with Construction Permit since 2012, advisory board member of the Kuala Lumpur City Hall from 2015 to 2019 and the chairman of Architect Centre Sdn Bhd from 2017.

He has presented more than 50 papers at national and international seminars on architecture and built environments. Besides this, he is also the Director of Arkitek MAA Sdn Bhd, that helps implement various project portfolios from hospitals, residentials, office buildings and hotels.