(“Text as taken from the website”)
Eiri Ota
Bachelor of Architecture, Musashino Art University
Licensed First Class Architect, Japan
Eiri Ota, the principal of UUfie, is a licensed Japanese Architect with wide experience working on cultural, residential, and commercial projects. Born in Paris and educated and trained in Japan, he brings with him a highly skilled and unique international perspective. He transforms design into reality with an understanding of human scale to facilitate design from the largest to the smallest details. After graduating from Musashino Art University, he immediately started his career at Jun Aoki and Associates in Tokyo from 2003 to 2008. He independently led several built commercial and hospitality projects such as Louis Vuitton Namiki (Japan), White Chapel (Japan), and Go-Sees Hiroo (Japan).
Irene Gardpoit
Bachelor of Architecture, University of Toronto
Member, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
Licensed Architect, Ontario
Irene Gardpoit, the principal of UUfie, is a licensed Canadian architect with expertise in project preparation, design, and development, with substantial work experience in North America, Asia (including Central Asia), Europe, and the Middle East. Her in-depth knowledge of design and development has evolved over the past seventeen years of extensive work in the field and with consultants and clients. Working in design and architecture, she has led planning and administration for internationally recognized and award-winning built projects. From 2003-2009, Irene worked for Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, Arata Isozaki at his studio in Tokyo. Irene led projects for the Aga Khan Foundation for three educational institutions in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. She designed and project-managed the University of Central Asia Library and Landmark for campuses in each country, as well as for the Qatar Education City Convention Center in Doha. Working closely with Arata Isozaki, she was also the lead design architect for a contemporary art museum, Hara Museum ARC, in Japan, which features a wooden structure situated within a rural landscape, an integration of art, architecture, and environment.
