Kai-Uwe Bergmann, FAIA is a Partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) who brings his architectural expertise to proposals around the globe, including work in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Kai-Uwe heads up BIG's business development--which currently has the office working in over 40 different countries. He also oversees BIG's Urban scales projects and supports BIG’s Landscape projects. He is registered as an architect in the USA (13 states) and Canada. Kai-Uwe most recently contributed to the resiliency plan BIG U to protect 10 miles of Manhattan's coastline. First envisioned through the Rebuild by Design competition to develop proactive responses to Superstorm Sandy, it is now being constructed with a completion date in 2026. Further projects include Reimagining Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Queens Park, Smithsonian Master Plan, Pittsburgh Master Plan and Miami Beach Square. He complements his professional work through previous teaching assignments at the University of Pennsylvania, IE University in Madrid, and his alma mater the University of Virginia. Kai-Uwe formerly was on the Board of the Van Alen Institute, participates on numerous international juries and lectures globally on the works of BIG

Gaurang is an Architect with a specialization in Urban Design. He has 30 years of experience working in North America, Europe and Asia and has worked across a range of scales and contexts, from master planning and programming public institutions to detailed design of high-end hotels, resorts, and residences. He understands the essence of place making and the qualities that create some of the world’s finest institutional, hospitality, commercial and residential projects and combines that with his management skills to deliver a product of the highest quality. He studied Architecture, Urban Design and Planning from University of California, Berkeley. and has worked with reputed firms such as Charles Correa (Mumbai), Kerry Hill Architects (Singapore), AECOM (Hong Kong), HOK (San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Singapore) and POPULOUS as Asia Director. He is an active member of several professional organizations globally such as AIA, APA, SIA, IIA, SPUR, and sits on the board for ULI South Asia. He is a visiting professor at College of Environmental Design, UC Berkeley; Advisory committee member at Sushant School of Art & Architecture, India; and Associate Adjunct Professor at the College of Architecture, National University of Singapore. Projects designed by Gaurang, and his papers on design thinking have been published widely in several magazines and journals. He is currently writing a book that explores the nexus of Artificial Intelligence and Design in what he envisions will be a Hybrid Future for the Architecture & Design industry. He is very passionate about cities and is an ideator for policy and planning for creating liveable cities. He was nominated by the Ministry of National Development, Singapore, and served as a Global Young Leader at World Cities Summit from 2012 until 2022.