Introducing Coliving Awards

Matthias Hollwich is the founder of HWKN, a global architectural design firm based in NY with projects across the US, Germany and the Middle East. He started his career in firms renowned for their groundbreaking work, such as Diller + Scofidio, and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture / Rem Koolhaas.

Matthias was born and educated in Germany, and brings a dual perspective to all of the firm’s projects, combining German precision and New York-style aspiration. He was honored in Fast Company’s ranking of the world’s top 10 most innovative architects and is known for his work on new forms of architecture.

Matthias lectures widely on the topics of architecture, sustainability, aging and innovation at renowned conferences around the world, including TED, PICNIC, Stelka and the Conscious City conference. In 2019 he spoke at meConvention about “Unforgettable Architecture”.

CEO and Creative Director of the MIXD studio from Wrocław, Poland. Interior architect known for designing hospitality spaces, offices, co-living and commercial facilities.

For many years, he has been designing interiors for brands such as Novotel, Mercure, Hilton, MGallery and ibis Styles, but also for boutique hotels and restaurants, and dynamic startups such as intive or Codelab. Laureate - together with the design team - of the International Property Award 2016/2017, International Property Award 2019/2020, Silver Medal A'Design Award, Honorable Mention IDA Award, BIG SEE 2020 Award and other awards, distinctions and nominations.

Finalist of the Hospitality Design Award 2020 competition. Speaker of many industry conferences and events, including Warsaw Home, Łódź Design Festival, 4 Design Days, Hotel Trends Poland & CEE, Hotel Meeting. An active Instagram user, where he reports on his travels, design inspirations and the daily work of MIXD.

Barbara Iwanicka is a Polish art director and graphic designer based in Amsterdam. Her practice ranges from commissioned and cooperative to autonomous projects, with a focus on art, design and architecture. 

Since 2012, she has been the Design Director at Frame, a global platform and authority on spatial design. Together with a team of creatives, she has realised countless cutting-edge visual concepts and products, including print publications, brand identities, digital media and events.

Barbara is a ‘storytelling junkie’ and content-driven designer who stimulates intersectional dialogues between content and form. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and she has been awarded the Best Dutch Book Designs in 2014 and 2015. She attended Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam and Cooper Union in New York.

Gui Perdrix is the director of Co-Liv, the worlds largest association of coliving professionals, and founder of Art of Co, an educational platform exploring the intersection between coliving, community and connection.

Gui transitioned from being a coliving operator to a coliving influencer, amongst others through several publications such as his upcoming book Art of Coliving. At Co-Liv, Gui has been empowering the coliving industry to organize itself and get international recognition.

After visiting dozens of coliving communities and co-authoring a book on community building, he will be the judge to showcase the best coliving community in 2021.

Matt Lesniak is a co-founder and Head of Impact & Innovation at Conscious Coliving. Conscious Coliving is an ecosystem of shared living consultants co-creating a new paradigm of connected & conscious communities. At Conscious Coliving, Matt is responsible for designing community experience and impact strategies and measuring the social value of coliving communities.

Matt is also a founding member and current Head of Community of Co-Liv, Co-Founder & Managing partner of Coliving Ventures (and co-founder of Coliving Insights and Coliving Awards) and has worked for The Collective on their Impact and Community Experience Teams.  He has previously worked in the placemaking sector and is dedicated to creating inclusive, engagement-driven and impact-oriented shared community hubs.

As a dedicated Sales & Business Development Manager for Salto Systems (Saltosystems.com), the lock manufacturer of electronic locking solutions since 2001, Christian has developed a passion for Student Housing, shared living, Coliving and Coworking. Over the years, Christian has become a specialist in the international market and upcoming trends in the shared living segment.

The passion of the people working behind the scenes ignites an endless ambition for Christian to make a difference on a global scale and empower the shared living movement. He shares his passion in his role as Head of Tech for the global non profit association Co-Liv.org.

Yoony Kim is Managing Director of The Class of 2020, a non-profit European think tank shaping the future of living, working and learning.

Prior to joining The Class, she served different positions in higher education institutions with a firm belief on the magnitude of the potential positive impact transnational higher education has on individuals, organisations and societies.

Now, she focuses on bringing together the intertwined industries, including higher education, real estate (student and young professional living) and European university cities with a true passion for developing optimal learning pathways for global talent. The Class of 2020 advocates acting upon shared responsibilities that we have towards our future generation and creating more sustainable knowledge ecosystem by collaboration and co-learning.

Claire Flurin is a co-founder at Co-Liv, the international co-living association, and now serves as Head of R&D for investment company Keys AM.

With expertise in user-centric real estate development and urban sustainability, Claire designs and develops creative land-use strategies and real-estate-based businesses that enhance liveability in global cities.

Claire draws on her experience working in real estate, urban tech and city planning in Europe and North America. She received formal training from Cornell University, the Johnson Graduate School of Management and ESTP Paris.

Connor Moore is the Head of Content at Co-Liv and an associate at coliving investment and advisory firm Nomos Group.

Connor defines himself as a world traveler and people person that truly believes in the ability of coliving to improve the way people live in the 21st century. Spending the past two years getting his MBA in Malaysia, Connor had the opportunity to visit dozens of coliving operators around the world and started his own research blog to document his findings called Coliving Corner.

As a coliving thought leader Connor has appeared on several podcasts, spoken on numerous panels, and published content in coliving publications such as Coliving Insights.

Richard is a co-founder of Manner, a vertically integrated developer and operator of innovative housing models designed to meet the needs of young urbanites.

With over 18 years’ experience in corporate and start-up environments across international markets and within a diverse range of industries, Richard has demonstrated expertise in pioneering forward-thinking business models, scaling-up and growing platforms and building long term value.

Virginia is passionate about analysing new lifestyles and anticipating how these will translate into new space usages and business models, in her words “catalyse real estate futures”. Gathering a double expertise in architecture and consulting, Virginia has helped major real estate groups in the creation of innovative concepts, including coworking and coliving offers.

Currently Virginia is Head of Marketing and Sales at UpFactor, a full-service consulting firm specialized in heightening existing buildings, through a win-win densification process providing benefits for all the parties involved. She also serves as an advisor for the global no-profit coliving association and do-thank Co-Liv, for which she has led the setup of the academic partnership with the Politecnico di Milano. Her prior positions include strategy and innovation senior consultant at Stonup, architect at OMA and architect at Studio Terragni.