Zehra Kuz is a registered Architect in New York and Connecticut as well as an Adjunct Professor, CCE at Pratt Institute, School of Architecture. She holds a Master of Science in Building Design and Architecture from GSAPP, Columbia University in NYC and Diplom Ingenieure from Universitaet Innsbruck, Austria.

Inspired by relationships that exist between buildings, their inhabitants and the surrounding environments, her work focuses on how prevailing environmental and cultural pressures affect coastal (urban) life. Ideas of resilience, equity, generic versus idiosyncratic influence her work.

It is this dialectical process between theory and practice that inspired ‘Oasis’ to be a Design Laboratory. Here relationships between visible and invisible forces, users’ desires, and structural needs are (design) engineered to improve the performance of built work. Combined experience through academia and years of working in the offices of Edward Larrabee Barnes Associates and Skidmore Owings and Merrill LLC, enables Zehra to put into practice a synthesis across scales and disciplines. House in Frastafeders, AU and house in Churchton, MD, display how ‘site’ shapes the form and flow of space

Ana Cajiao’s multidisciplinary practice systematically challenges the boundaries between architecture, urban, and product design. She is passionate about sustainable and holistic design that creates memorable experiences for users.

Before joining ODL, Ana worked with Zaha Hadid Architects in London, UK. Ana led projects in 6 countries, across 3 continents, designing and building a portfolio of award-winning buildings, including cultural, mix-use high-rise, and residential. Additionally, she has worked on several retail and interiors projects, as well as critically acclaimed product designs and exhibitions.

Ana has served as an architectural and design critic at several institutions including Columbia GSAPP, Parsons School of Design, Melbourne School of Design, and Harvard GSD. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor currently teaching a core design studio and seminar in the undergraduate department at Pratt Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture with honors from The Pratt Institute in New York.