2019 Design Excellence Awards | Meet the Jurors

GRACE EUN, IIDA, ASID, LEED AP ID+C
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
CLIVE WILKINSON ARCHITECTS

Grace Eun is a Project Manager and Lead Designer at Clive Wilkinson Architects with a decade-long background in leading the design and implementation of commercial, health care, and institutional projects across the globe. Her diverse experience in both architecture and interior design allows her to successfully achieve each client’s vision through an integrated and collaborative design process. As a Lead Designer, Grace approaches every project with purposefulness, creativity and attention to detail.

A strong advocate of sustainable design and design education, she is an active member of the IIDA (International Interior Design Association) and ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) and serves as an adjunct professor at the IE University in Madrid, Spain. In 2018, Grace was featured as a ‘rising star in interior design’ by Metropolis magazine.

MICHAEL HSU, AIA, IIDA
FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF MICHAEL HSU OFFICE OF ARCHITECTURE

Michael Hsu, AIA, IIDA is the founder and principal of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, an Austin, Texas based firm of architects and interior designers founded in 2005. The firm opened a second office in Houston in 2018.

Following graduation from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, Hsu worked at OMA in the Netherlands and in Dallas before returning to Austin where he has practiced since 1998.  Hsu is currently the President of the AIA Austin Board of Directors and a member of the University of Texas School of Architecture’s Advisory Council.  His firm has received numerous design awards from AIA Austin, Texas Society of Architects, AIA Los Angeles, IIDA Texas/Oklahoma Chapter and the Heritage Society of Austin. Michael Hsu Office of Architecture was named AIA Austin firm of the year in 2016.

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture was formed with the goal of producing locally engaged, design-driven architecture and interiors. The firm advocates a simple, edited design palette, using available materials and techniques to create unexpected results. MHOA believes in the innate beauty of unadorned natural materials, carefully chosen, composed, and crafted. 

Michael Hsu Office of Architecture collaborates on a wide range of project types including residential, restaurant, retail, commercial, mixed-used, and adaptive reuse. Clients include Sydell, New Waterloo, Hai Hospitality, Parkside Projects, Shake Shack, P. Terry’s, Cielo Property Group, Endeavor Real Estate Group and Radom Capital, among others. 

THOM FORSYTH, SENIOR ASSOCIATE
ROCKWELL GROUP

Thom Forsyth is a Senior Associate at Rockwell Group. His diverse portfolio of hospitality, residential, and travel projects include the flagship Equinox Hotel in New York; the renovation of the historic Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City; Station House in Washington, DC; and Brightline train stations in Florida. At Rockwell Group, Thom collaborates with local artisans and manufacturers in lighting, carpet design, furniture, and surface materials to create custom pieces for his projects. Thom was honored as one of Boutique Design magazine’s Boutique 18, the publication’s annual roster of noteworthy emerging designers. Thom graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in Psychology, and received a M.S. from Pratt Institute, where he has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor, Interior Design.

Â