Six new members of staff join the Open City team

Open City is thrilled to annouce that six new members of staff have joined the charity’s education, digital and Open House Festival teams.

As Accelerate, Open City’s education programme supporting young people from under-represented background to pursue careers in design, continues to grow we are very excited to introduce four new tutors. Maia and Emil will be leading courses in the next year of the programme and Marcela and Jeevan will be supporting them.

Elsewhere, Carl and Hilary have joined the Open City team working across the online shop and 2022 Open House Festival. Get to know Maia, Emil, Marcela, Jeevan, Carl and Hilary below.

Maia Rollo – Course Leader

Maia completed her undergraduate studies in Architecture at DeMontfort University, her Masters degree at the University of Nottingham and currently works at nimtim architects.

Following her Bachelors degree Maia spent 3 years working in Leicester on community art and architecture projects including contributing to a community street design project with Sustrans and Leicester City Council. Maia has 3 years experience tutoring on undergraduate Architecture courses along with delivering architectural workshops to Key Stage 2 students and is passionate about engaging young people in the built environment.

Emil Day – Course Leader

Emil, is an Architect at Assael Architecture, who has a passion for social change within the built environment industry and has worked on array of projects from small schemes to large urban design projects.

With a focus on creating cohesive and inclusive environments, Emil has volunteered as a mentor on the new initiative POC in Architecture, which aims to inspire and engage with young students.

Previously Emil has also been involved with Open City’s Architecture in Schools programme which seeks to introduce key stage 2 students from London to the world of architecture.

Marcela Escobar – Teaching Assistant Advisor

Marcela graduated from the The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union in New York and is now an Architectural designer at van Heyningen and Haward Architects.

Marcela has been volunteering with Open City’s educational programs since 2018, and became an Accelerate tutor in 2021.

Jeevan Chahal – Teaching Assistant

Jeevan graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2021, where he completed his BA Architecture course and is currently an Architectural Assistant at JTP

Having worked with Accelerate in the past year, Jeevan has found a passion for teaching and inspiring the future generation of young Architects.

Previously he has enjoyed engaging with his local community on various live build projects including Project Malachi at the Salvation Army in Ilford.

Hilary Ip - Festival Producer

Hilary Ip joined Open City as the Open House Festival Producer in 2022 from a global events organisation, World Forum Disrupt, where she was the Head of Operations, directing over 50 international events a year. Her expertise spans across event curation and management, PR and communications, culture and employee experience, as well as client and stakeholders management.

Throughout her career, Hilary has been and continues to be a mentor for young people, challenging them to become leaders of their own lives, and a strong advocate for women in business, inspiring others to take responsibility and promote their careers. Outside of work, you’ll either find her munching on sweet treats whilst chasing after her toddler in the playground; or lying on the sofa, scrolling through endless interior social accounts.