Hiroshi Okamoto is a member of the American Institute of Architects and a LEED Accredited Professional, licensed in New York and New Jersey. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1992 and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science degree in Architectural Studies in 2000.

From 1994-1998, Mr. Okamoto was employed with the Ushida Findlay Partnership in Japan, and with the Joint Venture of Nikken Sekkei, Tohata Gumi and RTKL International, on the Saitama Koiki Godochosha, the large-scale Tokyo decentralization project completed in 1998.

From 2001 to 2012, Mr. Okamoto worked with I. M. Pei on the Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2001-2002); as a Designer, Site Representative and Construction Administrator of the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (2001–2008); and as the Project Architect of the Chapel at the Miho Institute of Aesthetics (2008-2012) in Shigaraki, Japan, I.M. Pei’s last project.  From 2008-2012, Mr. Okamoto was an independent design consultant and the Design Architect and Project Manager for the Museum of Islamic Art Park in Doha, where in collaboration with Richard Serra he designed, at the end of the manmade park peninsula, a cantilevered stone pier for Serra’s sculpture 7 (2011).

In 2010, Mr. Okamoto founded OLI Architecture PLLC and has been the design principal and project architect for the MuXin Art Museum (2011-2015), the Chengdu Silk Art Culture Museum (2012-2016), and the Museum of Islamic Art Renovation (2015-2017) in Doha, Qatar.  In 2018, after being featured in the reboot of BBC’s Civilizations, the MuXin Art Museum was listed in the Financial Times as one of Simon Schama’s 10 Forgotten Wonders of the World.  Other accolades won by the museum are:

• Winner of the 2016 AIANYS Award of Merit: Architecture/Institutional.
• Winner of the 2016 German Design Council Iconic Award Best of Best: Museum Architecture.
• Shortlist Finalist for the 2016 World Architecture Festival: Culture/Completed Buildings.
• Winner of the 2015 Concrete Industry Board Roger H. Corbetta Award of Merit: Out of Country.

Other notable projects Mr. Okamoto has led are: the Tencent Shanghai Cloud Services office design (2017-2018), the signage and environmental graphic design in collaboration with Pentagram for OMA’s Tencent Beijing HQ (2018), the retail concept designs for Amplitude (2018 – on going), the homegrown high-end cosmetic line launched by the Japanese cosmetic giant, POLA, which has been implemented in eleven of the most traffic retail locations in Japan; and the London Cross Pavilion (2015-2020): a purpose built private commission in Westchester NY, to house Richard Serra’s London Cross (2014), which was first shown in the Gagosian Gallery in London.  The Pavilion, another collaboration with Serra, was a 2021 World Architecture Festival Finalist, and the winner of the 2020 AIANY Projects Award of Merit). 

Recently completed and current ongoing projects Mr. Okamoto is working on are: the Ascentage Pharma R&D Headquarters (2018 – 2022), for the Hong Kong listed pharmaceutical company Ascentage, the design of the AnjiPlay Kindergarten and Early Childhood Education Center (2015 – Present), the Diageo Jade – Single Malt Whiskey Distillery and Visitor Center (2020 – Present), and The Passage of Time Art Park (2021 – Present), a 15.5 acre art park in NW Florida with a purpose built pavilion housing Richard Serra’s Passage of Time (2012).

Mahnaz Maroufi graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in Master of Environmental Building Design and has earned both a Bachelor and Master in Architecture with honors from the University of Tehran.

Following her professional education, she worked from 2009 to 2011 as an architect in Iran, where she designed a house in her hometown Isfahan.

Mahnaz joined OLI Architecture in 2013 and since then she has been participating on various international residential, cultural, and educational projects including CSAC Museum, CSEAM Museum, Museum of Islamic Art Terrace Renovation, Guanghui Museum, Wood Block Museum, Y Office, Y Residence, Tencent Shanghai Office, Symphony Orthodontics, and a few competitions. She led Anji Play project from programing to construction. Currently, she is the project manager for POT Art Park project.

Benjamin Gomez Arango is an architect with expertise in residential, collective housing, civic, and public architecture. He has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Pontificia Bolivariana University and an M.S. in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. With over 6 years of professional experience, Benjamin has worked on projects in both South and North America. He joined OLI Architecture in 2021 and is currently based in New York City.

Luz Wallace, LEED Green Assoc. is a designer at OLI Architecture since 2022. She is also a visiting professor at Pratt Institute teaching advanced architectural studio and media representation. She is the recipient of the AIA Henry Adams Medal Award, and SARA national award for student research. Her work for “synthetic landscapes” has been exhibited at the Berlin design week exhibition.  Previously, she worked at Christian Duvernois Landscape Studio in NYC. During almost 5 years there she was involved with the design of several award winning Urban native green roofs and permaculture gardens. She is a founding member of DEI organization at Pratt Institute and has collaborated with NOMAS and Pratt Futures lecture series to foster diversity and equality in the architecture curriculum. Her current focus is on design, architectural technologies and landscapes.

Kojo is an architectural designer with nearly 5 years of relevant experience in designing and realizing built work. With a diverse cultural background spanning from Africa through Europe to North America, his design ethos reflects and draws from these experiences to create multicultural and inclusive designs. He holds a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University, USA and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from KNUST, Ghana.

Aleksandr Dmitrashchuk holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Cornell University, which he pursued after graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell. His research revolves around adaptable architecture as a more sustainable and lasting approach to designing built environment.

Alex joined OLI in 2022 and has been a valuable team member on the Diageo Jade project. He brings his experience of cultural and institutional projects into his work.

Max is an Architectural designer graduated from Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Architecture and from Columbia University with a Master of Advanced Architectural Design. He joined in OLI Architecture in 2022.