The Majlis: A Meeting Place

A Rhodes Scholar, Thierry Morel is an art historian and curator who graduated from the universities of Paris and Oxford in law and history of art. He was a post-doctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge and for Venice in Peril co-authored The Venice Report: Demography, Tourism, Financing and Change of Use of Buildings. Thierry has done extensive research on the history of art collections and art provenance in Europe, wrote and produced Private View, a documentary series on leading international art collectors for Time Warner.

Architect Simón Vélez has more than 50 years experience working with natural materials and is widely regarded for his innovative use of bamboo. Vélez discovered new and revolutionary techniques in bamboo joinery, allowing greater use of its natural strength and achieving more complex geometric forms. To date, he has designed and built over 200 buildings in Germany, France, USA, Brazil, Mexico, China, Jamaica, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, and India.

Landscape architect Todd Longstaffe-Gowan read Environmental Studies at the University of Manitoba, Landscape Architecture at Harvard University and completed his PhD in Historical Geography at University College, London. He has carried out research at Yale University, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Todd has advised on many public and private historic landscapes, including the National Trust and English Heritage, The Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, and Kensington Palace Gardens.