Archives

João Barbosa

João joined Various Architects in early 2023, holding a master’s degree from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, Portugal. His master’s thesis explored «The Role of Architecture in Active Ageing: a theoretical and practical approach».

Prior to joining the firm, João relocated to Norway in 2022 to work with the Oslo Architecture Triennale team, where he contributed to the development of that year’s exhibition «Mission Neighbourhood – (Re)forming communities».

Beyond his architectural practice, João’s experience extends to art-related initiatives in his homeland. He is co-founder and head of strategy and operations of an ambitious project dedicated to developing an open-air museum along the Portuguese coastline.

At Various Architects, João is actively involved in the development of projects across all phases, from initial concept through to completion. His collaborative approach and attention to detail ensure that each project benefits from thorough consideration at every stage, while his diverse background—spanning academic research, cultural programming, and strategic planning—brings a multifaceted perspective to the studio’s work.

Sofia Joubert

Sofia Graduated from Tecnologico de Monterrey Campus Queretaro. After working independently in Mexico, she gained experience through an internship at Spark Architects in Shanghai. She worked as a part of the ArchDaily materials team before coming to Norway to join Various Architects.

Mikael Pedersen

Mikael Pedersen graduated from the School of Architecture in Lund, Sweden in 1999. He joined Snøhetta for 12 years, working on a wide range of projects including the Norwegian Opera and ballet. In 2011 he started to work for Nordic – Office of Architecture, focusing on the New Pier at the Oslo Airport Gardermoen project,  where he was involved from preliminary design until the completion of shell and core. He also led the Extension Non Schengen project at Oslo Airport. In addition Mikael was in charge of The Sustainability Group at Nordic – Office of Architecture, providing sustainable design guide lines for every project at the office.
In January 2017 Mikael joined Various Architects as a partner and managing director, bringing his extensive experience to the company.

Noemi Fuentes

Noemi is a Mexican architect graduated from Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Querétaro. She did an exchange semester in CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. During her studies she discovered a fascination towards children spaces and the way architecture relates to their learning process and their interaction with the city. She has developed a project with Latin-American friends called “Escalalatina” which offers a variety of cut-out people for renderings and architecture images. She moved to Norway in March 2016 to join Various Architects team.

 

Kira Nasebandt

Kira studied in Hannover at the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University and successfully passed her exam in February 2014. Originally she comes from Oldenburg in Germany. During her studies she worked at Seyfarth Stahlhut architecten bda, where she had the opportunity to get inside all phases of building construction.

 

Kira moved to Norway to join Various Architects in March 2014.

Laura Martinez

Laura is from Spain and she started her studies at Universidad de Alicante, moving to the Netherlands for one year to study at Hogeschool Van Amsterdam, finally obtaining her architectural degree at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in January 2013. She has previous work experience from different architectural and engineer offices in Spain and Portugal.

 

Laura moved to Norway to join Various Architects in August 2013.

Birgitte J. Haug

Birgitte completed her Master at Bergen School of Architecture in 2010, which included an exchange semester at Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She has experience from living in several different cultures. During her studies she took part in drawing and building a small school at the Mozambiquan countryside.

Birgitte has been a part of the Various Architects team since 2011 and has experience from all fases of project development.