Elena Manferdini graduated from the University of Civil Engineering (Bologna, Italy) and later received her Master of Architecture and Urban Design from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In 2004 she founded Atelier Manferdini, a design office based in Los Angeles, California. The firm has been highly visible as an advocate of design excellence and has been recognized internationally for its ability to create imaginative architecture, fashion and product design. The office is based on a multi-scale work methodology and embraces the philosophy that design can participate in a wide range of multidisciplinary developments that define our culture. Currently the firm is designing a single family villa in Ascona (Switzerland), a 250,000 sq.ft. master plan in Macerata (Italy) including 80 apartments, a museum and an open theater. Atelier Manferdini has been selected to design a 150,000 sq.ft. residential tower in Guiyang (China) along with other 10 leading design firms from around the world. In 2006 Ms. Manferdini was invited to design the West Coast Pavilion representing USA at the Beijing Biennale in the Chinese Millennium Museum. In 2008 and 2010, she curated the West Coast USA session of the Beijing Biennale exhibition. She has lectured widely, including at MIT, Princeton, GSD and Bauhaus. In addition to leading her design practice, in the past 8 years Elena Manferdini has been teaching architectural design studios and technology seminars for the Graduate and Undergraduate programs at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Currently she is the Coordinator of the Graduate Thesis Program at SCI-Arc.