Roberto de Oliveira Castro Principal

Roberto is an architect registered in Switzerland who has directed the design of a hotel in Honduras, houses in Guatemala and Egypt, and three urban-scaled projects in Abu Dhabi. He has led cultural projects such as the installation “Think Swim, Think Swiss” for the Consulate of Switzerland and published the book Natural and Urban: Green and Gray with Inès Lamunière. Prior to founding over,under, Roberto lived in Latin America, Europe, and the United States. He worked for Herzog & de Meuron, where he was a member of the master planning teams for the Walker Art Museum and the Plaza de España in the Canary Islands. More recently, Roberto was a senior designer at Machado and Silvetti Associates. He worked on institutional buildings at the American University of Beirut, Arizona State University, the Shady Hill School, and the University of Arkansas. Roberto has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Northeastern University, and Wentworth Institute. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia and studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

Rami el Samahy Principal

Rami is a LEED-accredited professional and has been involved in architectural and urban design projects in Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. He has been the project director of three major urban commissions in the UAE, most recently leading the architectural design controls for Sowwah Island, which will become Abu Dhabi’s new central business district. Rami teaches architecture and urban studios at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Doha. His academic research focuses on the culturally and environmentally sustainable design of Arab cities. Prior to founding over,under, Rami practiced architecture in Cairo and Boston, where he completed housing and master planning projects. At Machado and Silvetti Associates he worked on master plans for the American University in Beirut and the St. Albans School in Washington, DC, and participated in the design of museums in Los Angeles, Detroit, Pamplona, and Cairo. Rami served as the project coordinator for the Olayan School of Business competition at the American University of Beirut. The design won first prize and received a Progressive Architecture Award Citation. Rami was born in Asyut, Egypt. He received degrees from Brown University, Princeton University, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Chris Grimley Principal

Chris has broad experience in architecture, graphic design, and visualization technology. He is leading the identity and environmental graphics projects at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and the admissions identity for Wentworth Institute. Chris is active in the firm’s recent work in the United Arab Emirates, developing publications and architectural guidelines for Sowwah Island, Abu Dhabi’s new central business district. His architectural work includes the Hometta prototype and renovations to an early modernist house in Medfield, Massachusetts. Chris has designed books for Rockport Publications and Rizzoli Press. He is co-director of over,under’s pinkcomma gallery, and his broad range of expertise enables a design coherence across complex projects involving everything from urbanism to architecture to branding. While employed at Machado and Silvetti Associates, Chris held leadership roles on major projects such as the Getty Villa and Museum in California and the Visual Art Center at Dartmouth College. Chris was born in London, England and received his education at Ryerson University and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

Mark Pasnik Principal

Mark is a licensed architect in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a LEED-accredited professional. He has been involved in all aspects of over,under’s work, ranging from buildings to graphic identity development. Most recently he has overseen the admissions identity project for Wentworth Institute, the rebranding of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, and a beach house addition on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. He is a co-director of the firm’s pinkcomma gallery. Mark has taught at the California College of the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University (as the Lucien and Rita Caste Visiting Assistant Professor), Northeastern University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Wentworth Institute, where he is an associate professor. Prior to founding over,under, Mark was an associate at Machado and Silvetti Associates and a member of the editorial staff of the journal Assemblage. His writings have appeared in Monolithic Architecture, Architectural Record, the Architect, ArchitectureBoston, and the Cornell Journal of Architecture. He has authored two books from the series Architecture in Detail (entitled Elements and Materials) and a monograph published by Princeton Architectural Press. Mark was born in New Jersey and educated at Cornell University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.