Michael Biondo / Photographer

Jeffrey Matz / Architect

Cristina A. Ross / Architect

Lorenzo Ottaviani / Creative Director

MICHAEL BIONDO is an accomplished fashion and architectural photographer who grew up in New Canaan area. He studied photography and earned his BFA degree from Pratt Institute. He then went on to spend the next 25 years working as a fashion & celebrity photographer dividing his time between Paris & New York and Los Angeles. His work has appeared in numerous books and magazines including W, Interview, Vanity Fair, Elle and Vogue.

JEFFREY MATZ is an architect and design evangelist with deep roots in the Modern movement. Jeffrey grew up surrounded by the Modern idiom, in a house designed and built by his father and mother. His father, Raymond, is an architect who, as a student at Cornell, invited Philip Johnson as a visiting critic. Raymond then went on to work with Marcel Breuer. His mother, Donna, was a former writer and fashion journalist at W magazine and his grandfather, Herbert, was also an architect, specializing in classic stone and timber churches in New England. A graduate of Pratt School of Architecture and special student at RISD, IAUS and Cooper Union, Jeffrey is a published architect, with his own practice in Greenwich, Connecticut.

CRISTINA A. ROSS is an architect and preservationist with over 30 years experience and a diverse architectural range of experience ranging from corporate design, to residential, hospitality and educational projects. She is a graduate of The Cooper Union, Channing School of Architecture and studied under some of the most illustrious architects of our time. It was at Cooper Union that she first was introduced to the Modern movement, where John Hejduk brought visiting critics such as Philip Johnson, Aldo Rossi and others to teach and share their vision of architecture. New Canaan is where “The Harvard Five” and modernism merged and where she was introduced to these iconic houses. Cristina has resided in New Canaan with her family for over 20 years, where she continues her practice of architecture and has been active in preservation and restoration projects in Fairfield County and New York City.

LORENZO OTTAVIANI is an author and the creative director of Lorenzo Ottaviani Design, a multi-disciplinary graphic design studio. Lorenzo is the former creative director at Rafael Viñoly Architects. A graduate of the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome - Italy, Lorenzo began his career at the renowned studio of Pier Paolo Scalera in Rome, assisting Mr. Scalera in creating some of the most iconic Italian movie posters. Lorenzo’s work has been recognized with national and international awards including multiple Graphis Gold Awards for excellence in print, web and packaging. His work has been featured in Graphis, New York Magazine, and Vanity Fair.

Lorenzo’s book, Travel Italia: The Golden Age of Italian Travel Posters, was published worldwide by Abrams in 2007.

MODERNS ON MODERN

Moderns On Modern is a collaborative founded by photographer Michael Biondo, architects Jeffrey Matz and Cristina A. Ross, and creative director Lorenzo Ottaviani.

The group is united by a common interest in midcentury architecture and design and is committed to the vision that modern architecture is not static but it seeks to reinvent itself as it adapts to new ways of life.

The Authors