Jef Kalil, Principal

A strong design sensibility. A flair for creative ideas. A passion for solving complex problems. These are the talents Jef Kalil brings to the Atelier table—talents he first honed while studying architecture at the NAAB-accredited Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. After earning his degree in 1993, he spent the next six years working in former East Germany, then at the height of a cultural renaissance thanks to unification. While there, he worked for Fischer Architects and the international team responsible for the innovative design and construction of the Kiez e.V. art and culture center in Dessau. Subsequently he served on the board of directors for the center and directed its art and design department.

During this transformative period, Kalil also taught design and architecture workshops at the renowned Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. In 1995, he met and began collaborating with his future wife and design partner, Steffi Waltinger. The duo relocated to New York in 1998 and founded their own firm. Atelier Design Group has worked with such companies as Van Cleef & Arpels, the Christopher Reeve Foundation, and the Corcoran Group. Jef and Steffi live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York with their son Marlo, who was born in 2005.

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