Leading Australian multi-disciplinary design firm Hames Sharley announces the appointment of Jorge Ortega as Principal in their Perth studio.
Jorge has more than 20 years’ experience in delivering projects across Mexico, the UK, continental Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, and Australia and comes to the new position having previously worked as Associate Director at Bates Smart and Senior Associate at Hassell.
He brings a wealth of knowledge in delivering complex design tasks and is actively engaged in architectural education and research, including running masters design studios at Curtin University and Melbourne School of Design. It is from this teaching and mentoring experience, which he helps to expand his team’s strategic thinking and communication skills.
Jorge’s philosophy is to see design as a problem-solving exercise. “The statement ‘less but better’ by Dieter Rams succinctly articulates the design approach, which I wholeheartedly subscribe to, and is fully aligned to the ‘do it better’ principle, the core foundation of Hames Sharley,” says Jorge.
Aside from Jorge’s architectural design work, which spans a range of disciplines including the Commercial and Hospitality sectors, he is passionate about the study and understanding of the human condition including both behavioural and narrative economics; fascinated by our decision-making process and how it is mostly driven by non-rational processes.
Jorge is excited to contribute to Hames Sharley and its variety of portfolios and research initiatives which place its design teams in a unique position to exchange and apply concepts and strategies across sectors, typologies, and projects. He is particularly interested in helping narrow the gap between the front-end ideas and the back-end implementation of those ideas.
Studio Leader, Brook McGowan says, “We are proud to welcome Jorge to Hames Sharley and our leadership team. His creativity and critical thinking to design will build on the success of our recent Perth projects.”
Outside of work, Jorge is a martial artist, an archer, and a glider pilot. He has travelled extensively and enjoys discovering how other cultures and people see the world.
