AlePreda Architecture is a New York-based studio founded by Italian architect and furniture designer Alessandro Preda. Inspired by the beauty and richness of the natural and built environment alike, we harness the core elements of architecture—space, materiality, and light—to craft spaces that nourish daily life and heighten the sense of presence and place.
We partner with clients to articulate their vision and guide them through each phase of the journey, from initial conception to final construction. Our designs prioritize elegant solutions that thoughtfully serve the client’s needs, respond to context, and honor the environment.
Whether we’re prototyping bespoke details or refining the overall atmosphere of a project, our focus spans every scale. Rooted in Italian design tradition and elevated by American ingenuity, we bring a meticulous eye for craftsmanship to every detail, ensuring each space is uniquely tailored to its owner. We believe that an exquisitely crafted space doesn’t just look beautiful—it inspires those who experience it every day.
The Intelligence of the Hand
In an age awash with digital imagery overload, endless scrolls, and rapidly evolving technologies who might soon be more skilled than we are, Alepreda Architecture seeks to reaffirm the centrality of human experience by placing hands-on methods at the core of its creative process and recognizing the human body as the key subject in architecture’s production and fruition. The studio believes—drawing from Alvar Aalto’s “The Trout and the Stream” and Campo Baeza’s concept of “learning to think with the hands”—that an instinctive form of intelligence emerges when one’s hands engage in the creative process directly through sketches, prototypes, and physical materials transforming, as it were, an abstract idea into form through a thoughtful, deliberate act of making.
Team
At Alepreda, we are both designers and makers. Our office doubles as a workshop where we create prototypes and mock ups. This dual expertise as architects and craftsmen provides a hands-on material knowledge and allows us to craft bespoke details for each project confidently.
Our small studio brings diverse perspectives, with backgrounds from the U.S., Italy, and India and significant time in China, Portugal, and Spain. These diverse experiences trained us to view our surroundings as “outsiders,” sharpening our observations. By closely studying the natural and built environments, we’ve developed a rich set of “patterns,” or inspirations, which abstract and translate feelings, concepts, and experiences from the real world into architecture. These patterns are essential to our design process, ensuring our work remains deeply connected to the human body and experience.
Alessandro Preda - Founding Principal
Alessandro is a registered architect and member of the American Institute of Architects. He grew up in Brescia, Italy, and has studied and worked in Austin, Milan, Paris, Shanghai, Tenerife, Boston, ultimately settling in New York. These experiences in various countries inform his aesthetic and understanding of the city.
Alessandro graduated from Harvard University Graduate School of Design with a Master of Architecture and from Bocconi University with a Degree in Economics and Management. While in college, he attended the joint MIT-Fudan MBA in Shanghai, during a semester exchange program.
Alessandro has led projects ranging from the conversion of landmarked buildings into contemporary art spaces and boutique hotels to ground-up high-end residential projects. His research focuses on digital fabrication and construction methodologies.
Before founding Alepreda Architecture, Ale was an architect at Deborah Berke Partners in New York for six years.
Ale is a founder of miduny, a contemporary furniture brand that manufactures his designs in collaboration with master Italian artisans.
Nicola Brasetti - Associate
Nicola is a registered architect in Italy. He joined alepreda in 2019 and, as an architectural designer, he has been coordinating the firm’s European projects, including two apartment renovations in the center of Prague, Czech Republic.
He graduated from the Polytechnic University of Milan, with a Master’s degree in Interior Architecture and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Architecture. He attended the Lusíada University in Lisbon during a year-long exchange program.
His research focuses on interior atmospheres and sustainability principles. Before joining Alepreda Architecture, he collaborated with several Milanese ateliers, including Fabio Novembre Studio. In his free time, he performs as a singer-songwriter.
Nikita Dikawar Mahajan - Architectural Designer
Nikita Mahajan is an architect and urban designer driven by a deep passion for curating
and designing spaces that foster human interaction and build strong communities. Her research focuses on care-driven landscapes that prioritize sensitivity to people and context.
She holds a Master’s in Architecture and Urban Design from Polytechnic University of Milan and a Bachelor’s from Kamla Raheja Institute of Architecture, Mumbai. With a diverse background as a researcher, architectural designer, and graphic artist, conceptual development and visual storytelling are Nikita’s strong suit, ensuring her ideas are communicated with an impact. She brings to the table varied prior experience of practice areas and scales ranging from educational institutions to private residences.
Sketching is central to her process—a way to observe, document, and narrate urban life. Visual storytelling is a key aspect of Nikita’s process and design. Through her
illustrations and meticulous use of colours, she captures everyday moments that shape the city, translating them into insightful design narratives.
Alper Besen - Interior Architect
Alper is an interior architect and an academic. Originally from Turkey, he has practiced in Istanbul and New York for over 15 years. He holds a Master of Design from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Interior Architecture Department with a focus on adaptive reuse and a Master of Arts from SVA Design Writing, Research, and Criticism Department.
Before joining Alepreda Architecture in 2022, Alper was an interior Architect at Deborah Berke Partners for eight years. There, he specialized in high-end residential and hospitality projects. His roster of projects included the conversion of a barn into an artist’s residence and the adaptive reuse of a landmark Ford factory building into a museum-hotel.
Alper is a visiting assistant professor at the Pratt Institute, where he teaches Interior Design Theory and MFA Thesis Studio. He also teaches an adaptive reuse-focused Revit course at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). His academic studies focus on the ethical frictions between collective memory vs. private interests. He advocates the usage of temporary adaptation techniques designed for obsolescence in respect of collective memory and future flexibility for the next generations.
The value(s) of the crab
Our logo represents a crab’s claw
“Among Chuang-tzu’s many skills, he was an expert draftsman. The king asked him to draw a crab. Chuang-tzu replied that he needed five years, a country house, and twelve servants. Five years later the drawing was still not begun. “I need another five years,” said Chuang-tzu. The king granted them. At the end of these ten years, Chuang-tzu took up his brush and, in an instant, with a single stroke, he drew a crab, the most perfect crab ever seen.” Italo Calvino, On Quickness, Six Memos for the Next Millennium
To us, the crab is a reminder to be thoughtful in the conception and bold in the execution. Additionally, emerging from the binaries slow-quick, mind-hand, the crab implicitly presents the generative possibility to absorb contradictions and reminds us to constantly switch between thinking and making.
Honoring the site's spirit
By appreciating the essence of each place, we create architecture that harmoniously blends with its environment and serves as a vibrant backdrop for everyday life.
All our team members have lived, studied, and practiced in multiple countries. This has made us keen observers, sensitive to the culture and spirit of each site.
Questions are the answer
Our design process starts by generating a very detailed questionnaire for our clients. We ask fundamental questions, which aim at the very essence of each problem. Aside from creating a design diagnosis, these questions invariably expand the client’s brief, challenge pre-conceived assumptions, and become a generative instrument for fresh and innovative solutions.
Making is a catalyst for discovery
Our attention spans across scales from the smallest detail to the atmosphere of a space, with a focus on developing unique elements through hands-on prototyping. From millwork handles and wood joinery to prefabricated house systems, we treat this process as akin to product development. We find joy when these details create a system of “resonances” across scales. In the House of Courtyards, for example, the syncopated rhythm of surrounding forest trunks is reflected in cladding, concrete pavers, vanities, and boiserie.
Ideas drive design
We like our design to be fueled by a “big” idea. While hopefully, each project has enough complexity to be read (and re-read) on multiple levels, this idea is a point of departure that guides the space-making and decision-making process.
