Behind the Build AD: Nicolas Koff, Sebastien Bartnicki, Uros Novakovic - Office Ou

Nicolas Koff, Uros Novakovic, and Sebastian Bartnicki are the founding partners of Office Ou, a practice shaped as much by lived experience and cultural memory as by formal architectural training. Each arrived at architecture indirectly, carrying with them deep impressions of place, history, and making that would later converge into a shared way of working.Nico grew up in Paris, fascinated by archaeology, ancient civilizations, and the way history embeds itself in landscapes. Childhood trips to Normandy, where WWII bunkers sat quietly along the coast, taught him to read terrain as a record of human action. After moving to Canada as a teenager to escape antisemitism, he found confidence through language, teaching French and rediscovering his footing. His academic path began in East Asian studies before expanding into architecture, landscape architecture, and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, reflecting an enduring interest in scale, geography, and cultural systems.Uros was born in Belgrade and raised in Prague, where early memories of late-socialist streets gave way to the optimism of the Velvet Revolution. As a teenager, the city became his playground, shaped by daily walks through the historic center and school trips into the countryside. Moving to Toronto at fourteen was a shock that sharpened his awareness of urban form and what cities offer their inhabitants. His education at the University of Waterloo and formative work experience in Shanghai reinforced a belief in architecture as both cultural and exploratory.Sebastian grew up in Ontario immersed in drawing, painting, and meticulously constructed Lego worlds. Encouraged by a high school art teacher, he discovered architecture as a bridge between creativity and rigor. At Waterloo’s Cambridge campus and later in Rome, studying history in situ revealed architecture as part of a long, interconnected lineage shaped by politics, economics, and culture. Work experiences in New York, London, and Montreal further expanded his understanding of cities as living systems.Their partnership formed organically through late-night competitions, shared apartments, and an intuitive creative rhythm. Office Ou emerged not from a business plan, but from curiosity, trust, and a shared commitment to thoughtful, context-driven design.Impossible Toronto: https://impossibletoronto.ca/Curated Podcast Sponsors:Caplan's Appliances: https://caplans.ca/The Doors: https://thedoors4u.com/Aquanta Pools: https://aquanta.caTo connect with our sponsors, email me: [email protected] the Build on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behind_the_build_podcast

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