The talented 28 team is led by Christopher Marta who is an award-winning designer with twenty years of experience and is particularly well known for successfully conceptualizing and directing large-scale design projects. Having had the opportunity to experience, and lead, all phases of a project and with his roots in construction he is uniquely positioned to understand the complexity inherent in what appears simple. He strives to understand, and create in 360, spaces are not merely volumes, they are tactile and intricate things made ever more subtle and complex with lighting. His approach to highly crafted architecture, lighting, installations and furniture have garnered him notable industry accolades including multiple Interior Design Best of Year Awards and the coveted Gold Key Award in Hospitality Design.

Mr. Marta most recently has worked as Director of L’Observatoire International, where he spearheaded a number of the firm’s most successful and prestigious large-scale lighting design projects, including Penn Station Renovation, National Museum of Qatar, Harbor Lights Project and the Second Avenue Subway. 

Mr. Marta’s prior collaborations and projects include, Clodagh Design, Tao, Samsung, W Hotels, Equinox, Esquire, Gap, Disney, Carrabba’s, Kohler, Levi’s, Arlington Club, and Rue 57, among numerous others as well as celebrity clients. 

Mr. Marta holds a U.S. Patent for his unique Sparrow Desk design, and he and his work have been featured in The New York Times, The New York Post, W Magazine, NY Eater, Timeout, Women’s Wear Daily, The Gothamist, Crains New York, Gotham Magazine, Saveur Magazine, Food News Gator, Inside Hook, Grub Street, Tasting Table, Urban Daddy, Food Arts, Interior Design, Micro Sight and Studios, among many others. 

Recently, Mr. Marta was a guest speaker at the international “Lighting on the Bund” Conference held in Shanghai, China and served as Judge for the Lumen Awards, the lighting industry pre-eminent award recognition program.

He earned his Bachelor of Environmental Studies & Architecture from the University of Waterloo in Canada, is an avid triathlete having completed over thirty races and speaks fluent French and Portuguese.