Born and raised in Southwest Florida, Nico Mantis is a registered American architect and designer and the founder of Mantis Architecture. He holds an MA in Architecture and Urban Design from the University of California Los Angeles, where his thesis represented the school at the 2008 Beijing Architecture Biennale.

Nico apprenticed in Los Angeles under Barton Myers, a student of Louis Kahn, and worked as a designer for Coop Himmelblau in Vienna, and as an interior designer for Graftlab in Los Angeles.

Brad Pitt’s “Make It Right” team selected Graftlab to help rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. This pivotal experience gave Nico a newfound appreciation for New Orleans design and motivated him to start Mantis Architecture. One of Mantis’s flagship designs, the Conchy home prototype, reinterprets an iconic Caribbean-influenced style found throughout the American Gulf Coast.

Nico now lives between Colombia and the U.S. and in addition to leading his own projects, he is an in-demand design and engineering consultant to many façade and structural engineering firms. He’s drafted 300+ projects for some of the world’s foremost designers, including Diller Scofidio (New York), Cetra Ruddy (New York), Kenzo Tange (Japan), Toshiko Mori (Japan), Dirk Denison (Chicago), and Enrique Norten’s TEN Arquitectos (Mexico City).

"I create meaningful spaces for a modern lifestyle—one that embraces family, friendship, community and the natural environment.”