Ray Winkler, BSc MArch ARB RIBA
CEO & Design Director
Ray Winkler is a UK registered architect. He is the CEO and design director of STUFISH Entertainment Architects. Ray began his design career as a carpenter and craftsman. He earned his Masters in Architecture from University College London, and became interested in stage design and mobile architecture while doing postgraduate studies at Sci-Arc in Los Angeles California. Ray was – and still is to this day – drawn to the unique ephemeral and transformative nature of entertainment architecture.
Ray has devoted more than twenty five years to designing live touring shows, theatrical projects and spectacular one-off productions such as the London 2012 Handover at the Beijing 2008 Olympics Closing Ceremony, as well as live TV shows for MTV, VH1 and other TV channels in the USA and the UK.
He has worked with some of the biggest names in popular entertainment, including U2, Beyoncé, The Rolling Stones, BlackPink, Robbie Williams, and Cirque du Soleil to name a few. He has also worked extensively in Japan for great artist such as; Mr Children, Ai, Yumi Matsutoya, Bz, Universal Studios Japan, Himuro, Arashi and Naniwa Danshi.
A small selection of Rays high profile projects include the recently opened Adele in Munich which won the Guinness World Record for the Largest LED screen, Nicolas Tse, Lenny Kravitz UEFA Opening Ceremony, Formula 1 Heineken Silver Grand Prix Opening Ceremony, Adele’s residency ‘Weekends with Adele’ at The Colosseum in Las Vegas, Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, AC/DC’s PWR tour, Take That’s This Life Tour, Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour, One Direction’s 2014 world tour, Dragon Quest Live, Andy Lau’s world tour, The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds Tour.
One of his most high-profile and innovative projects was the ABBA Arena, which hosts the ground-breaking ABBA Voyage show featuring digital avatars and a live band. This state-of-the-art, 3,000-capacity, demountable arena, located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, opened in May 2022. It offers a unique experience where physical and digital realms seamlessly merge.
Ray’s outstanding artistic and creative ability to design spectacles for an audience together with his great leadership skills will ensure that any project is delivered to the highest standards. In January 2023 Ray was appointed William Henry Bishop Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture leading the ‘Advanced Design Studio: The Future of Entertainment’.
With STUFISH’s permanent entertainment buildings in China, the new ABBA Arena in London and numerous live shows – Ray continues to explore the multifaceted world of entertainment architecture.