Matthew Won Piker is the founder of Paris-based bien cordialement, a boutique development and programming company dedicated to curating exemplary commercial real estate projects.

A trained architect with degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Cincinnati, Matthew moved to Paris in 2010. He has over fifteen years of experience in the architectural and real estate sectors, having led the development of large-scale projects such as the United States Consulate General in Casablanca and the Pont de Bondy metro station in the Paris region.

With bien cordialement, Matthew works with investors, operators, developers, and design teams to source opportunities and assemble teams around projects encompassing a range of scales and programs, mainly throughout Europe. Ongoing developments include an arts and events pavilion in Rotterdam, an international student housing complex in Paris, and a large-format hotel refurbishment in Vienna.

Matthew is actively involved in promoting the role of architects in society. He serves as the Head of Professional Practice at the Paris School of Architecture and as an instructor in the Paris-East architecture school incubator for emerging talent. He often organizes events that build bridges between the design and real estate communities. This past March at the MIPIM forum in Cannes, he moderated a panel talk with the Paris La Défense public authority and the Royal Institute of British Architects on how business districts are evolving to attract students and higher education programs.

Though he now calls Paris home, Matthew never misses a chance to come back to Chicago — preferably when it’s above freezing.