BIO Gyula Őry

My background is in urban planning, but my interest has always extended beyond planning itself. During my studies, I became increasingly fascinated by the relationship between urban development, architecture and philosophy. Books such as Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities strongly influenced the way I began to think about cities, buildings and the people who inhabit them.

I started my career at Celestian B.V., a developer that already approached buildings from an integrated and holistic perspective. It was there that I learned how decisive even the smallest detail can be to the quality of the whole, and where I was first introduced to ideas such as Feng Shui and the broader relationship between space, people and wellbeing.

My career subsequently took me through BAM, the Municipality of Amsterdam, Cairn Real Estate and Schroders Capital. Each of these environments added a different layer to my understanding of development: urban planning and public policy, leadership and complex stakeholder processes, investment discipline, entrepreneurship, and the practical realities of delivering large-scale real estate projects.

My six years at Cairn Real Estate were particularly formative. They gave me the experience and confidence to ultimately pursue development independently, while reinforcing a lesson that has stayed with me throughout my career: meaningful outcomes depend on personal responsibility, commitment and the willingness to take ownership.

Over time, however, I became increasingly convinced that conventional real estate development too often focuses on buildings primarily as financial and technical products. I wanted to explore a broader question: how can we develop buildings in a way that creates a healthier and more enduring relationship between the building, the people who use it and the natural environment?

That question became the foundation of INSPIRA.

INSPIRA was created to bring together the experience I gained throughout my career with a more conscious and holistic approach to development — one that seeks to create lasting value for people, places and nature.