7 Small Architecture Firms You Should Know About
Architecture Practices That Inspire Me
This Substack is by David Perrine. I write about architecture, aesthetics, design theory, and philosophy. I share new posts bi-weekly. If you enjoy my work, please consider subscribing.
In today’s architectural landscape, there are a few very well-known large practices that dominate our collective understanding of the field. However, some of my favorite design work is produced by small studios. Larger firms can struggle to design daring projects because the presence of big design teams seems to dilute the design intent into something more milquetoast and agreeable. Often, smaller design teams can produce more potent projects because it gets approved by fewer people, thus, fewer compromises are made throughout the design process. Because there are so many small practices with short lifestyles operating on smaller projects, they often operate below the radar of most people.
This post is about seven small architecture practices that may be operating under your radar. I learned about each of these practices while in graduate school, and when I talked to architecture designers who didn’t attend Penn with me, many of them were unfamiliar with them. I worry that knowledge of these firms is siloed into certain academic institutions or professional circles.
These practices inspire me continually, and I think about each of them at least once a week. For this reason, I am delighted to share them with my readers. I hope you can find value from their work just as I have. I encourage you to visit their websites and explore.
Enjoy.
Atelier Tao + C
Founded: 2016
Partners: Tao Liu, Chunyan Cai
Atelier Tao + C Is a small design practice based in Shanghai that produces works of architecture, interior design, and furniture. Their work feels effortless, rigorous, beautiful, and logical. They possess a control of color and form unmatched by much of the architectural field at large. Beyond their work. They are also involved in teaching and research, specifically in the adaptive reuse of historic structures.
David Hotson Architect
Founded: 1991
Partners: David Hotson
This New York-based studio produces a large array of architectural typologies spanning residential, museums, galleries, cultural, or religious institutions. To my knowledge, David Hotson is not currently involved with academia but was previously an Adjunct Professor at City University of New York City College. I am most impacted by their use of geometry, perspective, and light throughout their work.
LADG
Founded: 2004
Partners: Claus Benjamin Freyinger, Andrew Holder
The LADG is a Los Angeles-based practice. They produce homes, restaurants, stores, exhibitions, text, and other design research. The partners, Freyinger and Holder, are both heavily involved in academic research, teaching at the UCLA Department of Architecture and the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design respectively. Their work is playful yet rigorous.
Jennifer Bonner / MALL
Founded: 2009
Partners: Jennifer Bonner
MALL explores the architectural implications of color and material expression. Their work is playful, yet deeply considered. I became aware of Jennifer Bonner through her work at Harvard GSD. Her academic and professional work feels both academically advanced and accessible.
Preliminary Research Office
Founded: 2015
Partners: Yaohua Wang
Preliminary Research Office is a small practice based in California. Their exploration of tectonics and geometric reconciliation through physical models is continually inspiring to me. They manage a complexity in assemblage which to my knowledge is unmatched. The studio seems to focus on formal design research and residential projects.
Studio Sean Canty
Founded: 2017
Partners: Sean Canty
SSC is my favorite practice on this list. This practice focuses on specific geometric operations, namely: tangents, planes, cones, and cylinders. Sean Canty teaches in the M.Arch program at GSD where he researches these interests in an academic setting. His works are incredibly rigorous and beautiful.
WOJR
Founded: 2009*
Partners: William O’Brien Jr.
WOJR is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based design practice that operates in the fields of art, architecture, and academia. They embody a rare efficiency. That is, they achieve profoundly beautiful architectural effects using relatively simple geometry. This is done through a thoughtful consideration for material choice and light.
*WOJR doesn’t have a specific founding date on their website so this is my best guess.
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