WORK Architecture Company

Profile of WORK Architecture Company

Business Name

WORK Architecture Company

Location

United States

Services

Architecture

Website

http://www.work.ac

[L-R] Amale Andraos and Dan Wood

Principal(s)

Amale Andraos (born 1973)

• McGill University, B. Arch. 1996
• Harvard GSD, M. Arch. 1999

Dan Wood (born 1967)

• University of Pennsylvania, BA 1989
• Columbia University, March 1992

Philosophy

WORK Architecture Company (WORKAC) is engaged in projects at all scales, from residential and commercial interiors to private residences, housing, institutional buildings and urban planning projects.

WORKac is a practice with international roots; the partners have lived and worked in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. WORK's staff is drawn from different cultures and countries, and we actively pursue work overseas - from Panama to Beirut, Iceland and China - as well as locally. For us, difference is an inspiration which we seek to highlight however we can: from interpreting distant contexts to re-reading the simplicity of everyday life.

We believe in the exploration of form through program; utilizing research into the specifics of every project, in-depth interaction with clients, and a keen sense of curiosity to transform functional requirements into new and unexpected spaces, shapes and material combinations. Our name, WORK, represents the rigorous analysis and relentless testing of concepts and options to find the specific solution. This process continues through the life of a project, ensuring the highest quality from the overall intention to the smallest detail and preserving ideas from their formulation to their realization.

In 2005, WORKac received an AIA Design Prize; in 2006, it was selected for the first "New York New Practices" portfolio prize for young firms and was one of ten international offices featured in Architectural Record's "Design Vanguard." Our urban project for Downtown Beirut was part of the 2007 Rotterdam Architecture Biennale and we have been selected as the winner of a new cultural centre in Xi'an, China as part of the "New Silk Road Park" invited competition. WORKac has been featured in numerous publications, including an in-depth profile in Metropolis this year, the cover of Interior Design magazine, and articles in the New York Times, AMC Le Moniteur, Frame, Vogue, Time Out New York, New York Magazine, the Architects' Newspaper, the New York Sun and Architectural Record.

Our practice is supplemented by our academic involvement. Mr. Wood has taught at the Cooper Union in New York and Ms. Andraos was recently a visiting critic at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Together they teach at Princeton University's School of Architecture, where both studio and seminar are focused on research into new forms of green construction and the exploration of "eco-urbanism" as a model for sustainable development worldwide. This research is currently being organized as a book.

Background

• Founded: 2003
• Offices: 1
• Design team: 12

Key projects

• Diane von Furstenberg Headquarters, New York, USA, 2004-2007, Store, Offices, Showroom, Event Spaces, Gallery and Private Studio
• BAM Cultural District Master Plan and Public Space Design, Brooklyn, NY, USA, Master Plan and design of new public plazas and streetscape
• Anthropologie Dos Lagos, Corona, CA, USA, Retail Store Building
• Greenbelt City Master Plan, Las Vegas, NV, USA, "Eco-Urbanist" Master Plan
• Achrafieh Tower, Beirut, Lebanon, Residential Tower
• El Equis, Bocas Del Toro, Panama, Condominiums
• Creative Time Offices, New York, NY, USA, Offices
• D'Amelio Terras, New York, NY, USA, Art Gallery
• Spotwelders, New York, NY, USA, Video Editing Suites
• New Silk Road Park, Turkish Area, Xi'an, China, Cultural Center

Key publications

• Va Va von Furstenberg, Vanity Fair, November 2007
• Building Boomers, House and Garden, November 2007
• New Silk Road, Architectural Record China, Volume 2, 2007
• On the Cusp, Metropolis, July 2007
• The Next White, New York Magazine, May 21 2007
• Boutique Anthropologie, AMC, April 2007
• Design Vanguard, Architectural Record, December 2006
• A Program Primer, Praxis Journal, Number 8, 2006
• Right Coast Done Right, Interior Design, November 2005
• Jarchitecture, Frame, November/December 2005

Key awards

• 2007, First Place, New Silk Road Park Design Competition, Xi'an, China
• 2006, New Practices New York, NY AIA and Architect's Newspaper, New York, US
• 2006, Design Vanguard, Architectural Record, USA
• 2006, AIA Design Awards, NY AIA, New York, USA