Founded by Fai Au in 2011 in Hong Kong, O Studio Architects is an architectural practice devoted to the contemplation, research and design of the contemporary built environment. Recently focusing on both public and private projects in Hong Kong and the Greater China Region, the practice has diverse body of works includes mainly cultural, institutional and educational buildings.
O Studio Architects seeks for the balance between rationality of construction and poeticism of atmosphere. The practice does not see architecture as still formal objects or images but dynamic orchestration of phenomena, events and experience which brings meaning and memory to life. While exploring new vision and direction in architecture, the constant self reminder of the practice is to return to the fundamental of architecture – form, space, light and material. Often found at remote rural and mountain area where beautiful landscape is abundant but building resource and technology is scarce, the works of O Studio Architects are characterized by the intention to arrive at design solutions that anchor deeply to local culture and physical context, manifest the essence of place, respond to regional climate and local building technology.
O studio Architects believes in the power of free hand making during design process. The practice resists the over-exuberant production of architectural forms by the fast and convenient computational tools. The primary medium of exploring design ideas is hand-cut physical model.
O Studio Architects has received a number of international awards and honors. In 2020 the practice was awarded Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard, one of the ten emerging firms selected annually around the globe that demonstrate inventive approaches to shaping the built environment. The practice also received HKIA Medal of the Year and it is the youngest practice winning this top honour of the award so far. Other award winners include Red Dot Design Award, Good Design Award, International Design Award, Chivas 18 Architecture and Design Awards, WKCD Arts Pavilion Design Competition, WKCD Xiqu Center Design Competition, Perspective 40 under 40 Award, World Architecture Community award, China Media Architecture Awards, ULI/Gerald D. Hines Urban Design Competition and Hong Kong Young Architect Awards.
The practice was invited to exhibit in 2018 Venice Biennale and co-curate 2017 Hong Kong/Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture. The works of O Studio Architects have been widely published by renowned publishers and magazines including Taschen, Phaidon, Braun, Architectural Record, Domus, Metropolis and AIT.