Brothers Dominic Leong and Chris Leong became architects for the only reason that matters: They couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Growing up in California’s Napa Valley in a house designed by their father —a computer scientist-turned-architect—they saw the pitfalls of the profession, as well as its possibilities, and vowed to someday start a firm together.

In the meantime, they acquired different mentors: Dominic worked for Bernard Tschumi, while Chris apprenticed at SHoP Architects.