2012
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Vo Trong Nghia Architects

Applying Japanese training to the vibrant but chaotic conditions of Vietnam, a firm makes the most of two cultures.

December 16, 2012

It is about 450 miles from Quang Binh province in the middle of Vietnam to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the noisy, frenetic commercial capital in the south.

Yuko Nagayama & Associates

A rising young architect manages her own successful practice'and family'breaking ground in design and as a professional woman.

Naomi Pollock, FAIA

December 16, 2012

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The first thing you notice about architect Yuko Nagayama is her youth. She looks far too young to have built a five-story commercial building in Tokyo's upscale Minamiaoyama area, a stunning boutique for Louis Vuitton in the heart of Kyoto, and shops for the handbag brand Anteprima all over Asia.

FRPO (Rodr'guez & Oriol Architecture)

A pair of Spanish architects pulls apart programs, then assembles designs with repetitive elements that create rich compositions.

David Cohn

December 16, 2012

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When approaching a design problem, Madrid-based architects Fernando Rodr'guez and Pablo Oriol of the firm FRPO try to find a method of attack rather than jumping right in with a solution.

SsD

Jinhee Park and John Hong take on an age of austerity with a collection of carefully crafted projects that don't skimp on aesthetics.

Asad Syrkett

December 16, 2012

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Don't let the name fool you'Single Speed Design (SsD)'s architectural approach is more like a 10-speed bicycle than a fixed-gear model, with principals Jinhee Park, 40, and John Hong, 43, shifting their approach with each new project.

Trace Architecture Office

A busy firm layers a commitment to social and environmental issues onto its projects in many different parts of China.

Clare Jacobson

December 16, 2012

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China is a big country, and Trace Architecture Office (TAO) is leaving its mark all over it. The Beijing-based firm's portfolio includes a teahouse overlooking the Yellow Sea in northeastern Shandong province, a museum in southwestern Yunnan province near the Myanmar border, and a factory in Fujian province 140 miles from the Taiwan Strait.

Hironaka Ogawa & Associates

A Japanese architect doesn't lose sight of his rural roots'integrating notions of the landscape and nature into his built work with skill and respect.

Naomi Pollock, FAIA

December 16, 2012

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Based in Tokyo but born in a rural town on the island of Shikoku, Hironaka Ogawa still draws inspiration from the countryside.

MMX Studio

Four designers use context as a springboard and animate their projects with surprising material applications.

Beth Broome

December 16, 2012

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No matter what level of success Mexico City'based MMX Studio may someday attain, its name will always serve to remind its four partners of their humble beginnings.

Gracia Studio

Jorge Gracia, who has located his office in the infamous town of Tijuana, is giving it a reputation for strong Modernist design.

Suzanne Stephens

December 16, 2012

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Jorge Gracia, the 39-year-old founder of Gracia Studio, has quickly built a reputation for distinctive Modernist architecture in his hometown of Tijuana, Mexico.

Laura Raskin

December 16, 2012

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A husband-and-wife team has gone back to basics, studying the material and structural innovations of centuries past to create new systems for building. Lonn Combs and Rona Easton, married in life as well as in practice, have spent the last year living and working in Rome. Combs won a Rome Prize in Architecture in 2011 and, with Easton, has been studying Italian architect and engineer Pier Luigi Nervi’s groundbreaking innovations with concrete. In a way, their time in Rome has been a mirror of their practice in recent years. Just as they are taking the time now to “slow down

Envelope Architecture+Design

A San Francisco Bay Area firm deploys a minimal style to unsettle architectural expectations.

William Hanley

December 16, 2012

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Douglas Burnham wants to quietly rewire your experiences. He cites perception-teasing installations by artists such as James Turrell, Robert Smithson, and Michael Heizer as major influences, and early in his career he created similarly destabilizing work with San Francisco Bay Area design provocateurs the Interim Office of Architecture (IOOA).