Founded in 2004 by Kulapat Yantrasast, WHY is a multi-disciplinary design practice dedicated to strengthening connections between people, cultures, and place. The practice is based in Los Angeles and New York City, and the core team of 40 designers and architects expands to include a global network of collaborating artists, academics, urbanists, and activists. By working across disciplines to test new ideas and techniques, WHY questions conventions and proposes a radically holistic and humane approach to design and architecture – one which celebrates the diversity and multiplicity of lived experience.

The practice is organized into 5 interdependent workshops – Buildings, Landscape, Museums, Objects, and Ideas. The workshops enable WHY to work across sectors and combine different forms of expertise, generating unique and progressive solutions for projects ranging from museums to mixed-use developments, community arts centers to large-scale urban parks. This creatively liberating approach to design has led to a number of important international projects: WHY has gained a reputation as a thought-leader in the fields of cultural and civic architecture, winning global competitions including the Ross Pavilion and West Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, and taking on major urban development projects including a landmark affordable housing and historic renovation initiative in Watts, Los Angeles.

WHY’s collaborative ethos has led to a long and successful track record as a design architect leading large teams of consultants. Through working closely with clients, stakeholders, and specialist practitioners, WHY reveals the creative possibilities of a brief, generating innovative solutions which are specific to the site and its social context. At the heart of WHY’s practice is a commitment to addressing contemporary urban issues through design, infusing complex programs with opportunities for artistic engagement, social connectivity, and individual empowerment. Instead of imposing a singular WHY aesthetic, the team creates spaces which reflect the energy and dynamism of life itself: spaces where people of backgrounds and beliefs feel free to create, connect, and be at home.