spatial practice partners Erik Amir and Dora Chi. All images courtesy of spatial practice.

spatial practice is a small Hong Kong-and-soon-to-be-Los Angeles-based collaborative partnership established by Dora Chi and Erik Amir. Initially founded in Beijing, the young firm very quickly gained exposure to projects of a scale that often remains reserved for more established offices.

In our latest Studio Snapshot, we had the pleasure of chatting with Chi and Amir about their journey so far, if and how the pandemic has impacted their operations throughout the past year, and what they look forward to with the opening of their new California studio.

Can you tell us how spatial practice was founded?

We started spatial practice with the desire to improve our cities, in whatever way we can. We truly believe that thoughtfully designed spaces should be experienced by everyone.

At the time, we were both in Beijing; Erik was finishing his responsibilities at OMA as the Design Project Architect for the Interlace in Singapore. Dora had already left Foster’s and initiated her own project focusing on Green Architecture for a new Cancer Center in Beijing. Erik had an opportunity for a luxury fashion showroom in Paris — and we thought what’s a better plan or time than to start your own architecture practice during the Financial Crisis?

We want to bring back the essence of architecture by carefully looking at program usage, spatial proportion and scale, and user experience. This has been an on-going exploration that has evolved over time, social changes, and technology development.

Beginning our practice in Beijing propelled us on an incredible journey. As a young office, we were exposed to megaprojects; one of our first projects was an invited tender for twin office towers on one of the last lots in CBD Beijing where we were competing with all the large international offices.

How many people are currently employed at your studio? How is your office structured?

The practice has always been structured around the accumulation of ideas, people, and circumstances. We strongly believe that diversity of experience, culture, and methodology enriches the project. We are grateful for our past and current teams; not only because of their tremendous dedication and work, but they have helped and continue to shape our practice.

Since we started, our studio has ranged from the two of us to 10 people. We have experienced the ups and downs of being a very small practice to a small firm and now feel more comfortable with a small team of 4–6 people. This allows both of us to focus on our selected projects and client partners.

You are based in Hong Kong and are currently launching a new office in Los Angeles. Can you tell us about your process of setting up a new base on another continent?

We are very excited to expand our practice to North America. Setting up an office anywhere new always requires a learning curve on local practice, customs, and way of working. Opening our first office in Asia required a huge learning curve; which included learning a new business language and a different way of working — it was crazy.

Beginning our practice in Beijing propelled us on an incredible journey. As a young office, we were exposed to megaprojects.

With the new base in Los Angeles, we know that with new opportunities there will also be new challenges. In a way, the pandemic has helped as it allowed us to meet new clients and collaborators remotely.

What have been the biggest challenges starting and running your own practice?

Everyday, we need to remind ourselves why we opened our practice — to make our environments better. We love what we do and are passionate about space. It's easy to lose focus in the mundane day-to-day operations.

The first challenge was to learn how to run a business, not an architecture atelier. It was difficult to switch from the "ideal architect dreams" to understanding that we are business entrepreneurs. Adding to that was the fact that we chose to start in a country that was not our own and where neither one of us was fluent in its language and culture.

Of course, finding like-minded client collaborators is always a challenge. We also needed to overcome our past experiences to find our own architectural voice.

What challenges have you faced during the past pandemic months? Are you sensing a return to "business as usual" soon?

We have always worked remotely on international projects. The pandemic prevented travels, therefore it added complexity to starting new projects and meeting new clients abroad. Projects have been put on hold as our partners also need to weather the impacts of the pandemic.

The fact that everyone switched to remote working had a surprisingly positive impact for us — internally it helped us accelerate technologies within the office and allowed us to meet new clients and collaborators remotely. We currently have a project in Los Angeles that is undergoing the permit review process — this forced the city to be more digital, and thus allowed us to work more efficiently.

From conversations with our contractors, developers, and extended team, it seems like things are starting to resume "back to normal" in Los Angeles. Since Hong Kong has been more conservative with the pandemic approach, it has also been slower to return "back to normal."

Describe your work. How do you define your own unique style and approach?

Our work is bold and playful, derived from a complex design process that forms into seemingly simple and seductive spaces. We love the unexpected and embrace the unknown. All our projects are uniquely based on circumstances, client objectives, and site conditions.

Opening our first office in Asia required a huge learning curve; which included learning a new business language and a different way of working — it was crazy.

We have no style or preconceived ideas and believe that true design is about bringing order into complexity. Design today is so easily attained, over-saturated, and definitely not curated. It is often that we have to simplify and reduce visual noise through a complex process — which we call a complex simplicity. Spatial experience is formed through our architecture and art installation projects. We strategize, select, edit, and curate.

Currently we are working with a high-tech company to design a new autonomous truck headquarter and with a family to design their private hillside residence. It's been rewarding to collaborate with a start-up spirit where innovation is at the core of each conversation; while in conjunction, we tailor a family home by understanding their personal way of living. In both interventions, the partnership and relationship with our client is at the core of the projects.

Where do you see spatial practice in 5 years?

We would love to share our passion for architecture and the joy of spatial experiences by becoming part of the larger community in Los Angeles — to help create better-built environments and make the city better for everyone. We want to maintain ourselves as a small office, quality over quantity, looking for collaborative relationships with clients who have similar passion and commitment. We have found our best projects are the result of a rich collaboration between client and spatial practice.

Based in Asia, we did a massive amount of proposals. We became experts in producing high-quality concepts in a very short amount of time. It was exhausting but exposed us to learn different typologies and scales. Through that process, it also revealed and established our own voice in architecture.

We are curious individuals, and we are excited for the new venture in Los Angeles. The flat and sprawling city is the complete opposite of dense and very tall Hong Kong. We constantly ask ourselves in the studio, "How can we grow beyond the traditional architecture practice?" and "How can we be more entrepreneurial?" Currently, we are looking at pre-fabrication and the future of construction, while also initiating our own projects.

Do you have a favorite project? Completed or in progress.

Our favorite built projects are always the result of a successful collaborative relationship between us and our clients/partners. Our ideas are derived from our partner's objectives to deliver unique built environments through a creative, focused, explorative process.

We love the unexpected and embrace the unknown.

Fleur de Sel was designed around the personality and needs of the chef Justine Li. She came to us with a very specific and unique manifesto for her vision to rebrand the restaurant — which recently received their first Michelin Star! Prior to this project, we had been working with the chef for several years; she was continually looking for a new space while understanding the future direction of her restaurant. During this time, we were inspired by her culinary passion and intensity to search for and understand the best produce and products. She would take her team to Europe for a 2-week tasting of 40 different tomato species!

The result is an urban gem, where the spatial experience mirrors the culinary journey. The site is located in the midst of an eclectic urban jungle, and the approach was to design a bold and simple building that is rich in form, details, and interior experience. Architecturally we love the contrast between the muted facade and the expressive curated interiors. We love how the white volume stands out in its context. More importantly, the collaborative process with the client definitely made an ordinary building extraordinary.

If you could describe your work/practice in three words, what would they be?

Collaboration

Commitment

Joy