PAO (People’s Architecture Office) is an international practice with offices in Los Angeles, Beijing and Shenzhen. Founded in 2010 by James Shen, He Zhe, and Zang Feng, the firm is a multi-disciplinary studio focused on social impact through design particularly in the areas of housing, urban regeneration, and education. In 2020 PAO co-founded the US based Plugin House Company to produce low cost prefabricated housing.

Domus named PAO as one of the world’s best architecture firms of 2019 and Fast Company listed PAO as one of the world’s ten most innovative architecture companies in 2018. The studio’s award-winning works have been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Harvard Graduate School of Design and the London Design Museum.