SO–IL is an internationally recognized architecture and design firm established in New York in 2008 by Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu. Diverse in origin, our team of collaborators speaks a dozen languages. We are informed by global narratives and perspectives while deeply grounding our research and design in the specificities of local social and cultural contexts. In addition to innumerable awards and publications, our work has been acquired by institutions like the MoMA in New York, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

With our progressive and ambitious private, public, and institutional clients, we explore how built environments inspire lasting positive intellectual and societal engagement. Holding universal participation and ethical construction practices as core standards within our office and projects, we are a proudly certified M/WBE and certified B-Corporation.

In a digitized world that increasingly draws one inward, our architecture is outward-looking, engendering meaningful dialogue with that which is materially and psychologically outside of ourselves. Our work incorporates innovative physical materials that follow each project’s unique scale and specificity, from stretched chainmail enveloping an entire gallery building to an elegant array of glass tubes forming a museum facade. Independent of budget and location, we infuse our projects with craft and material tactility.

With our firm now in its second decade, our work has spread onto four continents. From a collection of industrial heritage buildings housing three cultural institutions in northern France, to a contemporary art center inserted into an office tower in Shanghai, our scope is international. From the LEED Platinum-certified Manetti Shrem Museum on the campus of UC Davis, to award-winning multi-unit housing in our hometown of Brooklyn, our reach extends from coast to coast. Current projects include a new gateway museum for Williams College in Massachusetts, aiming to be the most sustainable museum in the country.

In 2022, practice leaders Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg were awarded the American Academy for Arts and Letters Award in Architecture and were named United States Artist Fellows.