Our Approach
Design
Architecture does not exist in a vacuum, but in a complex world. Through thoughtful design we can turn challenges into features and make buildings that are perfectly adapted to their environment.
Our design approach is centered around making buildings that are purposeful, practical, timeless and elegant. We draw inspiration from the local context and our Austrian background: a place where architecture manages to effortlessly blend heritage and regional influences with innovation and craftsmanship.
Process
We apply our exploratory design process to each project, involving our clients every step of the way. A deep understanding of the site context is the foundation of our work: We absorb everything we can about a place, identify constraints and opportunities and look for inspiration in the local environment.
We then harness the creative force of our team to form design ideas that challenge conventions. In an iterative process, design options are vetted, edited, taken apart and recombined to arrive at a design that effortlessly reconciles site constraints, program requirements and architectural ambition.
Throughout the design process, we always consider both the big picture and the small details, ensuring that every element of our projects is informed by a strong idea and carefully executed. As a result, each building we design is tailored to its unique environment, respecting the cultural, historical, and social context to create places that resonate, inspire and last.
Like a sculptor carving stone until a shape emerges, we apply our iterative process to every project until the design reveals itself.
Scale
Our expertise extends across all scales, from urban masterplans and individual buildings down to furniture and graphic design. Integrating various forms of design seamlessly under one roof allows us to create buildings that are not just more efficient and functional, but also more memorable and impactful.
At its best, architecture can propel society forward and make a difference with some of our time’s biggest challenges: urbanization, public health, resilience, technology, education and resource scarcity. If not directly, then indirectly because how we live, how we work and how we interact is influenced by the spaces we inhabit.
Sustainability
We believe sustainability is more than just the choice of materials or the energy performance of a building. To justify the expense to the planet, a building must have a purpose and remain meaningful to people for generations to come.
We prioritize local materials, innovations in energy-efficiency, and reuse of existing structures to create buildings that are mindful of the planet and future-proof.
Breathing new life into old buildings is the most sustainable thing we can do.
Lorenz Krisai
Lorenz Krisai is an Austrian architect licensed in the state of NY. He grew up in Vienna, Austria and was educated between Vienna and Paris.
Prior to founding Lorenz Krisai Architects, he was an Associate at BIG where he led multiple large scale projects from concept design to construction - including BIG’s first South American projects in Quito, the Robert Day Sciences Center for Claremont McKenna College, KING Toronto and the S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory in Italy.
He discovered his passion for design and architecture early on and was inspired by the city of Vienna and particularly the all encompassing design ethos of the Wiener Werkstätte - a collective of architects, artists and designers who tore down boundaries between disciplines in the pursuit of functional, yet elegant design.
Lorenz studied architecture under Zaha Hadid and Greg Lynn at the university of applied arts Vienna and interior architecture at the École Penninghen in Paris, before moving to New York.
