AKAIA team is a global practice, with offices in New York City and Shanghai. Being in these two locations allows us to be highly responsive to our clients around the clock, diversifies our business model, and promotes cross-fertilization of ideas across cultures. 

We believe in a democratic and collaborative method of practice – all team members take on the challenge of contributing innovative design ideas.

We believe design is the unique product of its context, program, client, and audience - a responsive design should not have a preset style or formula.

Wherever we work, from US to Asia, we strive to achieve an authentic and contemporary interpretation of local cultures in design. 

We believe in being good global citizens. We design sustainable solutions for clients seeking LEED and other green labels and have achieve LEED Platinum in some cases. Even if we’re not working within a rating system, our work is informed by a sensitivity to issues of climate, resilience, and sustainability.

Place-making informs all our design, from the scale of a park or plaza to the scale of a room. For us, it’s all about creating wonderful places for people to inhabit or experience.