In the heart of New York City, where architectural innovation meets artistic vision, Behin Ha stands out as a beacon of creativity and adaptability. The studio's journey began in 2010 with a serendipitous win in a competition to design a temporary pavilion for a festival on Governors Island. This initial success catalyzed a series of groundbreaking projects, each reflecting their mission to harness design as a tool for crafting profound human experiences. From transforming narrow brownstones into expansive open-plan marvels to reinterpreting public art installations across continents, Behin Ha’s work seamlessly blends fresh perspectives with deep contextual understanding. In this interview, Ann Ha, co-founder, offers insights into the studio’s evolving mission, the role of client collaboration, and the creative processes behind some of their most compelling projects, revealing how their innovative approach continues to shape spaces around the world.

We The Cool: Can you describe a project that best represents your studio’s philosophy and approach to design?

Ann Ha: One of our first projects was a brownstone renovation in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The clients, who are good friends of ours, wanted a very open living space, but within the constraints of a narrow three-story townhouse interior. In a sense, they wanted the equivalent of an open plan house. Responding to the verticality of the brownstone, we took the concept of an open plan house, and flipped it on its side to create an "open section" house. This project set the stage for how we approached later projects - which is to use the basic tools of our discipline (geometry, building typology, light, space, etc) as a way of reframing the very real and immediate concerns of clients into a clear concept that can inform the design.

WTC: How do you ensure that each project’s unique context and constraints are thoroughly understood and integrated into the design process?

AH: We work closely with the client and the project team (which includes consultants, engineers, contractors), to understand the unique challenges of each project - whether they are related to the site, the historical/cultural context, regulatory challenges, construction methods, or budget. We also do a deep dive into precedents so that we can build on the work of others in our field. That being said, every project is developed in an iterative process. We start with a concept, test it against the constraints of the project, and that elicits new questions and helps us adjust our approach and refine the design. We 'rinse and repeat' until we feel the project is in a good place.

WTC: What role does client collaboration play in your design process, and how do you balance their needs with your creative vision?

AH: The clients play a huge role in the design process. From the beginning of the design process through the construction phase, communication is key and there’s a constant back and forth between us and client to make sure the design is in line with their goals. We think creativity isn't possible without client collaboration because it's actually the challenge of responding to the specific needs of a client that makes us come up with creative solutions.

WTC: So far, which project has been your favorite?

AH: That's a hard question because it's like choosing your favorite child. But, I would have to say that the public art installations have been rewarding because the time frames for design and construction were short and forced us to have very intense bursts of creativity and energy. Also, there's an instant gratification that comes from designing these installations since they're built so quickly, whereas in our other projects, it may take years until we see the final completion. In particular, I'm partial to the series of installations we have done using tensioned coated mesh ribbons. This series includes Coshocton Ray Trace (Coshocton, Ohio), Together Apart (Billund and Middelfart, Denmark), and Circle and Square (Hangzhou, China).

*Project: Together Apart (Billund and Middelfart, Denmark)*

Project: Circle and Square (Hangzhou, China)

WTC: If you could choose what would be the country you would collaborate with next?

AH: Japan would be amazing. I've always admired Japanese architecture and the quality of their design and building details.

WTC: We love your public space installations, The Circle and Square project is an adaptation of previous installations. How do you approach reinterpreting past works for new sites?
AH: Thank you! Our preference is to do something unique and different in every project, but especially in our public art installation work, clients often want us to reinterpret or adapt a previous work to their site. Our mesh ribbon projects (including Circle and Square) naturally lend themselves to adaptation since they necessarily have to rely on the site geometry. The form is usually dictated by the scale and orientation of the buildings and the site.

WTC: For the "Living Pavilion" reinterpretation, what were the key considerations in adapting the installation from New York to Annecy Paysages festival?
AH: This project is based on a modular system we originally developed for a similar installation on Governors Island in New York. While the basic module remained the same, we were excited to explore new forms that could emerge from the modular logic, and looked to the historic site in Annecy as inspiration. The geometric form of the pavilion, which consists of three faces of a slightly warped cube with a vertex pointing towards the sky, recalls the hipped and gabled roof forms of the surrounding buildings in the old city center.

*Project: Living Pavilion (Annecy, France)*

WTC: Are there any emerging trends or technologies in design that you’re particularly excited about or that you see as influential for future projects?
AH: We are glad to see a trend towards smaller living in the US - that is, people prioritizing quality and location in their living spaces over size. We also see more and more municipalities doing away with exclusive single-family zoning, allowing, for example, accessory dwelling units, and encouraging higher density near public transportation. These trends have the potential to address the housing affordability and environmental crisis. We see a huge role for design in how these trends will manifest change over time.

WTC: What are some of Behin Ha’s upcoming projects or goals, and how do you plan to push the boundaries of design with these?
AH: We're working on a new multifamily residential building in Jersey City, NJ. The project is in a neighborhood known for resisting development and density. The owner had purchased the property, which had a fairly old house on it, with plans to demolish the house and build a multifamily structure, but was met with resistance from the neighborhood and the local historic preservation authorities. On the one hand, we understand the desire to keep things as they are, but on the other hand, the site is a stone's throw from Manhattan and near public transportation, and the resistance to change is in some ways a classic case of NIMBY (not in my back yard) thinking. Our design, which ultimately made all the interested parties happy, negotiates these challenges by keeping and rehabilitating the existing house, but adding three new townhouses at the rear of the property. Internally, we call the project "YIMBY on Steroids", since the three townhouses are literally in the backyard of the existing house (YIMBY stands for "yes in my backyard"). It's under construction now, and we are excited to see people move into it in a few months.

WTC: What is the most rewarding aspect of your work at Behin Ha?
AH: It’s always really wonderful to see people interact with the spaces that we've designed - whether they're kids playing in the public installations or clients enjoying their daily lives at home.

WTC: Our current editorial issue is about perception and how it plays a role in our daily decisions and conceptions. How do you consider human perception and sensory experience when designing spaces?
AH: We think about the human experience a lot during the design process. For us, it's all about delighting the senses and creating meaningful spaces for people to interact with each other and the built environment. Because we work on a range of project types, our notion of what human perception and experience means also covers a wide range. For example, a visitor to a public art installation may have a short but intense experience interacting with the work, while someone living in one of our residential projects may develop an intimate attachment to their space over many years.

Shaping Spaces Around The World

Bridging Worlds