People’s Architecture Office (PAO) - When Architecture is at the Service of Citizens

The present time and its challenges force us to rethink the impact of any design product or architectural project - it has become imperative to no longer create to satisfy one’s own hedonistic urges but to offer society something which can benefit it and heal its current ills. Since its founding in 2010, the People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has fully embraced this philosophy. Under the guidance of He Zhe, James Shen and Zang Feng, PAO has a multi-disciplinary team comprised of architects, engineers, product designers and urbanists moved by the conviction that design must consider people and be conceived specifically with them in mind. The studio concentrates on the social impact that design and architecture can have. Parks with interactive installations in densely populated areas (Tangu · Moofland), easily constructed houses created with prefabricated parts, conceived to design more economic and sustainable architecture for contemporary urban landscapes (Plugin House), but also the experimentation with tubular housing modules in which horizontal spaces are suspended in mid-air, circulating around vertical towers (Tubolar Living) are valid examples of social enterprise and innovation as recognised by institutions such as the Venice Biennial of Architecture, the International Biennial of Architecture of Rotterdam and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.