Why Architecture

Founded in 2004 by Kulapat Yantrasast, WHY is a multi-disciplinary design practice dedicated to creating connections between people, culture, and place. Our team is based in Los Angeles and New York City, and the practice is organized as five interdependent workshops: Buildings, Landscape, Museums, Objects, and Ideas. This unique cross-disciplinary structure enables us to work across multiple sectors and combine different forms of expertise, generating progressive solutions for projects ranging from museums to mixed-use developments, community arts centers to private residences. In recent years, WHY has gained a reputation as a thought-leader in the fields of cultural and civic architecture, winning global competitions including the Ross Pavilion and West Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland, and taking on major cultural landmark projects such as the Tchaikovsky Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in Perm, Russia.