Founded in 2010 by He Zhe, James Shen, and Zang Feng, People’s Architecture Office (PAO) maintains offices in Beijing and Boston. Guided by the principle of “Design for the Masses,” the firm drives social impact through a multidisciplinary, innovative design approach that spans urbanism, architecture, and product design, with a focus on education, offices, housing, and urban renewal. PAO is the first architectural practice in Asia to achieve B Corp certification, serving as a model for social enterprise. Since 2017, the firm has also collaborated extensively with the Leping Social Entrepreneurship Foundation on various social innovation initiatives.
Domus named PAO as one of its “2019 Best Architecture Firms in the World,” and Fast Company recognized the practice as one of the “World's Top 10 Most Innovative Architecture Companies in 2018.” Its award-winning work has been shortlisted for the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the 2018 Swiss Architectural Award, and won the 2016 Archmarathon Award in Italy. The firm has participated in the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, and exhibitions at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, with further exhibitions in New York, London, Milan, Seoul, and Hong Kong.
People’s Architecture Office (PAO) is an international practice with offices based in Beijing, China and Boston, USA. Founded in 2010 by James Shen, He Zhe, and Zang Feng, the firm is a multi-disciplinary studio focused on social impact through design particularly in the areas of housing, urban regeneration, and education.
