is a design studio based in New York City. The studio was created by Jose Gonzalez and Michael Szivos, shortly after receiving graduate degrees in architecture from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. The studio has since been involved in the design and production of projects across almost every medium, from digitally fabricated large-scale sculpture, to interactive design, to large-scale digital video installations. As the studio adjusted to a wide range of projects , it began to focus less on the medium and style and more on ideas.
As a studio, SOFTlab, embraces projects that are strange, difficult, blurry, and straddle multiple mediums. The constraints of each project are treated as opportunities that are tested through a collaborative studio environment with the hopes of solving typical problems in new ways, with new tools. Through the studio’s unique blend of backgrounds as designers, artists, architects and educators we are able to approach every project from a fresh perspective to create rich spatial, graphic, interactive and visual experiences. SOFTlab privileges adaptability and infuses every project with the capacity to evolve and grow into something new and unexpected. Rather than thinking of a project as finished, the studio thinks of a project as a chance to cultivate intelligent change. By mixing research, creativity and technology with a strong desire to make working fun, SOFTlab attempts to create new and unique experiences.
In 2010 SOFTlab was selected by the New York Chapter of the AIA along with six other innovative young practices to receive the New Practices New York Award. The studio has produced a wide range of design projects and collaborated with various artists, designers, publications and institutions including MoMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New York Times, eVolo Magazine, Surface Magazine, Columbia University and Pratt Institute. The studio has also exhibited work in galleries throughout New York City.
You can check out some of our previous installations here: flickr-SOFTlab
