People

Mimi Hoang, FAIA, NOMA

Co-Founding Partner

Mimi co-founded nARCHITECTS with Eric Bunge with a belief in architecture as an agent of positive change that can connect people and environments in unexpected ways. An ambition to respond to changes in contemporary life while fostering social engagement guides her work. Born in the tropics of Vietnam and trained in Amsterdam and New York City, she brings a global outlook and an obsession with greenery to the firm’s design culture. Mimi teaches graduate design studios as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and previously taught at Yale and Harvard Universities. She received her Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and her Bachelor of Science in Art and Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY, NJ, WA, IL, FL, MA, CT, DC

Eric Bunge, FAIA

Co-Founding Partner

Eric co-founded nARCHITECTS with Mimi Hoang. His work aims for positive social and environmental impact, through an interdependence between architecture, landscape, ecology, and humans. Born in Montreal of Argentinian heritage, Eric trained in London, Calcutta, Paris, and Boston prior to co-founding nARCHITECTS. He teaches Graduate design studios as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning, and previously taught at Parsons School of Design, R.I.S.D. and Barnard College, and as a visiting professor at Harvard University, Yale University, Université de Montreal, UT Austin, and University of Toronto. He holds a Master of Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from McGill University, both with Distinction.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY

Amanda Morgan, AIA

Principal

Amanda is an experienced architect whose background extends to interior design and psychology. Her leadership has honed our practice’s focus on public projects that are both sustainable and transformational. As Principal, Amanda oversees projects with complex parameters and client and regulatory agency approvals processes, including the Made in NY Campus, the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center, the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center, and A/D/O. Born and raised in Idaho, she brings her love of openness to even the most constrained project site. Amanda received her Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior design from the University of Idaho.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY | LEED AP | WEDG | Assoc. DBIA

Adina Bauman, AIA

Associate

Adina grew up outside New York City. Her mother’s professional art practice and father’s real estate career fostered a sense for creative and analytical thinking, now invigorated by her passion for designing equitable public spaces. She is also an advocate for gender equality in architecture and is a member of the Madame Architect Next Generation Council. Adina earned her Bachelor of Science in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and her Master of Architecture from Columbia University.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY | WEDG

Allison Frost

Communications Manager

Communications & Business Development Coordinator

Following a career in publishing, Allison found a passion in that which surrounds, connects, and shelters us. Gravitating to both the poetry and prose of architecture, she is particularly drawn to its personal narratives and collective histories. She believes in architecture’s power to cultivate the social wellness of communities, and advocates for design that advances this goal. Allison holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Brigham Young University and received her Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Amy Davis

Designer

Amy is driven by the power of architecture to create common grounds for multiple publics. With a background in fine arts, she is attuned to the materials, processes, and collaboration inherent to architectural practice. She holds a Bachelor of Art in studio art from Baylor University and a Master of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin.

Claire Laux

Designer

Having grown up in the historic city of York, PA, Claire’s interest in the correlation between craft, history, time, and people have found their place in her work. Claire earned her B.S. in Architecture from the Catholic University of America and a M.Arch degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dave Chessrown, AIA, CPHC

Senior Associate

The son of a contractor, Dave grew up discussing construction issues over breakfast. He has led more than twenty projects from design through construction administration by devising creative, adaptable solutions to complex problems. Dave’s strengths have been central to the firm’s design-build and adaptive re-use projects, especially the Orchard Beach M+O Facility, Park Edge, and the Made in NY Campus. He received his Master of Architecture from Cornell University and his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY | WEDG | Assoc. DBIA

Grey Peterson

Designer

Born and raised outside Atlanta, Grey brings experience in public projects, adaptive reuse, and design-build to the office. He believes that architecture should adapt its built form to its social and environmental contexts, forging new relationships beyond its enclosure and extending into the public realm. Grey received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in Architecture from Rice University.

Isabel Chun

Designer

Isabel is passionate about how architecture can give agency to the public—to appropriate, engage, or transform civic spaces. Her ethos helps shape nARCHITECTS’ public realm work and is inspired by her previous work for disadvantaged communities at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation. Isabel also brings her art practice, which focuses on remixing tectonic textures and patterns, to the firm’s distinctive approach to material techniques. Born in Hong Kong, Isabel received her Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and her Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University.

Lauren Weiss

Designer

Lauren’s residential experience in Dallas, San Francisco, and Chicago has fostered an interest in human experience in relation to the use of materials in architecture. Lauren received her M.Arch at Washington University in St. Louis and her B.S. in Architecture at the University of Cincinnati.

Peik Shelton, RA

Architect

As one of six siblings raised in a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, Peik learned early how to make the most of available space. With an architect father and a fashion designer mother, Peik was surrounded by plans, patterns, and other forms of making. These experiences have informed his work with some of New York City’s most cherished cultural institutions. Peik received his Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and his Bachelor of Arts from Lehigh University.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY

Timmy Khalifa, RA

Architect

Timmy was born and raised in Cairo, where the city’s street life and everyday improvisation fostered his love for the built environment. He brings extensive experience across cultural, adaptive reuse, and urban design projects, with a particular focus on civic work for public agencies in New York City. Timmy is passionate about using design to strengthen public life and celebrate the cultures and histories that give places their identity. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in social and political history from Carnegie Mellon University and is an adjunct lecturer at the New York City College of Technology.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY

Xinyan He

Designer

Originally from Shanghai, Xinyan has lived and worked in Seattle, Chicago, and New York. His expertise lies in adaptive reuse, building technology, and the ways in which architecture elevates sensory experience. His work explores how architecture can respond to shifting social, ecological, and urban conditions, often engaging questions of migration, resilience, and public space. Xinyan holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University GSAPP.

Yijia Tracy Tang

Designer

Tracy is motivated by architecture’s potential to elevate everyday life. With a background in engineering and studio art, she interweaves intellectual inquiry and tangible practice in her work. Born and raised in China, Tracy has acquired international experience in Paris, Shanghai, New York, and Boston working on a range of project types including science laboratories. She received her Master of Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and her Bachelor of Arts from Swarthmore College.

Yuka Imada

Intern

Yun Koo, AIA

Associate

Yun brings her expertise in mixed-use, adaptive reuse, and public space design to the studio. Her particular interest in alternative construction methods and materials enriches the firm’s design ethos. A native Korean, she trained in Minneapolis, Houston, and New York City, where she has gleaned valuable perspectives on the diverse sociocultural and climate considerations specific to these regions. Yun received her Master of Architecture at Rice University and her Bachelor of Science in architecture at the University of Minnesota.

Certifications: Registered Architect, NY

Zake Bjontegard

Designer, Office Manager

With roots in Japan, Hawaiʻi, and Texas, Zake’s architectural sensibilities emerge from complex environments in which humans and nature are intertwined. Zake earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin and has independently conducted research on endangered Hawai’ian flora.

We are a team of architects and designers working collaboratively with the spirit of an atelier and the organization of an office.

Photo: Robert Jones