About the Studio

Asymptote Architecture

Asymptote Architecture is an internationally acclaimed practice founded by Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture. The studio operates at the intersection of architecture, technology, and digital culture.

For over three decades, the practice has pursued a singular vision: architecture as a medium that negotiates between the virtual and the physical, the speculative and the built. From large-scale urban interventions to immersive digital environments, the work challenges conventional boundaries.

The studio's projects span cultural institutions, commercial towers, urban masterplans, and experimental installations across four continents. Each project is an investigation into form, technology, and the evolving nature of spatial experience.

Principals

Hani Rashid

Hani Rashid

Co-Founder / Principal

Hani Rashid is an architect, artist, and Professor of Architecture at Columbia University. His work explores the boundaries between physical and virtual environments, challenging traditional notions of architectural practice.

Lise Anne Couture

Lise Anne Couture

Co-Founder / Principal

Lise Anne Couture is an architect and Professor of Architecture at Parsons School of Design. Her research and built work investigate the convergence of computational design, material innovation, and spatial complexity.

Approach

Digital Materiality

We treat digital tools not as means of representation but as material -- generative systems that produce form, structure, and spatial logic.

Convergent Practice

Architecture, urbanism, technology, and art collapse into a singular discipline. We reject boundaries between fields.

Radical Geometry

Every form is a proposition. Our geometries emerge from computational logic, contextual forces, and deliberate spatial provocation.

Contextual Tension

We design within friction -- between landscape and artifice, density and void, permanence and flux. Tension is generative.

Global Practice

150 projects 74 cities 33 countries
World map showing Asymptote Architecture project locations

    Awards & Recognition

    Major Prizes

    • National Academy of Design — Elected as National Academicians, 2024
    • Connecticut Architecture Foundation Distinguished Leadership Award, 2020
    • Architectural League of New York Emerging Voices, 1999
    • Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts
    • Le Grand Prix de l'Architecture — Yas Hotel
    • TIME Magazine — Leaders in Innovation for the 21st Century

    Design Awards

    • Progressive Architecture (P/A) Award — Beukenhof Auditorium
    • AIA New York Chapter Design Awards — HydraPier, Carlos Miele Flagship, Alessi Flagship
    • American Architecture Award — World Business Center Busan
    • Danish Building of the Year — Univers Theatre, Aarhus
    • ArchDaily Building of the Year — Yas Hotel
    • Emirates Glass LEAF Award, Best Overall Building — Yas Hotel
    • IES Lumen Award, Technical Artistry in Lighting — Yas Hotel
    • Chicago Athenaeum International Architecture Award — Yas Hotel
    • Hospitality Design Award, Best Hotel — Yas Hotel
    • FX International Interior Design Award — Yas Hotel

    Competition Wins

    Biennales & Major Exhibitions

    • Venice Architecture Biennale — United States Representative, 7th Biennale
    • Venice Architecture Biennale — Design Architects, Metamorph (9th Biennale)
    • Venice Architecture Biennale — Prototyping The Future, 11th Biennale
    • Venice Architecture Biennale — Guggenheim Virtual Museum
    • Documenta — Flux Space, Kassel
    • Centre Pompidou — Non Standard Architectures, Paris
    • Mori Art Museum — ArchiLab: New Experiments in Architecture, Art and the City, Tokyo
    • Architekturmuseum der TUM — The Architecture Machine, Munich
    • MoMA — Endless House: Intersections of Art and Architecture
    • MoMA — Applied Design
    • MoMA — Building Collections: Recent Acquisitions of Architecture
    • MoMA — Architecture and Design Drawings
    • Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture — Architecture=Art, New York, 2025

    Fellowships & Academic Chairs

    • Kenzo Tange Chair — Harvard Graduate School of Design
    • Bishop Chair, Saarinen Chair, Davenport Chair — Yale University
    • Catedra Luis Barragan Chair — Monterrey, Mexico
    • Muschenheim Fellowship — University of Michigan
    • NYFA Fellowship — New York Foundation of the Arts
    • Aga Khan Award for Architecture — Steering Committee

    Museum Collections

    • Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
    • Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
    • Centre Pompidou, Paris
    • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA)
    • Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), Montreal
    • Pinakothek der Moderne / Architekturmuseum der TUM, Munich
    • ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe
    • FRAC Centre, Orléans
    • Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
    View all collections & holdings →