Found Projects is a Los Angeles-based architecture and design studio co-founded by architect Miaojie Ted Zhang, AIA, and designer Veronica Smith. The company has been named the Jury Winner in the Best X-Small Firm category at the 14th Annual Architizer A+Awards. This recognition pays homage to the studio's excellence across a body of work that includes public spaces, cultural interiors, residential projects, landscape interventions, and small civic structures in the United States and China.
One of Found Projects' noteworthy projects includes the Four-Roof Pavilion at Shenzhen Pingshan Children's Park, which serves as a gateway while accommodating multi-purpose rooms, a bookstore, a café, and a roof garden. The Blue Court, on the other hand, combines a blue concrete basketball court with an exposed steel frame and tension-cable system to create both a sports venue and a gathering place for a coastal village.
Image Credit: Schran Images, Atelier LuxNox
What's Driving This Trend
- Micro-firm Prestige
- Small design studios are gaining outsized recognition by delivering culturally specific, highly crafted projects across public, residential, and civic contexts.
- Hybrid Civic Spaces
- Public architecture is increasingly blending recreation, retail, education, and gathering functions into compact destinations that serve multiple community needs.
- Contextual Play Architecture
- Design-led parks, courts, and pavilions are transforming everyday recreation sites into memorable landmarks shaped by local culture and landscape.
Who This Affects Most
- Architecture and Design
- Recognition for x-small firms highlights a market shift toward agile studios that combine experimental aesthetics with meaningful community impact.
- Urban Development
- Mixed-use pavilions and public gathering spaces point to new models for dense, flexible civic infrastructure in growing cities.
- Parks and Recreation
- Elevated recreational environments are redefining parks and sports facilities as social anchors that merge play, leisure, and cultural identity.
