Architecture Research Office (ARO) is the New York City firm led by Stephen Cassell, Kim Yao, and Adam Yarinsky. Since 1993, ARO has earned a reputation for beautiful and innovative architecture, designed with integrity and born out of relentless inquiry and engagement.
ARO is a diverse collective united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. Research gives their work purpose and intention. Their architecture unites beauty and form with strategy and intelligence. Their office designs buildings and spaces that inspire people, further institutional missions, and advance equity and resilience. Their diverse project portfolio—spanning strategic planning, architecture, and urban design—reveals the hidden potential within complex architectural and urban constraints. From a low-cost, passive house housing prototype to a proposal to reinvent public space, ecology, and infrastructure in New York City, ARO’s work is simultaneously engaging, intelligent and purposeful.
ARO works with imaginative leaders and communities to design cultural, educational, commercial and residential projects. The firm’s current and recent projects include the restoration of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, along with a new campus for the organization; the expansion of Dia Art Foundation’s New York City headquarters; and, a new passive house building for two public schools in Brooklyn;.
Notable past projects include Colorado House in Telluride; a New Urban Ground, a proposal for urban climate change adaptation; the restoration of Donald Judd’s Home and Studio; the new home for the Vilcek Foundation; Knoll’s headquarters and several showroom and offices nationwide; the West Pavilion addition to Nippert Stadium at the University of Cincinnati; the Princeton School of Architecture; and a mass-timber building at the University of Washington Tacoma.
In recognition of their vision, artistry, and dedication to craft, ARO’s Principals have been elected to the National Academy of Design. Additional firm accolades include the 2020 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the AIA New York State Firm of the Year Award, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture. The firm’s work has been exhibited widely and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Architecture. Research. Office. was published in October 2024 and presents ARO’s diverse body of work, its ethos, and the people behind its projects.
