Buildings for People and Plants | WORKac’s new book enters a series of US events and discussions

Buildings for People and Plants, the new book by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood of WORKac, will be introduced in a series of events and discussions across the United States, beginning with a launch at WORKac’s New York City office on Wednesday, September 24, and continuing at leading institutions and conferences, including UC Berkeley, CCA San Francisco, and Columbia University GSAPP.

The book was first presented during the opening days of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, an occasion that set the stage for its international visibility and framed the discourse around WORKac’s approach to architecture.

Upcoming events and presentations:

• September 24 at 6 PM – NYC Book Launch at WORKac, New York, NY Eventbrite link

• October 24 at 6 PM – Archtober / Head Hi Pop-Up at the Center for Architecture, New York, NY

• October 30 at 9 AM – Azure Human / Nature Conference, Toronto, Canada

• November 6 at 9 AM – The Urban Land Institute Conference, Moscone West, San Francisco, CA

• November 5 at 6 PM – UC Berkeley, Bauer Wurster Auditorium (Room 112), Berkeley, CA

• November 6 at 5:30 PM – California College of the Arts Lecture, CCA Nave Presentation Space, San Francisco, CA

• November 21 at 1 PM – Columbia University GSAPP Library, New York, NY

Published by Park Books, Buildings for People and Plants showcases ten of WORKac’s most recent projects — including the North Boulder Library, the Rhode Island School of Design’s Student Success Center, and the Miami Museum Garage — navigating the interconnected realms of architecture, environment, and social sustainability through photographs, drawings, and concise texts.

The book reflects WORKac’s ongoing commitment to architecture that engages deeply with environment, community, and culture, while embracing a healthy disillusionment with conventional forms, yet pursuing new design paradigms with both creative freedom and disciplined rigor.

It offers a tangible reflection on how architecture can respond to contemporary life while exploring new strategies for spatial and social experience.

“We don’t think of buildings as isolated objects. Rather, we enlist their power to frame, reexamine, and re-invent relationships — between citizens and cities, public and private space, the individual and the collective, inside and outside, and people and plants,” note Amale Andraos and Dan Wood in the book introduction, written together with Miles Hardingwood.

The volume features an introductory essay by the architects, a critical essay, Civics Lessons for an Uncertain Future, by architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, and a conversation with the architects conducted by Heidi Zuckerman, former director of both the Aspen Art Museum and the Orange County Museum of Art.

Buildings for People and Plants is also a design object in itself: beautifully crafted by Sonya Dyakova and Tom Baber of Atelier Dyakova, the book features die-cut building shapes on the covers that reveal brightly colored endpapers, visually resonating with WORKac’s architectural language.

Conceived as a continuation of WORKac’s 2017 publication, We’ll Get There When We Cross That Bridge, the volume reflects on questions introduced eight years ago, while highlighting how the ten featured projects — all completed since that first book — engage with new design challenges and social contexts.

“When we design buildings, we are constantly asking ourselves questions. Is there a communal or civic potential? What is the project giving back to the city? Who is it for, and can we make it more inclusive? Does it do something for the environment? How can we add meaning or texture or depth? We push every project to do something extra, to make ‘one plus one equal three.’ When we design, we are looking for the bonus — always searching for the ways our buildings can be greater than the sum of their parts,” say Andraos and Wood.

This publication marks a milestone for WORKac, celebrated for projects across the US and around the world that demonstrate a profound engagement with local cultures, climates, and histories.

With Buildings for People and Plants, WORKac shares insights into public, cultural, and institutional architecture while advancing a dialogue on how design can creatively respond to contemporary life.

Among WORKac’s recent projects are: Riverhouse, the home Amale and Dan designed for themselves and their children, which offers a sharp, personal take on domestic architecture in the wake of the pandemic’s rural shift; the North Boulder Library, a joyful and accessible urban connector that thoughtfully responds to neighborhood needs while providing a unique and welcoming space for all; and Mission Rock Building B in San Francisco, which reimagines the future of the workplace across its eight stories by fostering a seamless connection between interior and exterior spaces.

The press kit for Buildings for People and Plants, published by Park Books in May 2025, can be downloaded at this link. If you would like a review copy, to interview architects Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, or to learn more about the studio’s recent projects and upcoming events, please let us know.

WORKAC

Co-founded by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood, WORKac believes in the power of architecture and design to engage environmental and social concerns to create new possibilities for the future. Our work throughout the US and around the world emphasizes a deep engagement with local cultures, climates and histories. Our focus is on public, cultural, and institutional projects that reinvent how we live, work, learn and experience the world together.

 WORKac was the recipient of the 2023 Arts and Letters Award in Architecture, been named the #1 design firm in the US by Architect Magazine, and was selected as the AIA New York State “Firm of the Year.” The practice has achieved international acclaim for projects such as the Edible Schoolyards in Brooklyn and Harlem, public libraries in Queens, Brooklyn and Boulder, the Blaffer Museum Expansion and Renovation at the University of Houston, the Miami Museum Garage, the Student Success Center at the Rhode Island School of Design, and two community centers in Mexico City in collaboration with IUA. Current projects include the Sibley Dome Renovation at Cornell, strategic masterplans and renovations for Vassar College and Packer Collegiate Institute, a theater for the People’s Theatre Project in Inwood, the Beirut Museum of Art, and a cultural center in Muscat, Oman.

 WORKac has been exhibited widely, including at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Chicago Architecture Biennale, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennale, MoMa, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Canadian Center for Architecture, the Design Museum, London, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Museum Brugge, and at the Sharp Family Gallery at the Olana State Historic Site.

 Andraos and Wood are committed educators. Andraos is professor and dean emeritus of the Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), and the first woman to have become dean of the school. During her tenure as dean, Andraos also served as Architecture Advisor to the President and Special Advisor for the Climate School. Wood has taught extensively, most recently as an adjunct associate at Yale School of Architecture. Their publications include We’ll Get There When We Cross That Bridge, 49 Cities and Above the Pavement, the Farm!.

Facts & Credits

Book title Buildings for People and Plants – WORKac
Book authors Amale Andraos, Dan Wood
With contributions from Heidi Zuckerman (Orange County Museum of Art’s director) and Nicolai Ouroussoff (architecture critic)
Published by Park Books(May 2025)
Language English
Book format Hardback
Pages 260 
Info 129 color illustrations, 22 x 28 cm, ISBN 978-3-03860-398-6