OBRA Archi tec t s was founded by Pablo Cas t ro and Jenni ferrnLee in the year 2000 in New York Ci ty. The projec ts under takenrnby OBRA Archi tec t s span a wide range of programs and s i zesrnyet cons is tent l y seek to evoke invent ion and interes t throughrnexplorat ions of mater ial , s t ruc ture, s i te and exper ience. Thei rrnprac t i ce and thei r wor k seek to chal lenge and expand thernrange of metaphors in which archi tec ture f inds i ts meaning.rnOBRA cons iders each and ever y projec t to be int imatel y boundrnto i ts sur roundings , ex tending af ield into s i te and lands capernthe conceptual under s tanding of the archi tec tural work . As arnresul t many of our proposal s and bui l t wor k s inc lude outdoorrncomponents and integration into the natural or urban landscape.rnCur rent wor k inc ludes a v i l la in Ordos , Inner Mongol ia, a caf érnin Soho, a pr i vate eco- res idence in Cos ta Ri ca, and spec ialrninv i tat ion to par t i c ipate in the IBA Hamburg Smar t Pr i ce Housesrncompet i t ion. OBRA Archi tec t s was selec ted for thi s inv i tedrncompet i t ion in an internat ional jur ied proces s along wi th 15rnother internat ional l y renowned archi tec tural prac t i ces f romrnaround the wor ld. IBA Hamburg is a bui lding expos i t ion whi c hrnwi l l showcase c reat i v i ty, oppor tuni ty, cont ras t s and tens ions ,rnin developing solut ions wi th a spec i f i c focus on economi calrninnovat ion. The goal is to c reate resul ts that t rans cend thernpurely exemplar y, new models for the future of the met ropol i s .rnThe f i rm has recent l y completed a 13,250 s f res idence i nrnSouthampton, New York with guesthouse, poolhouse and garage,rnas wel l as a ful l -s cale protot ype emergenc y hous ing shel ter onrndi splay at the Nat ional Ar t Museum of China in conjunc t ion wi t hrna s ympos ium on emergenc y shel ter rel ief response sponsoredrnby the UNDP.rnThe wor k of OBRA has been exhibi ted at the Nat ionalrnAr t Museum of China, the Museum of Modern Ar t , PS1rnContemporar y Ar t Center, Rhode I s land School of Des ign, thernChicago Athenaeum, as wel l as at the Univer s i ty of Minnesot arnCol lege of Des ign, Fordham Univer s i ty ’s Center Gal lery, and thernCenter for Archi tec ture, New York . They are inc luded in the 50t hrnAnni ver sar y exhibi t of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museumrnopening in February. OBRA Archi tec t s was named one of 2005 rnrnEmerging Voices by the Archi tec tural League of New York .rnOBRA is the winner of the 2006 PS1/MoMA Young Archi tec t srnProgram compet i t ion and lec tured in MoMA’s Conversat ions wi t hrnContemporar y Ar t i s ts ser ies in February of 2007. Thei r work hasrnbeen honored wi th a 2008 AIA New York Honor Award, a 2008rnID Magaz ine Annual Des ign Rev iew Award, and two Amer i canrnArchi tec ture Awards by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum ofrnArchi tec ture and Des ign. The wor k of OBRA has been publ i shedrnin a monograph by the Uni ted As ia Ar ts and Des ign Cooperat ionrnin Bei j ing, China as wel l as in publ i cat ions such as YoungrnAmer i cans : Neue Archi tek tur in den USA (DOM Publ i shers ,rnBer l in) and Young Archi tec t s Amer i cas (daab Publ i shers ,rnCologne) . They have been featured in A+U, Summa+,rnArchi tec ture, Archi tec tural Record, The New York Times , ThernInternat ional Herald Tr ibune, Concept Magaz ine (Seoul ) , andrnI l Giornale Del l ’Archi tet tura. Thei r second monograph i s i nrnprogres s and wi l l be publ i shed by DAMDI Pres s in Seoul , Korearnl a t e r t h i s year.