Ruo Wang
Founding Partner · Principal Architect
Ruo holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the American Institute of Architects. Before co-founding SoBA, he held key roles at BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Richard Meier & Partners, working across housing, cultural, and civic projects in the US and Europe. His design approach weaves analytical rigor with a sensitivity to how spaces feel at a human scale — shaped equally by international training and deep engagement with design cultures on both sides of the Pacific.
Haiyin Tang
Founding Partner
Haiyin holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Illinois. She is LEED Accredited and brings broad practice experience from HOK, where she contributed to large-scale commercial and institutional projects across the US. Her fluency in both American and international project delivery informs SoBA's ability to work seamlessly across geographies — translating global design thinking into contextually grounded architecture.
Our Practice
Founded in 2018, SoBA is an independent design practice working between Suzhou and the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning with international competitions and evolving through the realization of public projects in China, the studio approaches architecture as a dialogue between cultural memory, contemporary urban life, and everyday experience. Our work spans architecture, landscape, and interiors, with an emphasis on spatial clarity, public engagement, and context-driven design. We believe meaningful spaces emerge through careful observation, restraint, and long-term collaboration — where each project grows from the specific conditions of its place and community.
Our Approach
Soft
A way of thinking that is adaptive, sensitive, and open-ended. We believe architecture should respond gently to context, culture, climate, and human behavior rather than impose fixed forms upon them.
Build
More than construction, it is the act of shaping relationships between people, space, and environment. We see architecture not as isolated objects, but as living experiences grounded in material, atmosphere, and everyday life.
Cross-Cultural
Working between Eastern and Western perspectives, our practice balances rational precision with intuitive perception. We believe meaningful architecture emerges through the dialogue between different cultures, histories, and ways of seeing the world.