The idiom “the only way is up” is invoked when there’s no other option but to keep going. It’s this sense of reckless abandon and perseverance that led Joel Wong and Amanda Gunawan to leave what they considered their dream jobs at Morphosis and branch off on their own. The name of their firm, OWIU, is an abbreviation of the same phrase, and it’s aptly put. A will to evolve no matter what has led the small California-based firm to embark on two more ventures: a construction firm called Inflexion Builds and a ceramic goods line, OWIU Goods.
Both Gunawan and Wong grew up in Singapore but moved to California to attend the Southern California Institute of Architecture. When they started the studio in 2018, “it was an uphill battle,” Wong explained. “We were doing a lot of pro bono projects, a lot of installations.” But the pandemic turned the tides. As people invested more into their homes, they called on OWIU to deliver.
In 2022, the duo was able to start Inflexion Builds—though it had never been a part of the plan. Like all the other aspects of their work, every step in OWIU’s trajectory has been made through a combination of organic happenstance and the cofounders’ willingness to go with it. “We were in a place where we had all these designs and we needed someone to build it, and we were having such a big problem finding a good contractor,” explained Wong. “Screw it! Let’s just create our own entity.”
OWIU’s seven-person build team gives the architects autonomy over the construction process while enabling the bespoke services that so often set architecture firms apart. With Inflexion Builds, the architects can explore materials and specify designs they’ve created exclusively for projects.
“Our whole ethos is about thoughtful design and careful craftsmanship,” said Gunawan. “We wanted to have this philosophy on a macro level, building architecture spaces, but also on a micro level, on a product level.” How about a ceramics level? During the pandemic, the cofounders offered employees memberships at a ceramics studio to help with mental wellness. It was such a hit that the studio became flooded with ceramics. Gunawan began sharing photos of the objects online, and offers to purchase came rolling in. Demand for the earthy, minimalist serving ware has now resulted in its own five-person studio.
The three branches work in tandem for each project. The Goods team makes custom plates for restaurants the design team is outfitting, built by the construction company. “They’ve begun to feed off each other,” said Gunawan. “Soon we’ll be able to specify tiles and be able to make and order them ourselves.”
Bespoke elements are at the center of their latest project, Duane, the renovation of the cofounders’ own 1962 midcentury quadruplex by Carl Maston. For Unit D, the architects added custom shoji screens to lightly divvy up the open floorplan. “Our work is always kind of like this middle ground between preservation and renovation,” shared Gunawan. For Duane, OWIU considered where it’s best to fix and maintain and where it makes sense to add modern elements like the wellness space. Outside, they then inserted (and constructed) a new addition to house a cold plunge and sauna. The neutral-toned interior features midcentury furniture, neutral natural wood, a Japanese garden, paper lanterns, a genkan, or Japanese-style entryway. It’s Asia-meets-California, a hallmark of OWIU and yet another organic, unintentional combination of the cofounders’ own upbringing.
As if three companies weren’t enough, the OWIU team is also working on a furniture line, born from an assisted living project. Where will they go from there? The only way is up.