LowDO is formulated around the proposition that high-art borrows from the low. Transformative innovation, in creative fields, most often originates when the creator must overcome limited means and resources to provide meaning in the work. We use this as a guiding principal to deliver high impact design for a broader public. Our goal is to find and finesse an integrative systems approach to building—what we call "low design"—through low tech and low carbon strategies.
As architects who build, we bridge design and construction to deliver comprehensive solutions. Our process supports clients in defining objectives, planning strategically, executing efficiently and creating spaces that are sustainable and purposeful.
We aim to build societal equity by lowering barriers to access and empowering communities through inclusive innovation. Collaboration defines our work. We engage with partners in respective communities as active participants, valuing the knowledge of those who operate and maintain spaces over time. This shared intelligence ensures outcomes that remain relevant well beyond project completion.
We believe that spaces shape well-being, that humans and ecologies perform best at low stress levels, and that optimizing efficiency with harmony can maximize the power of built environments. We craft high-impact buildings, landscapes and cities with low carbon footprints to bring life into balance for people and place.
Inclusiveness is a practice – our way of thinking, working, and being – as we draw from broad ranges of backgrounds, interests, stakeholders, and identities. We base our practice around collaborating with other people, with materials, with other living things, and with space and environment in the universal sense.
Most things that we design, we also build – ourselves and with other people.
We are a majority minority-owned business.
DK's work explores sustainability by connecting form-making, technology, and geopolitics with environmental and social dimensions. He is a TED Global Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, and Africa 4 Tech Digital Champion.
DK co-founded DSGN AGNC (2009–2011) and the Agbogbloshie Makerspace Platform (AMP), an open-source maker initiative for Africa. He led urban design for the Koumbi City and Anam City new town projects in Ghana and Nigeria, featured at the Clinton Global Initiative (2012–2014). He served as Architect of the Ghana Pavilion at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
At Penn State, DK co-founded the Ashesi Design Lab and runs the Humanitarian Materials Lab (HuMatLab). He is Associate Director of the Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering and Design with Africa (AESEDA). He has held visiting scholar positions at Delft University of Technology and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana.
DK holds an A.B. in Engineering Design and an MArch from Harvard University.
Ryan combines expertise across architecture, construction, and structural engineering. His work focuses on sustainable techniques of construction with novel development and delivery models for affordable architecture — designs that are rigorous conceptually while remaining constructable through standard methods.
Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Duke University (recipient of the Aubrey E. Palmer Award) and a Master in Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Bay is a recent graduate of Rice University with professional experience at SHoP Architects in New York and Weiss Architecture in Austin. His design focus centers on small-scale construction systems, adaptive reuse, and ecological design strategies, with a strong interest in environmentally responsive architecture.