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Co-founded by architects and graphic designers, aptdotapt is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in New York, Basel, and Shanghai.
We see ourselves as an*apartment*—a shared space where individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds and life experiences exchange ideas and inspire each other.
We aspire to create innovative forms and sensory experiences that transcend disciplinary boundaries to create meaningful and resonant experiences.
We are dedicated to collaborating with creative partners who value aesthetics, cultural depth, and innovative thinking.
We craft tangible poetry through space, branding, and visual design.
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Leanne Meng is a multidisciplinary architect and designer with a comprehensive background in architecture, brand strategy, and marketing. She earned her Master of Architecture from Yale University, where she also cross-registered at the Yale School of Management to study brand strategy and marketing. Currently, Leanne collaborates with Harvard University's China Art Lab (CAMLab), focusing on space design for multimedia exhibitions and engaging in academic research.
Leanne is dedicated to exploring cultural foundations within Eastern contexts, aiming to uncover aesthetic values through the power of design. She believes that exceptional design transcends problem-solving, creating moving experiences and lasting memories. Leanne brings to the team a multidisciplinary perspective that bridges the humanities, arts, and commerce, advancing aptdotapt's design philosophy and practice. She excels at capturing the logical narratives behind inspiration.
Jinrui Zhang holds a Master of Architecture from Yale University, where he also studies at the Yale School of Management for commercial real estate and product management. At Yale, he served as an urban design researcher and as a digital product designer at the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking (Tsai CITY). Professionally, Jinrui has worked for architects, including Pritzker Prize laureate Arata Isozaki and David Chipperfield Architects.
Jinrui's expertise spans various scales and media, enabling him to transform conceptual ideas into tangible architectural forms. His diverse experiences across Asia, United States, and Australia have endowed him with a global perspective and a multifaceted approach to design. He places a strong emphasis on materiality, detailing, construction, and context. Exploring the essence of locality remains a central theme in his architectural journey.
Zheye Cai earned his Master's degree in Digital Communication Environments from the Basel School of Design in Switzerland, focusing on branding and graphic design. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Platinum Creative Silver Award, the Double Jury Award, the NewOne Award, recognition in Design360's Top 100 Designs of the Year, and accolades from the Tokyo Type Directors Club (TDC).
Zheye focuses on the nuanced relationship between two-dimensional graphics and three-dimensional spaces, believing that graphic images are the fundamental units of spatial-temporal sequences. He has established a distinctive visual and branding approach for aptdotapt, and his extensive practical experience equips him with a strong ability to implement design concepts effectively. He continually explores how design can create lasting impact beyond momentary impressions.