LOT-EK is an award-winning architectural design studio based in New York and Naples, Italy. Founded in 1993 by Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, LOT-EK has been involved with commercial, institutional and residential projects globally. In addition, LOT-EK has conceived and executed exhibition design and site-specific installations for major cultural institutions and museums, including MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the Walker Art Center and the Guggenheim.
LOT-EK has achieved high visibility for its sustainable and innovative approach to construction, materials and space, through the adaptive reuse (“upcycling”) of existing industrial objects and systems not originally intended for architecture.
Our sustainable approach to construction through upcycling has been the basis of structural projects at all scales. We are committed to ecologically responsible and intelligent methods of building. To that end, we leverage the technological properties of existing industrial objects to create architecture. Our goal is to not only upcycle the objects themselves, but to upcycle the intelligence that went into their development. Beyond the inherent sustainability of our design methodology, we are committed to researching and implementing innovative ways to conserve materials and energy. Our projects have long been considered ground-breaking and innovative.
LOT-EK's first monograph, iUrbanscan/i, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in February 2002. iLOT-EK Mixer/i, was issued by Edizioni Press in 2000, and iMDU: Mobile Dwelling Unit/i, published by DAP, was printed in June 2003.