OUR STORY

As an Architecture and Design studio, our relentless dedication to our craft is our motivation to constantly explore who we are. Through this exploration, our identity as a studio evolves with us, and our design moves in the same upwards trajectory.

Only way is up is more than a belief, to us, it’s a lifestyle and it is imbued in all that we do. As the potter Kanjiro Kawai aptly puts it “Life is work and work is life.” And we are so excited to have you be a part of our lives. OWIU, an abbreviation for Only Way Is Up, is a full-service Architecture and Design office located in the heart of Los Angeles. Our office and showroom is located in the burgeoning Art’s District.

We specialize in Thoughtful Design and approach every project with a strong emphasis on aesthetics and precision of form, coupled with a strong sense of purpose and intention.

Imbued in the practice lies an innovative and progressive mindset that naturally creates a mission to create spaces that are not just built to last, but built to evolve. As a studio, we advocate for sustainability in development—what we like to identify as the sweet spot between preservation and innovation.

OWIU is the brainchild of Joel Wong and Amanda Gunawan, two designers with proficient architectural knowledge.

Sectors

  • Residential
  • Commercial
  • Hospitality
  • Public Spaces
  • Installations
  • Retail Spaces
  • Master Planning
  • Furniture Design

Services

  • Architectural Design
  • Construction
  • Urban Design
  • Sustainable Real Estate
  • Development
  • Landscape Design
  • Product Design
OUR TEAM

In OWIU, there is little differentiation between work and residential spaces, seen in the manifestation of our projects and our team dynamics.In fact, we work out of a loft space originally intended as a personal residence for our co-founder Amanda Gunawan.

Deliberately avoiding traditional business models, we prefer casual and open spaces where partitions and closed doors are less about divisive hierarchies and more for creating break out spaces of reprieve or privacy during meetings. We hold charrettes at the kitchen counter, encouraging an open dialogue where all input comes to the table with equal value and on Friday nights, we convert the same kitchen counter into a space for team building, cooking dinners together, and simply enjoying the pleasure of each other’s company.

The transitions from work to play are organic to our team’s genuine friendships and the company philosophy. From the beginning, we emphasize that pleasure should be inherent to the process and that work does not have to be punishing in order to be productive.

If you love the work, it shouldn’t feel like work. Here at OWIU, the cornerstone is precision and thoughtfulness. Taking pride in how this philosophy matriculates. We have developed a culture rather than a company, even outside architecture. One of the ways this has manifested is in their ceramics practice, borne out of a team-building exercise. Today, we have a robust home goods line, that started out of a little studio hobby, that has now turned into a service we offer that furthers and braids into our aesthetic vision.

The team dynamic, the shared belief in the OWIU philosophy, the amalgamation of different personalities and skills, the genuine friendship that is formed as a result of our collaboration is what provides meaning to the work that we do and it is through this, that we are able to create what we create.

AMANDA GUNAWAN
Amanda Gunawan is Architectural designer originally from Singapore but now is based in Los Angeles,who obtained her bachelors’ degree in architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), receiving the prestigious merit thesis prize. Amanda has a diverse design background. She worked in Urban Planning and Design at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore, which oversees the master-planning for the country. More recently, she worked for Pritzker-prize winning Architect, Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects. Amanda a strong social media presence and has worked to create creative content for brands such as Dyson, Samsung and Google. More recently, Amanda made Prestige Asia’s 40 under 40 list and Architectural Digest’s 10 AAPI Designers list.
Joel Wong
Joel Wong is a designer based in Los Angeles, born and raised in Singapore. He pursued his bachelors degree in architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), graduating with distinction, was awarded the prestigious merit thesis prize and Henry Adams prize for outstanding student. Joel has lots of experience in the Architectural field. He has worked for firms such as ADDP Architects in Singapore and also most recently for Pritzker Prize winning Architect, Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects.