Asymptote Architecture

Husband-and-wife team Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture co-founded Asymptote Architecture in 1989. The firm began with building designs in the United States, and subsequently expanded to international projects.

Critics have described Asymptote's architectural style as "futuristic"; the firm is known for fusing architecture with digital computer technology to create a hybrid style. Rashid and Couture believe that the spatial form of a building is what drives its architectural meaning. The firm suggests that its buildings reflect specific attributes of their surrounding environments. For example, the Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi has a fluid, curvilinear form, evoking the concept of speed, since Formula One auto races are held underneath the building. 166 Perry Street, a condominium in the West Village neighborhood of New York City, has a rippling glass façade that evokes a waterfall.