urbs studio is an arty design studio located in Austin Texas. We are trained architects with a combined secondary expertise in visual communication and urban housing respectively. Although our expertise and body of work spans design disciplines, we approach all projects as “design” and attempt to negotiate form, function, beauty, and cultural relevance/ discourse independent of outcome. Our two decades of practice have produced a body of work that overlaps product design, visual communication, textiles, printed matter, furniture, interior spaces, architecture and urban space. 

We are American trained designers raised in Texas with an extensive crossover with Chicago and the Chicago schools. We bring a careful sense of context, honesty in materials, simplicity of form, and whimsical narrative to the experiences we craft. Our work supports a community of design makers and thinkers when sourcing and prototyping. 

We love collaborating with clients of all kinds and look forward to our next project.

// Previous Clients + Collaborators //

Maison Milan
city of austin + austin independent school district
Nelson Partners Architects
Zachary A Design
Neiman Marcus
Nickelodeon studios
Fabric Wrapping Co.
Barneys NY
Seaside Florida
Windham Fabrics
Design Milk
Room & Board Furniture
UT AUSTIN: herman miller Sit exhibition

// Gallery Representation //
84E. Avenue, Austin Texas : Kevin Ivester

Permanent Collections:
Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection SAIC

// Studio Press //

Design Milk

ICFF: Hand Printed

Chicago Tribune, Austin Chronicle, Chicago Magazine, Dwell Magazine, Uppercase Magazine, Apartment Therapy, Design Milk.

New York Times: Business of Holidays Book Review

// Awards & Recognition //

ICFF Editors Award: Textiles & Materials 2021
Mini Maker Fair First Place (Lille Huset) 2016
Creative Play Product of the Year: Lille Huset 2012
Featured products in the “Modern Kids Pavillion” at Dwell on Design (2014)

// Our Product Lines //

Our Products: Lille Huset // Distribution
Barney’s NY, Paper Source, Nordstrom, National Gallery Gift Shop, AIA Gift Shop, National Building Museum, Walker Art Center Gift Shop, Heath Ceramics, ABC Home and Carpet and many more independent stores in the USA, Switzerland, Australia, France, & Korea.

Published Books: Grow: an Environmentally Friendly book, Imagine Your World, The Business of Holidays, Edited by Maud Lavin.

// Speaking //

2020 City of Austin & AISD: Reilly Gardens Ribbon Cutting Speaker: “Community as Agent of Change” speech.

2019 UT Austin: Body of Work Presented

2016 The Institute Without Boundaries, Toronto, Maker Economy

2015 AIGA Baltimore- Failure, taking creative risks, Lille Huset. 
University of Maryland Baltimore County: Design Entrepreneur, Celebrating Failure as A Integral Learning Tool.

2014 Kickstarter Panelist: Columbia College Chicago,
Dwell on Design - Panelist, Coolhaus and Lille Huset, Design Entrepreneurship Panel Discussion, Los Angeles

2013 Consilience and Innovation in Design, August 2013, International Association of
Societies of Design Research Conference

**NEWS // RECENT SHOWS/ INSTALLATIONS

ICFF + Wanted Design Manhattan 2022
Look Book: Independent North American Studios

ICFF November 2021

Austin Studio Tour 2020

Toronto Design Week: Exhibit

Wares: Austin, Texas textile & home goods show

East Austin Studio Tour & Austin Studio Tour

Origin Design Market, Austin

Dose Market, Chicago

Renegade Craft Fair: Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, & Seattle

NY NOW, NY

Dwell on Design, LA

National Stationery Show, NY