Michael Min Ra

Born in South Korea and raised in the American city of Chicago, Michael Min Ra, graduated from the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago with High Honors distinction. After two years working as a system designer at the British firm Dewhurst McFarlane and Partners in New York, he and his partners founded Front in 2002.  From this history and long term collaborators, Michael and his new partners formed VIA. Working with a team of architects and engineers on a broad range of scales, from furniture, staircases, and bridges to single-family residences, institutional/cultural projects, and high-rise buildings. Notable projects include the first-generation development of glass elements for Apple, The China Central Television HQ building in Beijing, the Seattle Public Library, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Kukje Art Gallery in Seoul, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, US, Grace Farms in Connecticut, the Morpheus Hotel in Macau, the Henderson on Murray Rd. in Hong Kong, and most recently the Lusail Towers in Doha, Qatar. Michael and his Partners also lead the ongoing development and deployment of a design, construction and fabrication information processing and advanced modeling system called Elefront.  VIA is a design and facade consulting practice with a network of offices in HK, Seoul, San Francisco and London.  VIA is a cross-disciplinary group of creative individuals with professional backgrounds in Design, Architecture, Structural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Construction.