Wright Auction

HUY BUI is a designer based in New York City whose practice is deeply rooted in environmental design. He specializes in crafting modular units that are not only stacked and suspended, but also meticulously designed to accommodate a network of micro-ecosystems. These units, spanning various scales and mediums, seamlessly blend elements of industrial, furniture, interior, architectural, and urban design. From homes to retail spaces, workplaces, public areas, and galleries, Bui’s objects and installations provoke contemplation about the ecological aspects of our daily existence.

Bui’s creative pursuits are driven by his vision of “Art and Architecture in the Age of The Anthropocene,” a concept that delves into the intersection of utopian and dystopian elements within built environments. Through ongoing projects like Plant-in City, which explores the convergence of plants, architecture, and technology, and A Structure for Hope and Survival, a response to the pressing climate crisis, Bui seeks to provoke meaningful dialogue on pressing environmental issues. Additionally, his collaboration with the Patrick Parrish Gallery on Geological Frame examines the intricate relationship between Earth's natural formations and human industrial activities.

In addition to his design endeavors, Bui is actively involved in academia, serving as a visiting faculty member at Parsons the New School for Design. He has also spearheaded initiatives such as “Street Seats,” a public seating program in collaboration with the New York City Department of Transportation at the School of Constructed Environments. Bui’s commitment to education is further demonstrated through his leadership in developing the senior year product design curriculum with a focus on Modular Ecology. Beyond his design and academic pursuits, Bui is also the co-founder of An Choi Vietnamese Eatery in the Lower East Side and played a pivotal role in designing and building Di An Di, a restaurant in Greenpoint completed in the spring of 2018.

If asked to select one word to describe Patrick, I would resist and pick two. The first would be curiosity — a fundamental essential, to stimulate inquiry and rigour in all things, both great and small, of any era or region, type or surface. Even the most fleeting survey of this selection for sale is a celebration of innovation and of inspiration — an unerring eye for the unusually exceptional, or perhaps the exceptionally unusual. The chances are, that these are indeed discoveries that you have not yet realised that you needed to make. 

Mentor, would be my second word. If artefacts and objects articulate visual, cultural and historic language, then the fluency of skillful mentorship — to guide, nurture, describe and explain — releases the eloquence of murmuring histories. In this capacity Patrick is that most earnest and sincere of excellent narrators. If ever I had friends, clients or colleagues visiting New York looking for unusual inspiration, there was always the certainty that Patrick’s venues would offer them a glimpse of the hitherto unseen or the unusually seductive, always with the reassurance of the most fascinating story waiting to be told.