Jenny Sabin Studio
Jenny Sabin Studio is an experimental architecture practice that designs responsive, biologically and mathematically informed installations, pavilions, and facades for museums, technology corporations, universities, healthcare institutions, and government entities, leveraging digital knitting, AI, and additive manufacturing.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersIthaca, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Jenny Sabin Studio does
Jenny Sabin Studio is an experimental architecture practice based in Ithaca, New York, that applies insights from biology and mathematics to the design, fabrication, and production of responsive material structures and spatial interventions. The studio operates across multiple length scales, from adaptive materials and pavilions to building facades and large-scale public sculptures, and is integrated with the Sabin Design Lab at Cornell's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, where founder Jenny Sabin is a tenured professor and lab director. Core technical capabilities include proprietary digital knitting processes, photoluminescent and solar-active materials, robotic wire arc additive manufacturing (3D-printed steel), auxetic and origami-based responsive systems, and AI-driven responsive architecture.
The studio's portfolio spans 25+ major built projects since 2012, including Lumen (MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program winner, 2017), Ada (first AI-integrated architectural pavilion, with Microsoft Research, 2019), SinewFlex (Nike World Headquarters), Convergence (world's largest 3D-printed steel sculpture, University of Nebraska Medical Center), and Bolt Tower (72-foot tensegrity landmark, Oklahoma City, 2026). Works are held in five permanent museum collections (Centre Pompidou, FRAC Centre, Exploratorium) and have been exhibited in 30+ international venues.
The business model is project-based commissioned architectural work secured through competitive design programs, institutional relationships, and direct outreach to museums, technology corporations, universities, healthcare institutions, and government entities. Pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed. A secondary revenue stream consists of limited-edition archival prints (e.g., PolyThread at $5,000) sold through the studio's online store. The studio employs approximately six people and operates without disclosed external funding, remaining a founder-controlled private practice.
Jenny Sabin Studio firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Jenny Sabin Studio
- Legal name
- Jenny Sabin Studio
- Website
- https://jennysabin.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Jenny Sabin Studio is an experimental architecture practice that designs responsive, biologically and mathematically informed installations, pavilions, and facades for museums, technology corporations, universities, healthcare institutions, and government entities, leveraging digital knitting, AI, and additive manufacturing.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Jenny Sabin Studio industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Experimental Architecture and Computational Design Services
- NAICS
- Architectural Services (54131)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Specialty Finishes & Decorative Installations (Plaster, Stone Veneer, Feature Walls) (IMAFANAM), Event Fabrication & Scenic/Set Build (Custom Builds, Installations) (BPAFAGAK)
Keywords
Where Jenny Sabin Studio is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ithaca
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Jenny Sabin Studio business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others
Revenue model
- Commissioned Architectural Projects: Project-based commissions for architectural installations, pavilions, building facades, and public art. Projects are commissioned by corporations, museums, cultural institutions, and government entities.
- Archival Prints and Merchandise: Sale of archival framed prints of studio projects through the online store. PolyThread print priced at $5,000, myThread print also available.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Archival prints of studio projects |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Commissioned architectural projects |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels7 records
Jenny Sabin Studio product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Jenny Sabin Studio designs and fabricates experimental architectural installations, pavilions, sculptures, building facades, and responsive material systems that integrate computational design, digital fabrication, and biologically inspired responsive materials. Projects are commissioned by museums, technology companies, universities, healthcare institutions, real estate developers, and government entities for permanent collections, public art, corporate campus activations, and civic landmarks.
Product overview
Jenny Sabin Studio is an experimental architecture studio offering a diverse portfolio of architectural installations, pavilions, sculptures, and material systems. The studio's offerings include flagship projects like Bolt Tower (72-foot tensegrity landmark), Ada (first AI-integrated architectural pavilion), Lumen (MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program winner), and numerous other installations featuring responsive materials, digital knitting, generative design, and bio-inspired architecture. The studio's core methodology combines computational design, digital fabrication, and material innovation to create adaptive structures that respond to environmental and human inputs. Additional offerings include archival prints of select installations sold through the studio store. The studio's work spans permanent collections, public art installations, commercial commissions, and research-driven projects across multiple length scales from adaptive materials to building facades and large-scale pavilions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Bolt Tower 72-foot landmark tensegrity structure designed to spark curiosity and celebrate community, commissioned for the MAPS 4 OKC Fairgrounds Coliseum and Oklahoma City's 1% for Art program; uses innovative materials and generative design techniques with bold form and colorful presence and glowing light effects at night.
- SinewFlex Two-story double canopy structure at Nike's Serena Williams Building featuring mathematically generated knitted photoluminescent fibers; a responsive installation that adapts to environmental changes through formfitting lightweight structures.
- PolyForm Four perforated crystalline metal forms at Cornell University framing a campus thoroughfare, featuring waterjet stainless steel, laminated tempered glass, and 3M dichroic film; integrates computational design with digital fabrication.
- DataKnit Permanent interactive installation for Foundation Medicine that brings material, form, light, and space to clinico-genomic data; features digitally knit textiles with custom lighting to represent personalized medicine data.
- Purl Tensegrity tower and digitally knitted fiber cell canopy at Makers District Beach, Abu Dhabi; features photoluminescent PTFE material developed with Gore, solar energy absorption, and a misting system for beach cooling.
- Convergence World's largest 3D printed steel sculpture at University of Nebraska Medical Center; features wire arc additive manufacturing and CNC polycarbonate panels with dichroic film, celebrating the convergence of individual and collective in healthcare.
- Ada First architectural pavilion to incorporate AI, featuring a lightweight knitted structure driven by sentiment data from Microsoft Research; processes facial patterns, voice tones, and sound to drive responsive photo-luminescent lighting in real-time.
- Lumen Winner of MoMA PS1 Young Architects Program 2017; a socially and environmentally responsive knitted canopy structure employing recycled textiles, photo-luminescent, and solar active yarns with a misting system responding to visitor proximity.
- Luster Responsive canopy installation for House of Peroni featuring digitally knitted photo-luminescent fibers; an interactive bar and lounge space that glows and filters light, changing throughout day and night.
- LUX Knitted light canopy at Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building featuring responsive photo-luminescence; employs textiles and solar active fibers that deliver light within the space.
- exoKnit Community-centered public pavilion pergola at NeueHouse NYC featuring undulating active-bending arches with digitally knit responsive fibers that change color in response to integrated lighting and program.
- Eddy & Shroud Data-driven pavilion system at Google Bay View Campus; Eddy features real-time wind-responsive lighting and Shroud features a custom double membrane fabric structure enveloping a staircase.
- ChromaFold Interactive installation at Ontario Science Centre featuring auxetic geometric structures and origami-inspired folding components; uses dichroic film and responds to human presence through motor-actuated opening and closing.
- LightWeb Architectural mural at Arbor House building facade featuring digitally fabricated steel panels and responsive lighting offering passive shading; inspired by local organic growth systems and branching patterns.
- Nimbus Proposal for Kansas City International Airport featuring three luminous cloud-like bands of digitally knitted PTFE cones tensioned within steel mesh; uses dichroic materials and integrated LED lighting.
- AgoraKnit Proposal for City of Glendale featuring a responsive suspended canopy of digitally knitted ePTFE photoluminescent fibers with an interactive steel cable net tower, modular stage, and spool stools.
- myThread Pavilion Pavilion for Nike Inc. FlyKnit Collective that transformed motion data from runners into knitted structure geometry; featured responsive WHOLEGARMENT knit elements that react to human presence.
- PolyThread Archival Print Limited edition archival framed print of the PolyThread installation; printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag paper with Tru Vue Optium Museum Acrylic, mounted on a bright silver-colored metal frame.
- myThread Archival Print Limited edition archival framed print of the myThread Pavilion drawing; original artwork documenting the Nike FlyKnit Collective pavilion project.
Quantifiable outcome
- 25+ major built projects internationally since 2012
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Jenny Sabin Studio
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Jenny Sabin Studio technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability5 records
Feature5 records
Jenny Sabin Studio partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Sabin Design Lab at Cornell AAPcoreStrong research partnership with Sabin Design Lab at Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. Jenny Sabin is both principal of the studio and Director of the Sabin Design Lab, creating seamless integration between practice and research.
- ArupcoreEngineering design partner for multiple projects including SinewFlex, Ada, Lumen, PolyForm, Convergence, exoKnit, and others. Provides structural engineering and technical design support.
- LabStudiocoreCo-founded in 2006 with biologist Peter Lloyd Jones, LabStudio is a hybrid research and design unit conducting design research between architecture and biology.
- Avatar KnitsmajorDigital knit fabrication partner for projects including SinewFlex, Purl, exoKnit, and DataKnit. Produces custom knitted textile components.
- Art Production FundmajorNon-profit organization that curates and presents art to the public. Curated Luster installation for House of Peroni across multiple cities.
- Microsoft ResearchcoreStrategic partnership for Ada project - Microsoft Research Artist in Residence program. Collaboration on AI-embedded architecture integrating sentiment analysis and responsive systems.
- Lincoln Electric Additive SolutionsmajorWire arc additive manufacturing partner for Convergence project - world's largest 3D printed steel sculpture.
- GoremajorCollaboration with Gore to develop new photoluminescent PTFE material for Purl installation at Abu Dhabi.
- Shima Seiki WHOLEGARMENTmajorKnit fabrication technology partner for projects including PolyThread, Lumen, The Beacon, and others. Provides whole-garment knitting technology.
- Focus LightingmajorLighting design partner for multiple projects including Lumen, Purl, Luster, LUX, DataKnit, and exoKnit.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Jenny Sabin Studio competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- teamLab: teamLab is an interdisciplinary art collective producing digital, immersive, and responsive installations for museums and corporate spaces. Comparable to Jenny Sabin Studio in producing computationally-driven, sensor-responsive installations for cultural and brand clients.
- Aranda\Lasch: Aranda\Lasch is a design and research studio exploring computation, materiality, and architectural fabrication. They are a comparable peer given overlapping focus on computationally generated structures and digitally fabricated installations.
- Ball-Nogues Studio: Ball-Nogues Studio produces large-scale, materially innovative architectural installations and pavilions using advanced fabrication. Both studios share a practice model centered on bespoke, materially-experimental commissions for cultural and corporate clients.
- Random International: Random International creates large-scale, technology-driven installations that explore the relationship between humans and built environments. Both studios produce tech-embedded installations for museums and high-profile cultural clients.
- Studio Drift: Studio Drift creates large-scale experiential installations blending technology, nature, and architecture for museums and brands. Their practice profile (high-end commissions, tech-integrated installations, museum collections) overlaps closely with Jenny Sabin Studio's positioning.
- Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril): Ensamble Studio is an experimental architecture practice that explores material, structural, and constructional innovation in built work. Comparable to Jenny Sabin Studio in their emphasis on novel materials and fabrication techniques.
- Theverymany (Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY): Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY is an experimental architecture studio that similarly produces computationally designed, digitally fabricated installations and pavilions. Both studios operate at the intersection of architecture, computation, and material research, and compete for similar cultural-installation commissions.
Broad incumbents
- SO-IL (Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu): SO-IL is a broader architectural practice with a strong experimental and installation-oriented portfolio alongside conventional buildings. They are comparable as a peer that bridges experimental and conventional practice in cultural architecture commissions.
- Snøhetta: Snøhetta is a large, established architecture practice that also produces cultural installations, pavilions, and brand-driven environments. They overlap with Jenny Sabin Studio in cultural-installation commissions but operate at much larger scale across a broader portfolio.
- SHoP Architects: SHoP Architects is a broader architectural practice known for digital fabrication and complex material systems in large-scale projects. Comparable as a peer that leverages advanced fabrication methods for cultural and commercial commissions.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Jenny Sabin Studio social profiles
Digital presenceJenny Sabin Studio financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Jenny Sabin Studio leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Jenny Sabin Studio funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Jenny Sabin Studio M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Jenny Sabin Studio
What does Jenny Sabin Studio do?
Jenny Sabin Studio designs and fabricates experimental architectural installations, pavilions, sculptures, building facades, and responsive material systems that integrate computational design, digital fabrication, and biologically inspired responsive materials. Projects are commissioned by museums, technology companies, universities, healthcare institutions, real estate developers, and government entities for permanent collections, public art, corporate campus activations, and civic landmarks.
Is Jenny Sabin Studio a public or private company?
Jenny Sabin Studio is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Jenny Sabin Studio founded?
Jenny Sabin Studio was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Jenny Sabin Studio based?
Jenny Sabin Studio is headquartered in Ithaca, United States, in the North America region.
How does Jenny Sabin Studio make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Commissioned Architectural Projects are the primary driver. The others are archival Prints and Merchandise.
Who are Jenny Sabin Studio's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are teamLab, Aranda\Lasch, Ball-Nogues Studio, Random International, Studio Drift, Ensamble Studio (Antón García-Abril) and Theverymany (Marc Fornes / THEVERYMANY). Broad incumbents are SO-IL (Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu), Snøhetta and SHoP Architects.
Does Jenny Sabin Studio have an API?
No public API is recorded for Jenny Sabin Studio.
What industry is Jenny Sabin Studio in?
Jenny Sabin Studio's product category is Experimental Architecture and Computational Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAA, Architectural Design Services, with a secondary code of IMAFANAM, Specialty Finishes & Decorative Installations (Plaster, Stone Veneer, Feature Walls). Its NAICS code is 54131.