Caroline Chao is a New York-based spatial designer and licensed interior architect trained at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (Master of Architecture) and the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelor in Architecture and Fine Arts; Michael Yaron Prize in Design). After years at renowned architecture firms — where she was involved in high-rise design — she founded her own furniture and spatial design practice, in which architectural thinking is scaled down to the level of the object. Central interest: the capacity of objects to transform the perception of space and self. Materials such as light, optics and reflection are treated as equal design tools alongside physical materials. Chao is also Design Critic in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Collections on Archiproducts: BLOC (debut Salone Satellite, Milan Design Week; NYCxDESIGN Award 2023 — Cube Chair, Wedge Chair, Tri Stool, Cylinder Lounge & Ottoman; geometric toy-block forms, contrast transparency/solidity, softness/hardness) and VIEW (ICFF NYCxDESIGN 2023, finalist Interior Design Magazine Award — Tea Table, Coffee Table, Orb Wall Mirror, Shard Wall Sconce, I-Beam Light; materials: ultra-clear glass, mirror glass, dichroics, stainless steel; optical effects that shift with light and viewing angle). Collaboration G-STAR RAW "Art of Raw" 2025: Roll-Up Chair (denim waste + industrial steel + rivets, Collectible NY 2025 — foldable, rollable, hangable on a wall like a garment). Exhibited at the Archiproducts Aqua Exhibition (curated by Studiopepe, Milan Design Week). Group exhibition Upon Further Reflection (AAPI designers, NYCxDESIGN 2023).

For architects and interior designers researching in the field of collectible design and design art, Caroline Chao is one of the most productive contemporary American positions consistently translating architectural concepts — light, optics, spatial perception — into physical objects, combining a distinctive conceptual authorial voice with mastery of craft and material.