ABOUT FORMORA
A small studio,
building only what can be lived in for years
WHAT WE BELIEVE
Formora is a nine-person interior design studio founded in 2016, with spaces in Shanghai and Hangzhou. We take on homes, renovations, commercial and hospitality work — ten to twelve projects a year, no more.
We treat design as subtraction: first establish what must stay, then decide what can go. Whether a room feels right usually depends less on what was added than on what was left out.
That is why we attend our own sites and choose our own materials. Drawings are only the beginning; the joint detail and the angle of light decide the rest.
TIMELINE
Nine years, a few small things
- 2016
Formora opens in Xuhui with two desks and a borrowed plotter.
- 2018
First full renovation completed, establishing light-before-walls as our order of work.
- 2021
Commercial and hospitality work begins; the team grows to nine.
- 2024
A second studio opens in Hangzhou, with the material library open by appointment.
The people you will work with
NINE PEOPLE · FOUR LEADS
Lin Yan
Founding Partner / Lead DesignerTongji-trained, formerly in Shanghai and Kyoto studios; founded Formora in 2016.
Zhou Xu
Partner / RenovationTwelve years with old buildings: structure, services, and walls that must stay.
Shen Chi
Materials & CraftRuns the material library; every stone is chosen from the full slab.
Gu Yu
Styling & ObjectsWorks with twenty-plus makers and owns the final two weeks of every project.
THE STUDIO
Come by, touch the samples
Room 302, Block A, 2555 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui, Shanghai
Mon – Fri, 10:00 – 19:00 (visits by appointment)