How an Heirloom Mah-Jongg Set Makes Space for Everyone at the Table

Ashely Kuo: My grandmother owned a few mah-jongg sets, but this purple one was given to me after she passed. My family, and a lot of Asian families, play the game across generations. It’s this nice thing that brings people together.

Arianna Deane: Ash has been teaching a lot of friends—myself included—about the game. We see it played a lot around Chinatown in New York, especially in the last couple of years as more people set up tables outside to play, and it’s always a very open, fun environment where, as you pass by, you can kind of lean over and see what’s going on in the game. It’s a nice way to invite people into a culture that might be new or different.

Andrea Chiney: I’ll play mah-jongg with my grandparents, who I speak within Spanish, and even though their Spanish isn’t great, sitting down with them around a game helps create a connection. It gives everyone at the table a common footing. It’s similar to our studio’s work, where we do a lot of community engagement sessions where not everyone speaks the same language. They aren’t necessarily based on direct conversation, but rather on activities that involve making things with your hands. Being a design studio of three, we need a fourth to play mah-jongg, and like our workshops, it’s about building something.

AK: There’s never a hierarchy in the game, which relates to how we approach design projects like healing spaces or outdoor dining areas, or doing research for housing developments. Even though we’re the "experts," we want to make sure it’s a two-way street and we’re learning from communities as much as they’re learning from us.

AC: Our work ranges from intimate interiors to shared, urban exteriors. A lot of the topics we address—anger, violence, injustice, healing—are heavy. We don’t want to ignore how serious these issues are, but much like gathering around a game of mah-jongg, we want to create a level of comfort that lets people breathe a little bit easier. I just want people to play more mah-jongg. It’s something that can keep connecting us to generations past and future, where everyone is welcome.

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