Thomas Elliott: Origins offers a unique perspective on the monograph, revealing how the architect, designer, and photographer visualizes, and later captures, a space through the frame of a photograph.

Thomas Elliott, with PAI, is on a continual exploration of how to create buildings, spaces, and objects that represent beauty in some of its infinite forms. But everything has an origin—a point where something begins and takes shape. This publication explores the origins of that perpetual quest in several ways.

As PAI celebrates its fortieth anniversary in 2026, co-founder Lanny Ridjab looks back to the beginnings of PAI and its evolution over the past four decades. As an architect, designer, and photographer, Elliott elucidates how he visualizes architectural spaces through the imagined frame of a photograph. Throughout the book, Elliott also details the essential ideas that underscore his approach to design and give form to PAI’s architectures and interiors.

Every project has beautiful moments. This collection of images—all photographed by Elliott—celebrates some of those moments, PAI’s continual exploration of beauty, and Elliott’s passion to create beautiful buildings, spaces, and images.