My work explores ideas about place and what helps to define it. Whether physical or mental space, I believe place is, to a large degree, the amalgamation of cultural-historical layers and sensory experiences – visual, auditory, etc. There is no such thing as a neutral place. When these qualities can be grasped, highlighted, or expanded upon within a design, then it becomes more connected and adapted to a work’s context and audience.
In exploring ideas about place, I often examine in my work the relationship between human culture and natural phenomena, not as opposing forces but as forces that respond to one another in positive and negative ways. And perhaps owing to my own immigrant experience, I am drawn to the complex historical process whereby different cultures meet, overlap, and produce hybrid outcomes.
Without distinguishing between art, landscape architecture or any creative endeavor, I choose to take a flexible, inclusive approach that is not predetermined by style but by contextual realities and building conditions. Only then, I believe, can the result express a level of complexity and honesty.
education
University of California at Berkeley
Master of Landscape Architecture
University of California at Los Angeles
Master of Public Health
University of California at Irvine
Bachelor of Science in Biology
design
R|H|A|A, San Francisco + Mill Valley
Hood Design, Oakland, intern
SWA Group, Laguna Beach + Dallas, intern
Peter Walker and Partners, Berkeley, intern
teaching and research
Guest Speaker – Graduate Student Instructor Seminar
College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley
Guest Jury – Fundamentals of Design final review
College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley
Guest Lecturer – Computer Graphics in Environmental Design
College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley
Graduate Student Instructor – Introduction to Design
College of Environmental Design, University of California at Berkeley
honors
American Society of Landscape Architects Award of Honor