Favorite Five: AAPI Designers with Ties to Boston
Posted on May. 25, 2022 / Favorite Five / Subscribe 0
AUTHOR: Sarah Viafora Contact
Though recent years have seen a jump in Asian American students entering the architecture and design fields, there is still a lack of representation. According to 2020 data from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, only 6% of architects in the country are Asian American. As this year’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month draws to a close, I’m sharing five of the most influential designers with Asian roots who have ties to Massachusetts:
- I.M. Pei (1917-2019)
Raised in Shanghai, Ieoh Ming Pei FAIA RIBA was a Chinese American architect, most widely known for his design of the large, glass and metal structure in Paris—the Louvre Pyramid. As a graduate of Harvard’s GSD program, I.M. Pei also left his mark stateside with his design of not only one, but two iconic buildings in Boston: the John F. Kennedy Library and the John Hancock Tower. These structures are reminiscent of his European creation, both are mainly constructed of glass and metal, and are iconic buildings in the Boston landscape. - Meejin Yoon (1972-Present)
A Korean-American architect, designer, and educator, J. Meejin Yoon has had a great impact in Massachusetts. As a graduate of both MIT and Harvard, she and her co-founder Eric Höweler based their firm in Boston. In 2014, she was also named the first female head of the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shaping and pushing the minds of future architects. In 2015, she was part of the design team of the Collier Memorial at MIT, a large sculpture dedicated to the memory of Sean Collier, a member of MIT Campus Police, who had been killed at the site by the Boston Marathon bombers on April 18, 2013. - Lisa Iwamoto (1963 – Present)
Lisa Iwamoto is a Japanese American architect, educator, and author. She received her Master of Architecture degree with Distinction from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Colorado. Lisa is now based in San Francisco and the founding partner of IwamotoScott. Last year, she was appointed as the Architecture Chair at the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, and continues to use digital fabrication, design computation and materials in her designs. - Taniya Nayak (1973-Present)
Born in India and raised in Boston, Taniya draws influence from her Asian heritage that informs her creativity. She comes from a family of designers - her father is a talented architect who received his Fellowship from AIA in 2017. She owns and operates her Boston based interior design firm, Taniya Nayak Design, Inc., and has made regular appearances on both HGTV and Food Network. - Hideo Sasaki (1919-2000)
A Japanese-American landscape architect, Hideo Sasaki was born and raised in California and studied at UC Berkeley during World War II. A proud Japanese American, he was forced into an internment camp in Arizona until he volunteered to work a farm in Colorado. After officially receiving his undergrad degree from the University of Illinois, Sasaki made his way to Harvard, receiving his GSD in Master of Landscape Architecture, eventually becoming an instructor in the same program for 18 years. At the same time he also established Sasaki Associates in Watertown, MA, a firm that is moving to Boston this year.
Image courtesy of The Boston Globe | Creator: Ted Dully/Globe Staff | Copyright: 1979 - The Boston Globe
0 Comments