I am a first-year Ph.D. student at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). I obtained a Master of Architecture degree in May 2022 at the University of Southern California (USC) and a Bachelor of Architecture degree in June 2019 at the Zhejiang University of Science and Technology (ZUST).

My research currently focuses on urban regeneration and adaptive reuse projects, examining the trajectory of urban transportation and public space shift and the impact of urban morphology change. I am also in the multidisciplinary study with Fair Housing Laws, Urban Design, and Urban Landscape.

The precedents of my case study are the city of Chicago (U.S.) and the city of Hangzhou (China), as I have an international background, and I want to fully explore the differences between these two cities. My research is focusing on two sections: transportation changes and urban public space regeneration. 

For the first section, the freeway system construction hugely changes the urban morphology of Chicago, as when the railway system formed the structure of the city. As we may have noticed, the freeway system caused more traffic jams and community separation due to its failed planning and arbitrary top-down urban renewal projects. It is interesting to map the city morphology of the current and past, and utilize the statistics from the census- population, crime rate, housing price, GDP, etc., to evaluate the failure of the mega infrastructure in Chicago. 

Meanwhile Hangzhou, a famous tourist city in China, developed a completely different system from Chicago. The city chose to use a giant loop to connect the intercity freeway system and built regular ground transportation to connect the core area of the city. The good side of this pattern is that it separates the traffic flow more evenly, but the shortcoming is that it takes more time to commute from the suburbs to the city, and the connecting section between the freeway and the normal road always gets congested. As the city grows, Hangzhou builds more flyovers and express tunnels to connect the freeway more efficiently and smoothly, but from a morphology perspective, the city is getting shredded like Chicago. 

Therefore, by applying the same methodology to map the city texture with the statistical data, I intend to bring the visual analysis to the table for future scholars to study.

The second section focuses on the urban regeneration/adaptive reuse projects in urban public space in both cities. In Hangzhou, I have chosen to examine Hanggang Park. It was once the Steel Plant of Hangzhou with severe pollution. But, as the city's economy grew, they shut down the plant for decades and left it abandoned. In recent years, with the national policy of revitalizing the public space in the old city, Hanggang Park was selected and fully redesigned as an urban green space that reused the old steel plant and most factory buildings inside. It integrates the philosophy of the traditional Chinese garden and arboretum design into the existing site. It turns into a new hub for citizens to hang out during the weekend, a community center, and a new tourist site.  An aside: It was designed by Jiakun Liu, who won the Pritzker prize this year.

For a counterpart in Chicago, I may choose Trail 606, a disused elevated rail line turned into a park. I am still assessing its value for my research.

What's keeping you busy outside of work?
Traveling around the world, cooking, and photography. I love to explore different cuisines in different countries when I am traveling. Mainly, I cook fusion food; It’s like absorbing the food I like when I was outside, and integrating it with my own style. I love hosting dinners for my friends. In my photography, I focus mostly on architecture and scenery (nature) shooting.

Share a particular memory of when you first became aware of architecture, or when you knew you wanted to study its significance.
When I was in high school, I didn't realize that I wanted to become an architect, but I had a high interest in designing space and floor plan, so my high school teacher suggested me to select architecture when I went to the university. It turns out that I selected the correct major, and I get my high-level education, internship, and full-time working experience all in architecture design.

What interests you most about architectural history?
I am interested in the urban space and transportation development after WWII,  both in developed and developing regions. 

I always want to study architecture in the contemporary world. While I was taking the urbanism and landscape courses, I found myself particularly interested in mobility (freeway system, railway, and aviation) and urban public space/green space design and criticism. That’s why my PhD research will focus on these two topics, they look like individual trajectories, but they are highly integrated, which shapes the city development.  So far, I am reading everything I can to get a clearer and holistic understanding of the transportation history of Chicago and Hangzhou.

Professional challenges are everywhere. What is your advice for facing them, and perhaps, overcoming them?
Start doing the work from the tiny bit, bite the pizza piece by piece. Don't be terrified by the overall scheme.

When and how did you first become involved in SAH?
I became a member of SAH in 2021 on the recommendation of Professor Marcos A. Potroli, when I was working with him as a Class Assistant. I told him that I want to conduct research in academia, and he suggested that I should join the SAH annual conference if I want to continue studying at the PhD level.

SAH enriched my experience by knowing different scholars, fellows, and friends in different trajectories. Besides the architectural history and history, I learned a lot from other disciplines, which somehow interact with a certain period in architectural history.