Design x Technology Lecture: Kim Yao

Curiosity with a Method

Learn how Architecture Research Office’s process and culture fosters consistently high-quality design that elevates people and place. A presentation by Principal Kim Yao, FAIA, will explore how the office structure and environment underpin a culture of collaboration; how research is embedded in process and practice; and, how engagement and alignment around goals and aspirations creates a foundation for transformative architecture.
The presentation, followed by Q+A, will explore the firm’s diverse past and present work, research-based process, and firm culture. The lecture will address the importance of collaboration and engagement in achieving transformative architecture, and each attendee will gain an understanding of varied ways research can underpin and complement practice.

Architecture Research Office is the New York City firm united by their collaborative process, commitment to accountable action, and social and environmental responsibility. Research gives their work purpose and intention. Their architecture unites beauty and form with strategy and intelligence. Their office designs spaces that inspire people, further institutional missions, and advance equity and resilience. This philosophy has earned them firm over one hundred design awards including the 2020 AIA Architecture Firm Award, the AIA New York State Firm of the Year Award, and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture.

What you will learn:

• The lecture will highlight both engagement, design process and final resolution of projects, providing a full picture of the building project.
• Designers will be presented with diverse ways and scales that their work has impact.
• Identifying shared project principles that guide design and decision-making creates a foundation for robust and efficient decision-making.
• Attendees will learn varied approaches to design that result in work that is accessible and inclusive.

Join us for this innovative lecture on campus or virtually. Choose the appropriate ticket.

Header image credit: Lucy Raven, Ready Mix, 2021. Installation view, Dia Chelsea, New York City. © Lucy Raven. Photo: BillJacobson Studio, New York, courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York

ABOUT:

Kim Yao, FAIA, is Principal of Architecture Research Office (ARO). She holds an undergraduate degree in architecture from Columbia College: Columbia University and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. She is a lecturer at MIT and has taught at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, the School of Constructed Environments, Parsons the New School for Design, and Barnard College (2001-2011). She has lectured throughout the United States and abroad. Kim has been awarded the AIA New York (AIANY) Medal of Honor and the Beverly Willis Foundation Mentorship Award. She was President of AIANY in 2020 and serves on the Board of the Center for Architecture.

Image credit: Ky Kaufman