About Me

I have a Facebook page for my projects.

I have been an architect and project director for twenty years. For a change of pace, I am working as an interior designer and do home decor in contemporary style.

In 2007, when I was moving overseas for work, I had to sell the house and everything inside, I realized I had so much STUFF that I didn’t care or need. They cluttered my house and my life. I lived in a 670 sft apartment in the heart of Shanghai. From having lots of things to barely necessities, I survived and felt light and energetic. I started up an architectural design studio in Shanghai with ten local and European architects and designers. I had done a lot more work in a super fast pace. I also paid more attention to myself. I joined Yoga exercise, did my facial regularly, and I exam-ed myself often.

This is one of my projects in Shanghai. It was to fit an apartment building in the middle of Shanghai’s historic French Concession. The challenge was to maximize the GFA(Gross Floor Area) for the developer to make a profit while meeting all the code and regulation, and to exceed the stringent shadow restriction to please the residents behind.

One of the most successful project of my studio was the kindergarten and elementary school complex. The highlight in the project was to break the local school building tradition of an inward box to create an open courtyard for kids to play in between classes, and many shared public spaces inside while meeting numerous code, traffic and school board restrictions.

The HuangPu Civic Center was our most innovative project. Each of the five masses represents a specific function, an office tower, large theater, theater fly tower, small theater, and movie theater. We tilted the theater blocks to create street entrance under the slopped seating to conserve land use while shaping the profile to meet the stringent shadow regulation for the low-rise housing to the north.

Coming back home in 2015, I decided to live a lighter life.

I am into the Japanese Minimalist lifestyle. The house I bought was built in 1975. I took all the chair rails off, painted walls white and white-washed the brown stoned fireplace. I lay down the same laminated floor through out the house including bathrooms and closets. Immediately, the house looked modern and airy. I bought all modern/contemporary furniture. I replaced the hardware on them, and made them look upscale. I replaced the heavy fans in the house with modern light fixtures. I am still working on the house, coming up with new ideas of improvement, but in a simplest, minimalist way.

Early years, when I started in the commercial building design field, I did not fully comprehend what architecture was for me until I had my own practice, and I embraced the Minimalist ideology. My design philosophy took shape and my work won clients.

Now I am at a stage of living light. I would love to share my experience with anyone who feels the same.