This forthcoming book reflects my sustained contributions to architectural theory and critical discourse. It examines the work of Chinese architect Li Li within the broader context of China’s rapid economic development, urbanization, and globalization, framing “locality” through the interrelated lenses of site, tectonics, cultural specificity, and economic conditions. The volume will constitute the first global publication dedicated to a Chinese architect who has developed his practice entirely within a domestic educational and professional context.
A bilingual book in English and Chinese, contracted with the esteemed Chinese Architecture and Building Press, China’s leading architecture publisher. This work examines Formalist theories of architectural space, paired with practical pedagogical examples available online. Serving as an essential studio companion, it bridges theory and design operations. Its bilingual nature and the scarcity of similar literature will significantly impact architectural design education.
Shanghai Masque: John Hejduk’s Work is the first exhibition of Hejduk's work in Asia, curated by renowned architect and educator Yung Ho Chang, GE Ming, and myself. Hosted at the prestigious Power Station of Art (PSA) in Shanghai, the exhibition spanned 8,000 square feet and featured 76 drawings and 7 models loaned from the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), alongside 6 large-scale reconstructions by students and community volunteers, a projection installation I designed, and a film. The exhibition garnered significant public and scholarly attention, attracting 58,476 visitors and 23,805 attendees at five panel discussions. In addition to curating the exhibits, I served as a designer on the display design team, particularly for the White Hall.
“Otherness” is an installation created for the exhibition John Hejduk: Shanghai Masque to illustrate John Hejduk’s poetry in relation to architectural space. Through the ambiguity of entry and exit, the shifting orientations and locations of projections, and the unpredictable co-presence of images and texts, the work constructs otherness as an embodied spatial experience.
Advancing a reciprocal relationship between theory and practice, I realized two built works. At Texas A&M University, I am the only tenured or tenure-track architecture faculty member to have completed built projects in the past two decades, marking a significant contribution to reestablishing the role of material practice in an academic setting.
Despite the disruptions of COVID-19, I organized a team and co-chaired the 36th NCBDS conference, the first time Texas A&M University hosted it in its four-decade history. I have since served on the NCBDS Steering Committee, collaborating with educators nationwide to formalize its archive. This work consolidates decades of beginning design pedagogy and advances new frameworks for teaching and curriculum development. A book proposal based on this archive is currently under review by Routledge.
As Director of the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at Texas A&M University (2017–2020), I collaborated with colleagues to develop this themed issue, contributing to the Academy’s first presence on an international academic platform.
Bridging environmental research and public engagement, I address plastic pollution through art installations and scholarship. My installations—such as the award-winning Plastic Poetry and the invited Cloud Igloo at the Royal Academy of Arts (Stockholm)—have gained national and international recognition, alongside projects engaging public audiences, including Milky Way at the Brazos Valley African American Museum. This practice extends into peer-reviewed publications in interdisciplinary and STEM education venues.
I contributed to strengthening the institutional presence of the arts at Texas A&M University, supporting the establishment of the College of Performance, Visualization, and Fine Arts and fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. These efforts led to my co-editing of the special issue “The Zoom Function” in the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media (Routledge), the first time AVPA has had an international scholarly presence.
My service and leadership established the program’s first structured year-level coordination and rigorous assessment practices, while fostering ongoing collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Evaluation (OIEE) on curriculum mapping. In recognition of this work, I received the 2025 College of Architecture Service Award.