Born and raised Chicago, USA
EDUCATION
1997-1999 MA, History of Decorative Arts and Design, with Honors
Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and Parsons School of Design, New York
1991-1995 BA, Architecture, with High Honors
BA, Anthropology, with High Honors
University of California, Berkeley
RECENT ROLES / CAREER
2019-now Professor of Practice and Director, Curatorial Lab
College of Design & Innovation, Tongji University (Shanghai)
2018-now Curatorial Director
Design Miami (Basel and Miami Beach)
2018-2019 Curator at Large
M+, West Kowloon Cultural District (Hong Kong)
2012-2018 Lead Curator, Design and Architecture
M+, West Kowloon Cultural District (Hong Kong)
2009-2012 Creative Director
Beijing Design Week
Previous Independent Writer and Critic
Contributor: New York Times, Metropolis, The Architect’s Newspaper, PIN-UP, Harvard Design Magazine, GQ, Graphis, Wallpaper*, Monocle, Abitare, Vogue Italia, Elle Decor, House & Garden, others
Contributing Editor: Surface, I.D., Interior Design, Metropolitan Home, Absolute, Spoon, Dutch
Contributing Writer: Architectural Record, Fast Company, Paper
SELECTED CURATORIAL WORK
2019-2020 Academic Committee member
UABB Shenzhen Biennale of Architecture\Urbanism
2018-2020 Consulting Curator, reinstallation of the 20th century design galleries
Brooklyn Museum
2018-2020 Curatorial Advisor, “Nature—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial”
Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (New York)
2019-2020 Curator, “State of Extremes”
Design Museum Holon (Israel)
2019 Guest Curator, “New Glass Now”
Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY)
2019 Lead Curator, “Arata Isozaki: Third Space”
Oita Art Museum (Oita, Japan)
2018-2019 Curator, “Designs of the Year 11”
The Design Museum (London)
2016-2017 Curator, “Shifting Objectives: Design from the M+ Collection”
M+, West Kowloon Cultural District (Hong Kong)
2014 Curator, “NEONSIGNS.HK”
M+, West Kowloon Cultural District (Hong Kong)
2014 Curator, “Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection”
M+, West Kowloon Cultural District (Hong Kong)
2011 Curator, “Silent Heroes: Objects, as told by Zhou Xun”
Beijing Design Week
2011 Co-Curator, “As Long as It Lasts…”
Arratia Beer Gallery (Berlin)
2010 Curator, Design Section
Get It Louder (Beijing and Shanghai)
2010 Co-Curator, “Tribute Song: Madame Song and Pierre Cardin in China”
Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum (Beijing)
2010 Co-Curator, “The State of Things” inaugural exhibition
Design Museum Holon (Israel)
2009 Associate Curator, Gwangju Design Biennale
Gwangju Design Biennale (South Korea)
2008 Co-Curator, “I Said I Wasn’t Doing It…,” US section
ExperimentaDesign (Amsterdam)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2020 (i/p) “Aric Chen and Kayoko Ota,” in The New Curator: Exhibiting Architecture and Design (Routledge)
2020 “Bijoy Jain,” in MPavilion: Encounters in Design and Architecture (Thames and Hudson/Naomi Milgrom Foundation)
2019 Co-Editor and essay author, State of Extremes (Design Museum Holon)
2019 "One Country, Many Architectures," in The Centre—On Art and Urbanism in China (National Gallery of Victoria)
2019 "Foreword," in Dror Dreams: Design Without Boundaries (Monacelli)
2019 "Design and Pluralism," in Satyendra Pakhale: Culture of Creation (nai010)
2018 “An Aesthetic of Post-Capitalism and the Designer as Hero,” in NGV Triennial 2017 (National Gallery of Victoria)
2018 “Borderline: Design, Popular Culture and Counterculture in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, 1978-1997,” in Night Fever: Designing Club Culture, 1960-Today (Vitra Design Museum)
2017 “The Opposition of Craft,” in Wang Shu and Amateur Architecture Studio (Lars Muller)
2016 Book author, Brazil Modern (Monacelli)
2016 “Masamichi Katayama,” in Wonderwall: Case Studies (Gestalten)
2016 “The Line Between Boundaries,” in Nendo: The Space In Between” (Design Museum Holon)
2016 “Tobias Wong,” in San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: Views on the Collection (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)
2016 “The Global Designer Redux,” in al (l): Projects in Aluminium by Michael Young (Stichting)
2016 “A Conversation with Ma Yansong,” in MAD Works (Phaidon)
2014 Contributor, Room: Inside Contemporary Interiors (Phaidon)
2011 “Fragmentation and Synthesis: The Architecture of Winka Dubbeldam,” in Archi-Tectonics: Winka Dubbeldam (Daab)
2010 “The Designer is Dead. Long Live the Designer,” in The State of Things: Design and the 21st Century (Design Museum Holon)
2009 “Salim: Design to Save,” in The Clue: 2009 Gwangju Design Biennale (Designhouse)
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
2017 Inaugural Awardee, “Best Curator/Critic,” The Design Prize, presented by Abitare, Designboom, and the City of Milan
2016 Brazil Modern named one of the four best architecture and design books of 2016 by the Financial Times (UK)
2015 “NEONSIGNS.HK” receives Webby Award
2015 “NEONSIGNS.HK” awarded “Best Temporary Exhibition Communications” and “Best Website” at International Design and Communication Awards
SELECTED JURIES AND BOARDS
2020 International Advisory Board and Juror, London Design Biennial
2017-now Board member, Fondation d’entreprise Martell (France)
2013-now Member, Advisory Council, Design Trust (Hong Kong)
2018-2019 Adviser, International Confederation of Architectural Museums
2020 Nominator, V&A Jameel Prize
2020 Juror, Architizer A+ Awards (New York)
2020 Juror, China Architecture Awards
2020 Juror, Design Power 100 Awards (China)
2020 Juror, Wonderfruit architectural pavilion competition (Thailand)
2019 Master Juror, Dezeen Awards (London)
2019 Juror, Everson Museum architectural competition (Syracuse, NY)
2019 Juror, Design Anthology Awards (Hong Kong)
2018 Juror, INDE Design Awards (Singapore)
2017 Juror, Global Grad Show (Dubai)
2014-2017 Nominator, Wheelwright Prize, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
2012-2017 Juror, Lexus Design Award
2016 Juror, China Architecture Media Awards
2016 Juror, Urban SOS, Van Alen Institute (New York)
2014 Juror, Rolex Mentor & Protégé Arts Initiative (architecture)
2014 Juror, Vilcek Prize in Design (New York)
