XIN GAO
Mcmillan Pazdan Smith Architecture
SAY IT LOUD - SOUTH CAROLINA Exhibitor
South Carolina Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
There are certain places and settings triggering positive feelings, such as greater comfort, relaxation, or enthusiasm, which proves the power of design. It inspires me to study and utilize knowledge in a responsible and thoughtful way.
XIN GAO
Bio:
The Great Designer, Xin Gao, a design professional at Mcmillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, is originally from China. After earning the B.Arch in 2015, Xin joined GN International Design in Shanghai and gained more than three years of experience in Commercial and Institutional projects. Then Xin completed the M.Arch II program at Clemson University with the AIASC Merit Award - Student Design Award, Tau Sigma Delta Honor, and was a finalist for the 2022 Clemson AIA Medal of Academic Excellence and Digital Ecology certificate.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
My father was the inspiration. He is a professional musician, but he had the knowledge to design and build our own house with friends' help and renovated it periodically while I grew up. I was fascinated by the changes brought by those renovations.
What do you do?
I am running a personal blog discussing architecture, there are 4350+ followers with the current increment of 10 followers daily on average. And I am also a current admin manager of the Architecture forum on Weibo Super Topic with 60,000+ members.
What excites you in the work you do?
Discovering the possible design solutions beyond the standard typical one through understanding the context thoroughly and integrating multiple aspects of the projects.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
There are certain places and settings triggering positive feelings, such as greater comfort, relaxation, or enthusiasm, which proves the power of design. It inspires me to study and utilize knowledge in a responsible and thoughtful way.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
I worked as one of two design architects for a community to serve retired elderly on a 495 acres site. It includes an institutional facility, residences, service center, commercial street, and kindergarten. It has been constructed and in operation.
Featured Project Name:
AAMA - The Quad Canopy
Featured Project Location:
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Featured Project Completion Date:
Unbuilt - May 2021
Role in Featured Project:
Designing and documenting the canopy, coordinating with structural engineers and precast concrete manufacturers to develop the project through a realistic and practical approach.
Featured Project Description:
In collaboration with SOM, I designed a long-span high-canopy covering buildings and outdoor plazas in Abu Dhabi having a hot desert climate. The design goal is to study the possible design solutions by using precast concrete as the main material, and an interlocking tessellated structure (TeSA) and computation design method are used to balance the unique design and customized mass production. Passive strategies are applied to enhance indoor and outdoor occupant comfort sustainably.
