Through the grape vine, I heard new design talent moved to the Fresno area. Honestly, I can’t even remember who told me about Eve, and how I got her email. But none the less, in keeping with the FRESH feature, below are Eve Yi Liu’s words about herself, adventures in architecture, and how she got to Fresno.

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It’s an honor to be invited to be part of your ‘Fresh” publication joined by other excellent individuals.

Growing Up

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I grew up in Southwest China, in a city called Chengdu in Sichuan Province. Chengdu is a high density and urbanized environment. Even though it’s different from California, there are some similarities to Fresno in certain ways. Chengdu remains the 4th largest city in China with the population of more than 10 million people, however, it is surrounded by farm land, orchards and mountains on the further outskirts. I enjoyed growing up in the area 10 miles away from the downtown, which was the edge of the city when I was a child, and I was able to spend some fun time in the country at my grandparents’ houses. Drastic change in last 20 years uniformed the city with an international style, middle to high-rise buildings, city plazas, freeways, overpasses, and so on. It’s also interesting to see how the urbanization of a city can change people’s life style.

Education

In the same city, I went to Southwest Jiaotong University, School of Architecture. After 5 years of training, I graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Arhictecture and worked in the same city for another 4 years. 7 years ago, I was awarded the coveted “John Parkinson Scholarship” to attend the Masters Program at USC. There I did several studio projects, such as the USC Multi-faith Center, 8th Street Urban Infill Project at Downtown LA, and also was honored the “Annual Design of the Year Award” from the School of Architecture at the graduation ceremony for the thesis design: Memorial Museum of WWII in Chongqing. My thesis professor was Robert S. Harris, former Dean of School of Architecture, an expert in urban architecture, historic preservation, and architecture education.

Notable Experiences

My first 4 years work in China was intensely involved in design competition, similar to RFP here in the US. As the lead designer, I won the design competition for master planning and building design of Panzhihua University, which was constructed in 2005. In 2002, I won International design competition for Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine new campus master planning. In 2004, I worked at WWCOT in Santa Monica as an intern designer and designed Jewish Homes for the Aging. We were awarded the RFP. From 2006-2009, I worked with BOE Architects on several urban infill projects in Los Angeles area, including Crown Medical Plaza on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, currently registered with USGBC to pursue LEED Silver.

Travel

I enjoyed traveling on a train with my mother in China when I was a child. She was a math teacher so she had same summer vacation schedule as I did. As a teenager and later a young adult, I traveled with my friends or sometimes alone through other parts of China, including Jiuzhaigou among Tibetan area. I had chance to visit Bangkok, Thailand for New Years, and visited a small city in Japan during a flight stopover. In the US, I traveled through many places along the beautiful West Coast and visited Yellow Stone, Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Hawaii, etc. As a result, I have developed an affinity for both nature and different cultures.

Architectural Interest

On my first field trip to Salk Institute, I fell in love with Louis Kahn’s design. It’s the extreme simplicity corresponding to the nature that creates serenity and eternity. Similar to his style is Tadao Ando. Living close to Gamble house in Pasadena for 5 years, I also like the Greene and Greene and the historical Old Town. With the opportunity to visit Frank Lloyd Right’s studio in Chicago, I further understood his design.

The Fresno Move

Currently I am working at Integrated Designs by SOMAM Inc. on some school projects and a 700Acre mixed-use commercial project with Motor Speedway and Dragstrip in Tulare. Being able to drive through thousands acres of farm land and orchards around Fresno always brought back great memories when I was child. I like the smell of orange flower in the air at spring evening and also enjoy meeting more friends. I am looking forward to working on projects in Fresno with other talented peers. Hopefully, we can keep re-vitalizing downtown Fresno and creating more sustainable urban cores for our communities. Thank you for having me here.

Eve Yi Liu, LEED AP
Chief Designer, Associate
Integrated Designs by SOMAM, Inc.