I am curious about people, beings, and our planet. I want to connect deeper and build kinship. In this world that’s excessively saturated with images, noise, opinions, what am I adding? What do I care about and why does it matter? I am grateful for getting to share some thoughts with you.
Daisy Ziyan Zhang
daisyz@mit.edu
EDUCATION
2023, Master of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
2016, Bachelor of Design in Architecture, The University of Sydney, Australia
2015, Exchange, University of California, Berkeley, USA
FILM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“Wrinkles”
2023, Official Selection of Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands (forthcoming)
2023, Official Selection of ArchFilmLund Film Festival, Sweden
2023, finalist of Venice Architecture Film Festival, Italy
2023, finalist of 17th Istanbul International Architecture and Urban Films Festival, Türkiye
2023, Official Selection of Vienna Architektur. Film. Sommer 2023, Austria
2023, (chapter “Caretaking”) shortlisted at Copenhagen Architecture Festival Film Mosaic Competition, Denmark
2023, winner for “Transmedial Media Architecture” at Media Architecture Biennale, Canada
“No Leftovers No Left Out”
2023, Official Selection of Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands (forthcoming)
2023, finalist of Venice Architecture Film Festival, Italy
2023, shortlisted at Copenhagen Architecture Festival Film Mosaic Competition, Denmark
2023, Honourable Mention at ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada
“Days and Nights”
2023, winner of ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada
2023, winner&jury vote of MIT in 3:00 Film Competition, USA
“Melt Remelt”
2023, top3 nomination for Future Trends and Prototypes at Media Architecture Biennale, Canada
EXPLORATION
2022-present, Independent Architecture Filmmaker
through multimedia filmmaking, questioning the established norms of building, unearthing the often ignored and unseen, and exploring new possibilities of imaginaries
Summer 2023, Research Collaboration with SPBR Arquitetos, São Paulo, Brazil
funded by MIT, creating a film that re-situates the concept of “home” through non-human-centric perspectives, foregrounding the liminality of architecture between orderly human construction and anarchist natural elements
Fall 2022, Teaching Assistant, 4.021: How to Design (Almost) Anything by Skylar Tibbits, MIT, USA
contributing to course development, assisting students with concept design, prototype, fabrication, narrative construction and documentation
Summer 2022, Independent Research, Mexico City, Mexico
funded by MIT, creating a film that revolves around the aging of architecture using 3d scan, digital fabrication and multimedia storytelling
2020-2023, Department Photographer and Communication Assistant, MIT, USA
in charge of all photography and videography for Department of Architecture
2021-2022, Columnist, Out of Frame, MIT, USA
contributor to the community platform of MIT Architecture with a multimedia essay series centering the observation and archival of the enchanted everyday
2020, Researcher, “Many Houses/Many Worlds”, Venice Biennale 2020, MIT, USA
a research that investigates the life cycle of architecture materials through their entanglements with environment, labour, culture, and society, conducted with Mark Jarzombek and Vikramaditya Prakash
2019-2020, Venice Architecture Biennale Curatorial Assistant, Hashim Sarkis Studios, Cambridge, USA
researching for the conceptual development of exhibition, designing curator’s interventions with drawing, modelling, visulisation, and physical prototypes
2016-2019, Architecture Designer, Neeson Murcutt Architects, Sydney, Australia
across the scale of public projects, institutional commissions and single family housing, experience in research, design development, visualisation, fabrication and prototype; also in charge of photography, graphic design, and publication
2017-2019, Co-founder, The Freswind Community School Project Initiative, Sydney, Australiadesigning, exhibiting and fundraising for an ongoing disaster-relief collaboration with the Freswind community of Ohlen, Vanuatu
EXHIBITION
2022, Cambridge Science Festival, MIT Museum, Cambridge, USA
project “Frozen Forces” that explores the concept of intelligent skin at the intersection of fashion and technology
2022, project acquired by MIT Museum as permanent collection, Cambridge, USA
project “Spines” that pushes the boundary of digital fabrication and traditional hand crafting in the discipline of geometry
2021, “Desktop”, Keller Gallery, Cambridge, USA
2 projects exhibited that celebrate learning history during the years of COVID; project “Miscarrage” foregrounds the errors and trials of furniture crafting digitally optimised furniture; “Melt, Remelt” explores the potential of domestic fabrication within all the constraints of remote learning
2020, “Play Room”, Keller Gallery, Cambridge, USA
exhibition that showcases alternative design approaches that examine contemporary topics in architecture; our project “Portfolio Agency” that investigates the booming of preperation agencies for architecture school application (collaboration with Cloe Yun Wang)
2018,“Ohlen Freswind: patterns for a community school”, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney, Australia
exhibition that presents the development of an ongoing initiative disaster resistant housing
AWARDS & GRANTS
2023, Artist Research Grant for “Imprinting the Enchanted Everyday”, Council for the Arts, MIT 2023, Independent Research Grant for “Wrinkles”, MIT Global Learning, MIT
2022, Official Selection in category of Fine Art, International Photography Awards
2022, Independent Research Grant for “Caretaking”, MIT Global Learning, MIT
2021, Artist Research Grant for “Melt | Remelt”, Council for the Arts, MIT
2019-2023, Graduate Scholarship, School of Architecture and Planning, MIT
2015, International Exchange Outbound Scholarship, The University of Sydney
2014 - 2015, Dean’s List of Excellence in Academic Performance, The University of Sydney