Macau Waterfront Bath Palace

by Zijing Gao from University of Michigan

Zijing Gao is a Master’s student from Taubman College of Architecture at the University of Michigan with a concentration in design and health.

Gao’s recent work has won the Saarinen Swanson Essay Award for addressing contemporary critical discourse in design and urbanism.

What inspired the design idea(s):

• Robert Venturi’s book “Learning from Las Vegas”, the intersections of the entertainment cultures of Las Vegas and Macau, and the intersections of the 20th century speed urbanism and the 21st century automation challenges.
• The unique cultural and historical contexts of Macau, how Macau sits in the geopolitical and spatial relationships of Mainland China- Macau- Hong Kong- Taiwan, and how architecture can serve as a gentle, but firm tie of cultures and emotions.
• The urbanism of Chinese cities vs. the scale of human and the care of bodies.

Favourite field(s) of study/research/design and future goals:

The coalescence of architecture, infrastructure and the culture of health under the massive incoming technological advancements of the new 2020s decade.

See his Instagram: @notsoarch