Grace Ong Yan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Interior Design and Interior Architecture, Thomas Jefferson University
Ph.D. in Architecture, University of Pennsylvania
M.Arch. Yale University
B.Arch. University of Texas at Austin
Areas of Specialization: Histories & Theories of 20th century Architecture & Design; Interdisciplinary study of Media Studies & Business Histories; Non-western architectural and design histories and theories;19th and 20th century Industrial & Commercial Architecture; Historic Preservation & Advocacy of Modernism
Grace Ong Yan, Ph.D. is an architectural historian and theorist whose work investigates intersections of architecture and the built environment with media, technology, and business histories. Her principal area of research has been to examine the contradictions and tensions of modern architecture’s engagement with business and capitalism. Dr. Ong Yan is the author of Building Brands: Modern Architecture and Corporations (Lund Humphries, 2021) which details the intertwined development of architecture, advertising, and branding from the late 1920s to the 1960s. She is co-editor of the first and second editions of ARCHITECT: The Pritkzer Prize Laureates in Their Own Words (Blackdog and Levanthal, 2018, 2010) which offers a curated view into the architects’ processes and critical thinking—revealing socio-cultural, political, and economic approaches to design. Dr. Ong Yan’s research on non-western architects includes her featured essay on the Pritzker Prize website Wang Shu: The Infinite Spontaneity of Tradition, which explores cultural & regional specificity and place & displacement in the work of Pritzker laureate Wang Shu and his partner Lu Wenyu. Dr. Ong Yan’s extensive writings have appeared in publications ranging from the journal, Design and Culture (Bloomsbury) to the book series, The Companions to the History of Architecture, Vol. IV, Twentieth-Century Architecture (Wiley-Blackwell). Dr. Ong Yan is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including The Will M. Melhorn Scholarship Award for Outstanding Work in Architectural Theory, The Reyner Banham Fellowship at SUNY Buffalo, Architectural Record/Business Week Award, and The 365 Annual AIGA Award for Environmental Graphic Design. Her research has been funded by grants from The Hagley Museum and Library, New York Foundation for the Arts, and The Canadian-American Foundation. She has delivered numerous public talks on her research at such venues as The Skyscraper Museum, AIA Philadelphia, The Barnes Foundation, and DocomomoUS-New York Tri State.
Dr. Ong Yan serves on doctoral committees in architecture and applies her research to teaching studios, research seminars, and history/theory courses. She has received honorable mentions for her independent design competition proposals from Storefront for Art & Architecture and The International Design Competition in Osaka, Japan. Prior to coming to academia, she practiced in architecture firms in New York and Paris including Gensler’s Branding Studio, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Rafael Viñoly Architects, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and Pei Cobb Freed and Partners. As an educator, Grace has taught in higher education for over 20 years. She has taught architectural history and theory courses, research seminars, architecture studios, and interior design studios at a number of institutions in addition to her current institution, Thomas Jefferson University, including IE University, University of Pennsylvania, Moore College of Art & Design, The Barnes Foundation, Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, University at Buffalo SUNY as the Reyner Banham Fellow, and Yale University. She also serves on the Board of Directors of DocomomoUS-Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the conservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods of the modern movement.