Grace Ong Yan

Grace Ong Yan serves as Associate Professor of Interior Design in Thomas Jefferson University's College of Architecture & the Built Environment since 2011, previously teaching at IE University, Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and as Reyner Banham Fellow at University at Buffalo.

Education:

• PhD, History and Theory of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania
• M.Arch, Yale University
• B.Arch, University of Texas at Austin

Her research integrates media studies, spatial theory, and cultural dissent through investigations of modernist history, non-Western design narratives, and 1960s-70s environmental graphics. This interdisciplinary approach examines how corporate branding shaped American architecture while amplifying marginalized perspectives in design discourse.

Key publications include the monograph Building Brands: Modern Architecture and Corporations (2021) analyzing architecture-advertising symbiosis (1920s-1960s), and co-edited ARCHITECT (2018) featuring Pritzker laureates' perspectives. Her work spans journals like Design and Culture and book chapters in Twentieth-Century Architecture, emphasizing non-Western contributions through essays on Wang Shu and Minoru Yamasaki.

Scientific Awards:

• Reyner Banham Fellow

Research funded by Hagley Museum, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Canadian-American Foundation supports her thesis advising across undergraduate to PhD levels. Professional practice includes collaborations with Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Gensler, evidenced by Storefront for Art & Architecture exhibitions and the 'Redemption' public artwork commemorating Black history in Long Island. She actively shapes discourse through DocomomoUS-Greater Philadelphia board service and memberships in Society of Architectural Historians and Interior Designers Educators Council.