Personal Statement

Sai Tang, GD3

This is the second year that I study in the United States. As an international student, I have suffered a lot

since the very beginning. Not only the second language is a difficulty, but also the way of thinking. Thanks

to all the professors and friends, my endeavor led me to a great progress. (Which could be reflected by my

grades to some extent.) Inspired by many readings, I always come out unique opinions and contribute to

group discussions. With no doubt, there is always a magical interaction among architecture students from

various backgrounds. Adapted to the American life and education, now, I am confident in facing the future

professional practices.

Being sensitive to exterior features of objects, I have been good at expressing my insight through arts, such

as Chinese Painting, watercolor, gouache, and sketch, since my 5 years old. Encouraged by my parents, I

often visited historical and modern architectures. From my secondary school, my foot prints had arrived at

most of famous ones in China, England and some other European countries, which made me fascinated

with the interaction between architecture and human behaviors. These days, I am zealous for hand-drawing

architectural diagrams. Those diagrams help me to discover shinning points of precedents and my own

works, which I cannot notice easily.

What is Architecture? Why Architecture? When ask “what” or “why”, the answer is, actually, itself. Someone

said architecture is a combination of art and science. However, it does not coincide with me. Architecture

should be defined by itself with its own words. Just like when we define “mathematics”, we should use

“numbers” to describe it. I fully agree what Louis Kahn said: “architecture is the thoughtful making of spaces.”

Space, is the essential element of architecture. All of others, such as structure, material, light, sound, … are

living for creating spaces. There exist amazing reactions between human and different spaces. To be an

architect, I believe what I should do is exploring the order of space and creating intriguing spaces for

human’s activities.

Being reverent to antecedent architects’ talents, like Mies’s and Louis Kahn’s conscientious attitude in space

and orders, and their pursuit and dedication for the nature of architecture, I am determined and confident to

make my own contribution. I would like to keep exploring the nature and order of architecture, the

comparison between American and Chinese architecture, and sustainable materials and technologies in the

future.