Leonard Yui

wildishdesign.com

Leonard Yui is an Associate Professor of Architecture at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. He is a licensed architect, a LEED accredited professional and the director of  Wildish Design, a design-research practice focused on connecting human and ecological systems. He has a professional bachelors from California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo and two post-professional masters degrees in Landscape Architecture and Architecture with an Ecological Design Certificate from the University of Oregon. 

Notable awards include the Hassenfeld Faculty Fellow for community engagement, and a Hatfield foundation grant for a design-research study on climate change and historical landscapes. His works have been widely presented and published at numerous international peer-reviewed conferences and publications in landscape architecture, architecture and planning. They include Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA), European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) and Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC). His research examines the intersection of architecture, ecology and landscape and is focused on sustainable material infrastructures, linking interior and exterior environments, habitat change, sea level rise, and environmental/climate justice. 

Recent Scholarship + Design

Yui, Leonard. “Landscape Measure: Animating the University Campus to Promote Social Distancing.” New England Journal of Higher Education, July 27, 2020. 

Cox, Monica. “Architecture for the Birds, the Bees, and the Rising Seas.” 41° North, vol. 13, no. 1 (2020): 26-29. Touisset Article. 

Kuffner, Alex. “Art Installation in Warren Refuge aims to Raise Environmental Awareness.” Providence Journal, January 20, 2020. Front page publication (both print and digital) about the Touisset Wildlife Refuge Environmental Art Installation. 

Yui, Leonard. “Future of Sea Level Rise Design: Moving from Regulations to Ethics.” Presented at the International Conference: Architectural Research Centers Consortium, “Future Praxis: Applied Research as a Bridge Between Theory and Practice,” Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, 2019.

Yui, Leonard. “Designing Preservation: A Guilded Landscape in the Age of Ecology and Sea Level Rise.” Presented at the National Conference: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, “Engaged Scholarship: Bringing Together Research, Teaching and Service.” University of California Davis, Davis, California, 2019.

Yui, Sahoko, Yui, Leonard. “Wealth versus Waste: Bay Area Food Polemic.” Presented at the National Conference: Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, “Engaged Scholarship: Bringing Together Research, Teaching and Service.” University of California Davis, Davis, California, 2019.

Yui, Leonard. “A New Guilded Age: From Gilded Landscapes to Ecological Guilds.” Presented at the National Conference: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, “Play with the Rules,” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2018.

Yui, Leonard. “Rewilding Pallets: Diversifying Ecological Values in Urban Wood Waste.” Presented at the joint International Conference: Architectural Research Centers Consortium + European Association for Architectural Education, “A Global Community,” Temple University, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2018.

Yui, Leonard. “Cradles to Cradles: Designing for Non-Human Loops.” Presented at Association for Collegiate Schools of Architecture, “The Ethical Imperative,” in session, “Ecological Ethics: Role of the Architect.” University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, 2018.

Yui, Leonard. “Pallets in the Expanded Field.” Presented at Association for Collegiate Schools of Architecture, “The Ethical Imperative,” in design project session, “Architecture in the Expanded Field: From Interiors to Landscapes.” University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, 2018.

Yui, Leonard, Yui, Sahoko. “Co-mposter” Co-Machines: Mobile Disruptive Architectures Competition. Finalist – publication, gallery presentation in Berlin, Germany, 2016, 2018.

Yui, Leonard. “Ecological Aesthetics of the Tatami: Design at the Intersection of Resource and Waste.” Presented at Japan Studies Association Conference. University of Hawaii at Manoa & Kapi’olani Community College, Honolulu, Hawai’I, 2018.

Yui, Leonard. “Mapping Artful Urban Ecologies: Exploring and Assembling Shared Places through Digital Media.” Presented at Critical Geography Conference, “Envisioning the Future of Critical Geographies.” Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania 2017.

Yui, Leonard. “Language of Architectural Wood: Waste to Ecological Abundance.” Presented at Architectural Research Centers Consortium. “Architecture of Complexity: Design Systems Society and Environment.” University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2017.