YE.SMITH, ARCHITECT
AIA, NCARB
Y. E. is a North Carolina native, living the first 13 years of his life in the Raleigh-Durham area. Afterwards he lived in the western United States including Alaska, Arizona, Washington, Colorado and Southern California. He has also lived for periods in London, Shanghai and Florence, Italy. Each experience has provide him a great amount of diverse perspectives with different cultures, climates, and ways of living.
From a young age he was fascinated with the relationship between nature-made and man-made things. The interaction of the two developed a fascination with the making of buildings and the cities they inhabit. Naturally, this drew him to architecture, and how the craft of designing and building can enhance our daily lives. Individual buildings play an important role, but it is how they react with other buildings - the spaces between them - that can elevate the experience to an even more enjoyable and memorable level.
Y. E. has over 30 years of professional experience designing commercial, mixed-use, retail, residential, civic and landscape places. He has worked with top clients throughout the United States, Mexico, China, India, and Korea. His designs have won multiple design awards. He is active in ULI - is on a Triangle Council of ULI - and ICSC.
He has taught design studios and served as a design critic at several design schools including Arizona State University, The University of Cincinnati, The University of Washington and UNC- Charlotte. In addition, he is a Studio Artist with works in private and public collections in the United States and Japan.
Y. E. received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Arizona State University and his Master of Architecture from Syracuse University – Florence, Italy Campus, on a University Fellowship.