Elevated Conversations: Melody Tang, AIA, and Ryan Jang, AIA
AIA’s new series, Elevated Conversations, will feature architects from diverse backgrounds and their perspectives on their career paths, changes they’ve seen in the profession, the importance of diversity and inclusion, and more. To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Elevated Conversations' inaugural article features two prominent young architects, Melody Tang, AIA, project architect and associate at LPA Design Studios’ Irvine, California, office and Ryan Jang, AIA, principal at Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects in San Francisco. Both Tang and Jang are honorees of the 2022 AIA Young Architects Award.
What inspired you to become an architect?
Melody Tang: When I was little, I loved everything to do with being creative. I loved drawing, crafting, writing, music, everything that had to do with “artsy-ness.” I had parents who looked at that and said, “Well, we don’t want you to be a starving artist.” In high school they encouraged me to put my interests to use in a practical way and they suggested that I look into architecture as a way to blend my interest in art and my technical skills.
And of course, I loved playing with Legos as a kid, which I think many architects did. I used to set up these imaginary environments for my dolls to live in, and [my parents] took that as a sign that [architecture would] be a good career for me to pursue.
Ryan Jang: I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but at the high school that I went to, you had to choose a visual or performing art as an elective. I didn’t think I was very artistic, but I saw a class called “Art and Architecture” and I thought, “ How hard can that be?”
I signed up for it and the teacher, Hugh Aanonsen, was an older architect who just happened to be a great teacher, a great mentor, and a great inspiration to follow in that path. So that class that I chose on a whim, in combination with an internship program that paired high school students with different professionals to shadow for six weeks during the summer, inspired me to go to college for architecture.