Jason Chun-Cheng Yeh

Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
Education Background: Bachelor of Architecture, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

How did you get interested in your field?
My father is a professor of horticulture. Although I was born and raised in the capital city, I spent plenty of my childhood in the mountains and rivers in Taiwan with my family while my father researched the manmade and rural landscapes. I then understood that the environment and knowledge I immersed myself in was at the intersection of Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, and Ecology.

What was your background prior to coming to Penn?
I studied architecture as my undergraduate and became a Project Architect and Construction Supervisor for 3 years in a local firm specializing in the public realm. I focus on the integrity of form and function and expand my professional interests into landscape design and regional planning. I also learned from such a high-density and scale-jumping work experience that many seemingly binary oppositions of spatial vocabulary inseparably create the integrity of spatial experience, whether they are indoors and outdoors, microscopic and macroscopic, or man-made and natural.

Why did you choose Penn?
I have long admired the Landscape Architecture program at Penn, for its legacy in the academic field, strong design and environmental integration curriculum, and the possibilities of interdisciplinary research with other departments. For me, who is interested in design at all scales, Penn Design provides a platform with a solid foundation to help me freely expand my professional interests and also creates a series of connections with teachers and students from different cultural and intellectual backgrounds.

What has been your favorite class so far?
My favorite class right now is Studio 601. As the first core studio for a two-year student, it was the first time I learned to look for clues in a site even larger than my hometown, and then use various research and design methods to integrate regional alternative plans. I enjoy the process of digesting large amounts of information and refining it into personal opinions, as well as integrating knowledge from other courses within a relatively free framework.

What are you learning right now that will help you in the future?
Being open-minded and tolerant! The courses at Penn opened up my horizons in various majors, allowing me to understand the broad scope of the landscape field and the depth of research and design. The curriculum also emphasizes the importance of cooperation with teammates (almost all course assignments in the 602 semester require cooperation with different classmates), understanding that everything has thousands of perspectives and that everyone is unique, I learned to be open, tolerant, and optimistic about everything!

What do you like best about Philadelphia?
I enjoy the accessibility of the city. Philadelphia is a city with a long history. Especially under William Penn’s early planning, it has a pedestrian-friendly urban grid system. It is very different from many American cities that rely heavily on cars. It is also very close to my experience of living in my hometown. Walking on the forest trails around the Philadelphia Museum of Art is a wonderful experience!

What kinds of activities and/or organizations are you involved in?
I am currently serving as a teaching assistant in the aforementioned favorite course, Studio 601, and hope to provide students from all over the world a window into this profession.

What are your career ambitions?
I have a background in architecture, have completed works in the fields of urban design and regional planning, and studied at a graduate program in landscape architecture. This learning experience gave me a comprehensive understanding of the built environment. I hope that one day I will become an independent leader and continue to make contributions at the forefront of this field.