"Surfacing Work" Jia Gu

Surfacing Work presents recent projects by Spinagu, a Los Angeles-based research and design studio that explores architectural ideas and processes through spatial, experimental, and exhibitionary formats.  

Jia Yi Gu (b. Shanghai, China) is an architectural historian, educator, and curator who works on, thinks about, and occasionally writes about minor institutional spaces, ethics of care, and labor in architectural practices. She is currently a PhD candidate in UCLA Critical Studies in Architecture. Her doctoral research investigates the instrumentality of models in the postwar architecture office as a site of demonstration for architectural expertise. She holds a B.A. in Visual Arts from the University of California San Diego with Honors and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of California Los Angeles where she graduated with distinction and received the Alpho Rho Chi medal. Prior to Los Angeles, she has worked internationally in Berlin, Barcelona, and Anyang with Raumlaborberlin, Something Fantastic, and Kyong Park. She is currently curator and director of Materials & Applications and is Visiting Faculty at California College of Arts. She is co-director of Spinagu with Maxi Spina, a research and design studio that explores architectural ideas and processes through spatial, material, and exhibitionary projects. Her work has been recognized and supported by UCLA, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and the Canadian Center for Architecture.