Yiqing Wang and Biru Cao

My path into design began with architecture, where I was first drawn to the way space shapes human experience. I studied architecture at Harvard GSD, where I developed a foundation in form, materiality, and cultural narrative. But I soon realized I wanted to go beyond traditional methods, to explore how emerging technologies could open new ways of designing and interacting with the world. That led me to MIT, where I’m currently pursuing dual master's degrees in Design Computation and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. My work now exists at the intersection of AI, 3D reconstruction, and interaction design. I’m particularly interested in how we can use these tools to build more sustainable, inclusive, and imaginative futures. Design has always been a way for me to make sense of complexity, whether that’s through a spatial prototype, a digital product, or a systems-level diagram. I didn’t always know I’d be a designer, but looking back, I’ve always been asking the kinds of questions that design is uniquely positioned to answer.

I founded Softcoded Studio as a space to explore speculative and applied design that merges computation, culture, and sustainability. We develop experimental tools, prototypes, and research-driven products that rethink how design can shape our digital and physical worlds.

Design is the intentional shaping of systems, objects, and experiences with empathy. It’s not just about form or aesthetics but about aligning logic, function, and emotion.

I’m most excited by hybrid experiences, where physical form and digital intelligence converge. Whether it’s an AI-powered urban tool or an interactive object made from food waste, I love projects that ask new questions.

The FOODres.AI printer is a favorite. It turns food waste into 3D-printed objects. I co-designed the ML pipeline and UX, and it brings together sustainability, community engagement, and tangible interaction beautifully.

The first thing I designed professionally was a parametric facade system during my time as an assistant architect at Arup in Shanghai. I was part of a multidisciplinary team working on a large-scale commercial project, and my role focused on using Grasshopper and Rhino to develop a responsive facade that balanced aesthetics, daylighting, and thermal performance. This project was a turning point, it showed me how computational design could bridge architecture, engineering, and sustainability. It was also the moment I began thinking about how algorithms and data could play a bigger role in shaping design decisions, which eventually led me to expand my practice into AI and interaction design.

In terms of materials, I love exploring organic waste-based materials like those used in the FOODres.AI Printer. Turning discarded matter into design input adds a poetic and ethical layer to the process. And as a designer who prototypes a lot, I value materials that respond to both environmental and expressive needs.

Narrative, interaction, and context. I think every design should tell a story while solving something real.

Curiosity and responsibility. Design is thrilling, but I’m also conscious of its cultural and environmental implications.

Joy, but also reflection. I think about how people engage with it and what conversations it might provoke.

When it solves a real problem, evokes emotion, and invites further questioning or use.

Clarity of concept, quality of execution, cultural relevance, and long-term impact.

Designers must address systemic inequities and environmental degradation. We create things, so we must also care for the consequences.

Design is becoming increasingly cross-disciplinary and systems-oriented. The future is about ethics, computation, and resilience.

My most recent exhibition opened on June 5, 2025, as part of the permanent show Digital Luoyang at the Han Wei Luoyang City Ruins Museum in Henan, China. I was invited by the Harvard FAS CAMLab to contribute immersive media research and design for this exhibition. The work visualizes the rich historical and cultural textures of Han and Wei Dynasty Luoyang through spatial storytelling and interactive digital reconstruction. For my next exhibition, I hope to present my ongoing work on AI-driven urban environmental narratives in either Europe or East Asia in 2026.

My design inspiration often comes from the friction between systems, where technology meets social practice, or where material constraints open new creative paths. For example, working on the FOODres.AI Printer, I was inspired by the way everyday food waste could be transformed into a medium for making, linking sustainability with playful creativity. That kind of transformation drives my work.

Hybrid and systems-driven. I blend computational logic with cultural storytelling. It’s experimental but grounded in social relevance.

I currently live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I’m completing my dual degrees at MIT. But I was born and raised in China, and I carry that cultural lens with me in everything I do. The architectural heritage, craftsmanship, and layered urban histories of China have had a lasting impact on my design sensibility. For example, my work with the Harvard FAS Chinese Art Media Lab, digitally reconstructing ancient sites like the Yongning Pagoda, was a way to directly engage with those histories using modern tools like 3D modeling and interactive storytelling. Living and studying in both Eastern and Western contexts has given me a hybrid perspective. I often find myself balancing systematic rigor with intuitive sensitivity, and blending technological innovation with cultural memory. That duality is a source of creative energy in my work.

I often join at early R&D stages to prototype new tools, visualize data, or bridge technical and human needs.

Companies today face complex, rapidly evolving challenges, from climate adaptation to interface overload. Designers can help reframe these challenges, not just respond to them. My advice is: involve designers early, during scoping, not just implementation. A good designer should help you rethink the system, not just deliver outputs. The best designers are not just visual stylists. They are systems thinkers, storytellers, and technologists. Look for someone who is curious, collaborative, and comfortable navigating ambiguity. Someone who can move between strategy and detail, and who asks “what if” as much as “what’s next.”

It’s cyclical: research → concept sketching → prototyping (code/form) → testing → iteration. Documentation and reflection are key parts.

My sketchbook – It’s where I sketch ideas, jot down design prompts, or map out research questions. Even with all the digital tools I use, this remains a constant starting point for me. A modular desk lamp I prototyped – It’s 3D-printed using biodegradable PLA, and its joints are inspired by kinetic structures. It reminds me that sustainability and playfulness can coexist in functional design. The FOODres.AI test prints – I keep a few small objects made from food waste as part of our prototyping process. They serve as both functional coasters and as daily reminders of how design can spark conversations about sustainability. A soft TPU lattice sample from the Flexy project – It’s part of my material exploration into reconfigurable structures. I like to keep it on hand to think through how texture and flexibility can become interactive elements. An early Arduino-powered prototype – It’s a simple light sensor module I built while experimenting with responsive environments. It’s not perfect, but it’s personal. And reminds me that the process is just as valuable as the outcome.

Mornings for deep work, coding, writing, modeling. Afternoons are for meetings or building things. Evenings are for reading or sketching ideas.

One of the greatest positives of being a designer is the ability to translate ideas into impact, to take abstract problems and shape them into tangible, often beautiful, solutions. There’s a deep satisfaction in seeing something you've imagined take form, especially when it improves how people interact with the world around them. Design also gives me a constant sense of exploration; it allows me to work across disciplines, from AI to architecture, connecting technical innovation with human experience. At the same time, one of the challenges is that design work is often undervalued, especially in technical or corporate settings where visual or experiential contributions are treated as secondary. Designers sometimes have to advocate repeatedly for the strategic value of what they do.

Figma, Rhino, Grasshopper, Python, Unreal, GitHub, AI models (like Stable Diffusion), and Notion.

I know when to diverge and when to converge. In the early phases of a project, like the FOODres.AI Printer, I give myself room to explore wild ideas without judgment. But once a direction is chosen, I narrow in and shift into structured production mode. Tools like Notion and Figma help with tracking, while quick sketching (digital or hand-drawn) helps unblock creative thinking. I also make space for unstructured time—, walking, museum visits, conversations, which often yield the most surprising breakthroughs.

It varies: 1–2 weeks for a prototype, months for refinement, depending on user feedback and complexity.

My work at Hosta AI, where I helped develop real-time 3D reconstructions using computer vision, merging my architecture and tech training.

Sustainability-focused NGOs, early-stage startups, and MIT-based research labs.

Tools and systems that empower others, especially in sustainability, urban environments, or overlooked communities.

To expand Softcoded Studio into a platform for socially driven, AI-augmented design. And to teach and mentor more.

I'm currently working on a relightable 3D reconstruction project using Gaussian Splatting. The goal is to reconstruct architectural spaces from limited photographic inputs and then enable real-time lighting simulation through learned environmental maps. This project brings together several strands of my research: computer vision, interactive visualization, and spatial storytelling. By integrating lighting-conditioned neural fields with GS, I’m exploring how we can not only reconstruct spaces realistically but also reinterpret them under dynamic conditions, like time of day or artificial lighting scenarios. It’s still in progress, but I see strong potential for applications in virtual heritage, game design, and sustainable building simulation. This kind of work excites me because it transforms passive image data into rich, interactive environments that can be explored, re-lit, and understood in new ways.

Design is more than making, it’s listening, questioning, and building with others. That’s what excites me most.