Jintao Zhai

Specialized in Real Estate Design.

Jintao Zhai

About Jintao Zhai

Will&Tao Design was founded in New York in 2024 and quickly became a pioneer in the creative design industry. With a broad portfolio of innovative projects, proficient in a wide range of design disciplines from branding and digital media to experience and architectural design. The diverse achievements of Will&Tao Design combine artistic vision and technology, providing solutions that not only meet customer needs but also set new industry benchmarks. A team of visionary designers and industry experts is committed to breaking through creative boundaries and redefining modern aesthetics.

  • Winner of the A' Design Award.
  • Specialized in Real Estate Design.
  • Original Design.
  • Creative, Diligent and Innovative.
  • All Designs
  • Real Estate
Jiangmen Tech City Mixed Use Architecture

Jiangmen Tech City Mixed Use Architecture

Real Estate Design

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Interview with Jintao Zhai

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
My journey began at Fuzhou University (2014-2019), where I earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Landscape Architecture, grounding me in the interplay between nature and built environments. This inspired me to pursue a Master of Architecture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2021-2024), where I explored avant-garde design methodologies. Becoming a designer wasn’t a childhood dream—it emerged from witnessing how design silently shapes human experiences. A pivotal moment was realizing that a thoughtfully designed public space could transform strangers into a community. That’s when I knew design was my language for change.
Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
Co-founded in 2024,Will & Tao Design Inc.is a New York-based trailblazer fusing art with technology. We operate across scales—from branding to architecture—driven by a belief that design must transcend aesthetics to solve real-world challenges. Our team of interdisciplinary innovators merges algorithmic thinking with cultural narratives.
What is "design" for you?
Design isempathy materialized. It starts by listening—to people, sites, and ecosystems—then synthesizes needs into forms that elevate function into poetry. Great design doesn’t shout; it whispers solutions that feel inevitable.
What kinds of works do you like designing most?
I gravitate toward‘boundary-dissolving’ projects: installations that blur digital/physical realms, or buildings that become ecological actors. For instance, our award-winning community hub integrates wastewater recycling into its sculptural facade—proving sustainability can be visceral, not just visible.
What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
Jiangmen Tech City, this A’ Design Award winner, embodies my core ethos. We transformed a derelict industrial site into a climate-responsive cultural incubator. Its kinetic roof adapts to weather patterns, while modular interiors foster impromptu collaborations. It’s architecture as a living system—not a static monument.
What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
Mycelium compositesandreal-time 3D simulations. One offers biodegradable structural intelligence; the other allows us to test designs against climate scenarios—like seeing how a facade performs in 2050’s predicted heatwaves.
When do you feel the most creative?
Creativity ignites inthe ‘liminal space’ between focus and rest—often during predawn sketching sessions when the city sleeps, or on cross-continental flights where time zones blur. Disruption of routine forces the brain to make unexpected connections.
Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
Three layers:Ethics(Is it regenerative?),Emotion(Does it stir the soul?), andEvolution(Will it adapt over time?). A building should outlive its original purpose.
What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
A pendulum betweenfrustration and flow. Early stages feel like wrestling with ghosts—ideas are elusive. But when research, intuition, and technology suddenly align? That’s euphoria. Like catching lightning in a bottle.
What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
Terrified exhilaration. Buildings are living entities—once realized, they belong to the world. Watching people inhabit a space we envisioned is like sending a child into the wild: proud but vulnerably aware it must now thrive beyond our control.
What makes a design successful?
When it becomes abackground hero—seamlessly improving lives without demanding attention.
When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
First,honesty: Does it pretend to be what it’s not? A concrete facade mimicking wood grain fails this test. Second,empathic resonance: Can a 5-year-old intuitively interact with it? Great design communicates across ages and cultures.
From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
Designers arestewards of fragility. We must combat ‘solution pollution’—creating things that solve one problem but create three others. Every project should answer: How does this heal, not harm, our planetary home?
How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
Three shifts:From authorship to curation: Designers will orchestrate AI, bio-materials, and community input;From sustainability to regeneration: Buildings must actively heal ecosystems;From static to sentient: Spaces will learn and adapt via embedded sensors.The future isn’t about prettier objects—it’s aboutdesigning relationships.
Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
Non-design sources are richest:Poetry(e.g., Wislawa Szymborska’s metaphors for materiality);Failure(collapsed structures teach more than theory);Marginal spaces(NYC subway tunnels where moss grows on concrete).I collect ‘micro-observations’—a phone gallery of cracks, shadows, and makeshift repairs.
How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
My style is‘Contextual Futurism’—respecting cultural memory while prototyping tomorrow. Growing up in China’s rapid urbanization, I saw ancient alleys replaced by generic towers. Now, we embed vernacular wisdom into tech-driven designs, like using AI to optimize courtyard wind flows inspired by Fujian tulou. Characteristics:Adaptive, Narrative, Invisible.
Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
Based inNew York, I absorb itscollision of histories and futures. Chinese heritage anchors me inyin-yang balance—our firm’s projects often mediate between density and emptiness. The pro? Endless cultural stimuli. The con? America’s obsession with ‘newness’ sometimes overlooks ancestral wisdom. I counter this by using parametric tools to reinterpret traditions, like digitally weaving bamboo weaving patterns into structural systems.
How do you work with companies?
We reject the ‘genius designer’ myth.Co-creation is key.We’re mediators, not dictators.
What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
Hire for curiosity, not portfolios.Ask: ‘What fascinates you outside architecture?’ A designer obsessed with fungal networks or jazz improvisation will bring radical innovation. Avoid those who only showcase glossy renders—seek ones who document their iterative failures.
Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
Be a ‘T-shaped designer’—dig deep into one discipline (the vertical bar), but branch horizontally into ecology, sociology, even poetry. Andprotect your ‘creative ignorance’: sometimes not knowing ‘how things are done’ leads to breakthroughs.
From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
Pros: Permission to reshape reality; Collaborating with neuroscientists/poets; Seeing your work become someone’s ‘memory anchor’.Cons: Eternal imposter syndrome; Sleep sacrificed to deadlines; Knowing even sustainable design consumes resources. We combat this by donating 5% studio time to repairing existing buildings.
What is your "golden rule" in design?
Design for the ‘unseen user’.Beyond the client, who else is impacted? A child playing nearby? Birds nesting in the area? Soil microbes? If the design serves them, it serves everyone.
How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
From3 weeks to 3 years. Pop-up installations take weeks; buildings demand years. But critical paths differ: A museum facade might undergo 200 digital iterations in a month, while community consultation for a park could span seasons to build trust.
What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
‘How do you balance art and function?’ My answer: False dichotomy. A rainwater harvesting system can be a dazzling kinetic sculpture. Design dissolves such binaries.
What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
Hybrid infrastructures—e.g., a bridge that filters river water while hosting night markets. These projects demand dissolving boundaries between engineering, ecology, and social choreography. Why? They prove design can multitask as public service.
Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
To fellow designers: True glory lies not in newness, but inhealing the designed world.

Designer of the Day Interview with Jintao Zhai

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
My design journey began at Fuzhou University (2014-2019), where I earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Landscape Architecture, followed by a Master of Architecture from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2021-2024). After graduating, I co-foundedWill & Tao Design Incin New York, focusing on interdisciplinary design that bridges cultural narratives and sustainable innovation.
How did you become a designer?
Growing up in China’s rapidly urbanizing cities, I witnessed how design shapes human experiences. My undergraduate studies revealed landscape architecture’s power to heal communities, while my graduate work at Michigan refined my belief: Architecture must respond to cultural memory while pioneering ecological resilience. It’s a mission, not just a career.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
Three pillars guide my work:Contextual Sensitivity(dialogue with heritage and environment)，Human-Centered Iteration(prototyping spatial experiences).Material Honesty(expressing sustainability through tactile choices).I blend hand sketches and parametric tools, valuing physical models to test spatial narratives before digital refinement.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
The initial concept phase electrifies me – it’s where chaos crystallizes into possibility. Yet true fulfillment comes from witnessing users inhabit spaces we envisioned. Design is empathy materialized; that translation from abstract idea to lived emotion is my deepest joy.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
Beyond technical training,cross-cultural negotiation(navigating East-West design philosophies) andnarrative storytelling(framing design logic for diverse stakeholders) proved crucial. My mentor at Michigan taught me: "Great architecture speaks first to the heart, then to the mind.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
With Will & Tao, we aim to redefine"Cultural Infrastructure"– libraries, community centers – as catalysts for social equity. My dream project? A migratory cultural hub along the Silk Road, using adaptive reuse to celebrate nomadic heritage in a climate-responsive framework.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
1、Embrace constraints– they breed innovation. 2、Design with your feet– site immersion reveals invisible narratives. 3、Seek criticism, not validation.
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
Avoid the "signature style trap." Respond to project DNA, not your portfolio. Invest in "slow research" – spend a week mapping neighborhood rituals before drafting. True innovation lies in listening beyond the brief.
What is your day to day look like?
Mornings begin with tea and hand-drawing meditation. Postnoons are collaborative deep work with our team, evenings for global design webinars. The highlight? Watching interns reinterpret our sketches – their fresh eyes refuel my creativity.
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
Trends are data points, not dogma. I track biomimicry and AI-driven spatial analysis via platforms likeDezeenandArchinect, but cultural sustainability remains my anchor. A building should whisper its place’s history while breathing with the future.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
Good design answers "why" before "how." Three litmus tests:1、Does it dignify its users? 2、Will it age with grace? 3、Does it give more to the environment than it takes? Avoid the "iconic but irrelevant" pitfall.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
A design is ready when stakeholders forget it’s "designed" – when space feels inherently inevitable. We prototype until the solution seems obvious, then step back. Perfection is the enemy of relevance; architecture must live, evolve, and sometimes scar.
What is your biggest design work?
Jiangmen Tech City, embodies my core ethos. We transformed a derelict industrial site into a climate-responsive cultural incubator. Its kinetic roof adapts to weather patterns, while modular interiors foster impromptu collaborations. It’s architecture as a living system—not a static monument.
Who is your favourite designer?
Liu Jiakuntaught me vernacular’s revolutionary potential.Zaha Hadidredefined ecological tectonics. If I could converse with a departed master?Lina Bo Bardi– her brutalist poetry fused social justice with raw beauty.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
New York’s kinetic energy fuels me, but Fuzhou’s intimate lanwei alleys live in my bones. I design with jazz – its improvisational logic mirrors architectural problem-solving. Small design ritual? Hand-writing letters to clients; slowing communication deepens understanding.
Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?
Will & Tao operates as a"laboratory of voices"– architects, anthropologists, even poets co-create. Key partner criteria? Intellectual humility and obsessive curiosity. Our core challenge? Balancing commercial pragmatism with radical experimentation.
What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?
We dedicate 10% capacity to"Architecture for Diaspora"– pro bono designs preserving migrant communities’ cultural memory. Recently, we transformed a Brooklyn laundromat into a Cantonese elders’ storytelling hub. Design’s highest calling? To be a vessel for belonging.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
Winning gold was profoundly validating. Two key benefits:1、Global credibility– awards are passports for young practices.2、Critical reflection– the jury’s critique refined our manifesto. Being "Designer of the Day"? A reminder that architecture is a marathon of daily passions.

Extended Interview with Jintao Zhai

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?
Trained in landscape architecture at Fuzhou University (B.Eng 2019) and architecture at University of Michigan (M.Arch 2024). This dual lens allows me to weave ecological systems with cultural narratives.
How did you become a designer?
Witnessing Shanghai’s vanishingshikumenlanes ignited my mission:Design as cultural preservation. Buildings should be time capsules that breathe.
What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?
A conscious rebellion against disposable urbanism. My grandmother’s courtyard house taught me more about space than any textbook.
Which emotions do you feel when designing?
Specializing inadaptive reuse architecture. Dream to design nomadic cultural stations for climate refugees – architecture as a mobile identity anchor.
What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?
Master three languages:Material poetry, community empathy, and algorithmic thinking. Sketch with charcoal, calculate with code.
What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?
Good designers solve problems. Great designersreframe the questions. See: Lina Bo Bardi turning factory ruins into pulsating cultural centers.
What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?
My litmus test: Does it make birds nest on its eaves? Can a child intuitively navigate it? Will it compost beautifully when obsolete?
You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?
Good design isinvisible infrastructure for dignity. Investing in it means betting on human potential – like funding oxygen.
What is your day to day look like?
For global nomads – modular dwellings that unpack ancestral altars from suitcases. Heritage should travel light.
How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?
"Library of Lost Sounds"– an acoustic archive where migrant communities record dialects in clay resonators before they vanish.
How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?
Equal partsobsessive curiosityandstrategic ignorance. Know when to dive into material research, when to unsee precedents.
How do you decide if your design is ready?
Francis Kéré’s earth-built schools, Wang Shu’s recycled-tile walls, Eileen Gray’s transformable furniture. All teach:Constraint is the mother of eloquence.
What is your biggest design work?
Alvar Aalto’sSavoy Vase– its undulating form captures Finland’s 187,000 lakes in glass. Proof that abstraction can hold memory.
Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?
Every year Iapprentice anonymously– last summer as a stonemason in Kyoto. Hands must relearn what eyes forget.
Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?
Anethnomusicologist. Recording disappearing folk songs is architecture in acoustic form – both build shelters for collective memory.
What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?
My friend – a poet who translates Li Bai into structural equations. He reminds me:"Beams carry weight, spaces carry dreams."

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