Dr. Kody Kato

At the age of 19 years old, Dr. Kody Kato developed a design philosophy and approach called Creative Engineering. This vision stemmed from challenges he encountered when attempting to pursue a double major in architecture and engineering at his undergraduate university. Despite being told by the college of admissions department that combining these disciplines was unfeasible for any student, he refused to be confined to a singular focus in architecture. Dr. Kato re-wrote his course syllabus by tailoring it to his innate childhood strengths and interests. He presented this new sustainable architecture design approach to the Dean of the School and to his surprise they embraced his vision. In 2003, Creative Engineering—the integration of architecture, material science, nature, and engineering—was born.

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Since its inception, Dr. Kato has diligently refined the essence of Creative Engineering through experiences under the mentorship of Dr. Ken Yeang in Kuala Lumpur, Yasuyori Yada (Arata Isozaki's office), Hyoung-june Park (MIT; Board Member of Architectural Intelligence), and Byoung Soo Cho, director of BCHO Architects and a former GSD faculty member at Harvard University.