As a first-generation Chinese-American, I've always felt like an outsider in my own culture. My parents, who left Shanghai in 1948, instilled in me a deep sense of responsibility and a unique perspective on the world. When I was born in 1949, my grandfather gave me a Chinese name that my mother, a biochemist, disliked due to its flowery meaning. She instead gave me an American name, Billie, which was unusual even in America. Growing up in a white, middle-class suburb in New Jersey, I identified as Jewish and became close friends with a writer named Gish Jen. We attended Jewish youth group dances together, and I tried to blend in, but my name always stood out. When I named my son Kai, I chose a Hawaiian word that meant 'the surface of the ocean.' My mother thought it was unusual, but I didn't realize it meant 'something very unusual.' Kai, now an industrial designer, grew up in our studio and was exposed to construction sites and travel. He developed a keen interest in understanding how things were made, which I believe is a common trait among children of people in the design field. Psychologically, I'm very Chinese, but culturally, I'm American. I have no Chinese cultural references, and I'm neither here nor there. My mother's passing two and a half years ago marked the end of my physical family connection to China. I started learning Chinese on Duolingo, not expecting to become fluent, but using it as a way to connect with my mother and my Chinese heritage. I'm the oldest and most responsible, according to my parents, and I'm starting my own studio, Studio Tsien, which is a little crazy at my age. My sense of architecture came from reading stories and imagining settings for them. I didn't understand architecture as a profession until I met my architectural history professor, Vincent Scully, who helped me see the intention behind a building expressed through its design. I then went to architecture school at UCLA, finding it a relief from the singular nature of fine arts. Architecture is always collaborative, and I've found my place in the world through my work and my unique perspective.
