Alvin Huang, AIA established SYNTHESIS in January 2011. He is an award-winning architect, designer, and educator specializing in the integrated application of material performance, emergent design technologies and digital fabrication in contemporary architectural practice. His wide ranging professional experience includes a spectrum of significant international projects of all scales ranging from hi-rise towers and mixed-use developments to bespoke furnishings and objects.
Prior to forming SYNTHESIS, he gained experience with internationally recognized design firms such as Amanda Levete Architects, Future Systems, Zaha Hadid Architects, and AECOM.
Additionally, he is currently a Tenure-track Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California where he teaches Post-Professional Graduate Design Studios and 5th Year Degree Studios. He has previously taught design studios at the Architectural Assocation, Tsinghua University, and Chelsea College.
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David joined SYNTHESIS as an architect shortly after its founding in 2011 and is a licensed Architect in his native Denmark. Prior to joining SYNTHESIS, David gained valuable experience with a number of notable firms including Henning Larsen Architects, 3XN , and LASSA Architects. Having studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, David received a Master of Architecture from the Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark where he gained specialist expertise in scripting and parametric modeling. In addition to his design work, he has also taught design workshops at the Architectural Association and the University of Lund, Sweden.
Filipa joined SYNTHESIS as an Architect and Lead Interaction Designer in Los Angeles in November 2011. Filipa is a native of Portugal and a graduate from the MArch and BSc in Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London UK as well as more recently from the Masters in Design Research on Architecture and New Media Art (MediaSCAPES) through the Southern California Institute of Architecture. She is a licensed architect in the Netherlands. Through professional experience Filipa has had the opportunity to work for different architectural practices around the world holding positions at Zaha Hadid Architects, Amanda Levete Architects and Wilkinson Eyre Architects in London. She has also taught workshops on fluid dynamics study applications in design and portfolio preparation at the AA (London), ESA (Paris) and Oxford Brookes University (Oxford).
In addition to her architecture background, Filipa leads the design and development of interaction and experience design projects for SYNTHESIS. Filipa’s media and interactive work can also be viewed at www.filipavalente.com.
Chia-ching Yang joined SYNTHESIS in December 2011. She has a Masters Degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Architecture from Ming Chuan University in Taiwan. Her previous professional experience includes P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S, Stonehenge Architects, Daniel Tai Architects, and D.Z. Architects.
Joseph A. Sarafian joined SYNTHESIS with the opening of its Los Angeles branch in November of 2011. Joseph has worked at such firms as Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects, and Koning Eizenberg Architecture in Los Angeles. Following his graduation from the University of Southern California, Joseph worked at RCDF Studio, DLR Group WWCOT, and John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects. Joseph has had projects published on Evolo, and Suckerpunchdaily, and in Little Tokyo Design Week, among others. His use of parametric techniques provides a consistent medium for the realization and implementation of his design ambition.