Yin has been a designer, urban researcher & curator, photographer, and cooking instructor. She received her undergraduate degree in Urban Studies from Columbia University and her master’s degree in Urban Design the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Based in Beijing on and off for 6 years she has mostly worked in research and curatorial positions in architecture offices.  Most recently she designs products for Monticello, UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of Thomas Jefferson.

 

Her work has been exhibited at the Shenzhen Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Today Art Museum in Beijing, and Kaohsiung Design Festival in Taiwan. Work from her independent travels through western China were shown in the solo photography exhibition, “Tibetans Drink Coke Too…,” portraits of everyday life on the Tibetan plateau. Yin’s graduate studies brought her to London and Istanbul for fieldwork. She returned to Beijing in 2012 to work on the Dashilar Project. Yin was one of the main organizers and curators for Dashilar Alley - Design Week 2012. Her time working with creative start-up businesses through the Dashilar Project led her to approach design through the lens of product development and brand storytelling. Topics of her research include: urban development processes in mega-city periphery, generic architecture in peripheral Istanbul, sustainable practices inherent to Dai and Tibetan communities, the creative economy in Jingdezhen, produce and grocery vending in Manhattan.