Yuki Gray

2026 MAD FELLOW, artist, and designer

Yuki Gray

2026 MAD FELLOW, artist, and designer

Research Topic

How can architecture emerge from a deep understanding of material and spatial articulation, through systems of form-finding such as accumulation, settlement, or self-organization, rather than from fixed formal prescriptions? Yuki's research investigates material behavior, site-based narrative, and the relationship between concept and construction. By engaging with alternative systems of building, new solutions may be discovered. Rather than designing for indefinite stability or treating failure as an endpoint, his work focuses on systems of terrain and enclosure that evolve through use, weather, and time — accepting change as a condition rather than a failure. Grounded in environmental behavior and forces, particularly water, the work explores an alternative model of resilience which is adaptive and capable of evolving alongside the landscapes it inhabits.

Bio

Yuki Gray is an artist and designer working across craft and architecture. Trained in furniture design at RISD and currently pursuing a Master of Architecture at MIT, his practice draws on traditional construction and the invention of everyday materials, ranging from steel and wood to thatched straw and paper. Having grown up in Thailand, Japan, and the United States, Yuki brings a wide-ranging perspective to his work.

Before joining MIT he worked in construction in Japan on traditional shops and houses, and was a furniture and art fabricator in New York. Drawing on histories of making and design, Yuki explores the manipulation of material and form with inspiration from his surroundings.

His furniture design work has been exhibited at various venues, including Collectible, Super House, IRL Gallery, Lubov, Carlota Oyartzun Gallery, and Jack Chiles Gallery.

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