Yuki Gray

2026 MAD FELLOW, artist, and designer

Yuki Gray

2026 MAD FELLOW, artist, and designer

Research Topic

Drawing from contexts in which construction and land formation are inseparable, such as coastal territories, reclaimed ground, and flood-prone regions, Yuki's project repositions rubble and waste aggregate as actors in the design of buildings. The materials are not treated as waste, but infrastructure, continuously circulating through cycles of use, displacement, and reassembly. Instead of designing for indefinite stability or for failure as an endpoint, the research explores how architecture can operate productively at the moment of breakdown. Using methods of land formation as a tool for architecture and social space making, the work aims to bring together material intelligence, environmental responsiveness, and cultural development.

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.