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m e n u
design | research                    
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Definition
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EMERGENT

(adjective) emergent | i-ˈmÉ™r-jÉ™nt

+ arising as an effect of complex causes, as a sum of their parts

+ in the process of coming into being, becoming newly formed or

prominent

+ calling for immediate action, requiring urgent action

Studio
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EMERGENT is a design & research studio working at architecture's intersection with urbanism, landscape, and infrastructure. Fascinated with how emergent patterns, paradigms, and phenomena impact our constructed environments in an era of rapid urbanization, we investigate these spatial conditions by engaging in interdisciplinary work that cuts across multiple scales and forms of representation that are able to speak to a diverse set of audiences & stakeholders.

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Based in New York but operating sensitively in multi-regional contexts around the globe, we believe that it is imperative to carefully ask the right questions before providing solutions. Accordingly, each of our catalogued investigations seeks to examine emerging questions facing our rapidly evolving built environments—believing that design holds vast potential for critiquing and intervening in the cultural, social, ecological, environmental, and infrastructural issues facing our contemporary cities and their landscapes. Armed with both design and the research that frames it, our investigations act as a cog in addressing solutions to these emerging questions.

 

Our versatile work ranges from design proposals & competitions, to cartographic research mappings & curated exhibitions, to authored books & architectural graphic novels aimed at impacting a wide audience. Collectively, they act as a toolkit of ideas for tackling emergent questions in a rapidly urbanizing world.

People
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Director, Founding Principal

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EVAN SHIEH

Evan is an architect, urbanist, researcher and educator who is the director of Emergent Studio. He founded the studio following a decade of professional working experience in the architecture & urban design fields, in both the private & public sectors.

 

In addition to directing Emergent, Evan was appointed to the full-time faculty at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) where he teaches as an Assistant Professor of Architecture. Throughout his career, he has...

News
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DECEMBER 2025

+ Autonomous Urbanism (AR+D Publishing) awarded the

2025 Gerd Albers Best Book Award by the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP)

+ Emergent Studio's proposal Vanua Sun-Well published in the

book "Climate Art: Powering Island Communities" LAGI 2025 awards publication

+ Evan Shieh presents the peer-reviewed paper "The Future of

Mobility" at the 2025 Conference of Green Digital Intelligent (GDI) Built Environments

+ Evan Shieh joins the Perspective Lab Podcast as an invited

guest for the episode "The Architecture of a Driverless City"

+ Evan Shieh attends final reviews as an external guest

critic at Tamkang University, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Pratt Institute, and Parson School of Design

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NOVEMBER 2025

+ Emergent Studio's proposal Vanua Sun-Well exhibited at the

"LAGI 2025: Land Art for a Changing Climate" exhibition in Suva, Fiji

+ Evan Shieh publishes the peer-reviewed paper Industrial 

Exaptation with Land Journal by MDPI

+ Evan Shieh joins the Interconnected Podcast by Equinix as

an invited guest for the episode "Autonomous Everything: Rethinking Infrastructure for a Self-Driving World"

+ Evan Shieh attends midterm reviews as an external guest

critic at Tamkang University

For more recent news, press, and highlights...

Contact
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Have a design or research project in mind? Looking to collaborate on a joint venture together? Interested in joining our studio?

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We would love to hear from you!

Contact us at:

Copyright © 2021 Emergent Studio, all rights reserved

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