Schemata's Reflection on the Model Minority Myth

The model minority myth is a damaging and dividing stereotype that all Asian Americans are universally intelligent, hard-working, and prosperous which has led to their success and achievement of the American Dream. This myth perpetuates the idea that Asian Americans are socially, politically, and economically more successful than other communities of color and thus a model for all minorities in America.

Making & Taking Up Space (MATUS) “Dismantling the Model Minority Myth promotional graphic.

In May 2024, in celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AA+NH/PI) Heritage Month, the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students - University of Washington Chapter (NOMAS UW) in collaboration with the Asian American Pacific Islander Design Alliance (AAPIDA) hosted an event series: Making & Taking Up Space (MATUS) “Dismantling the Model Minority Myth”. 

This series of weekly events focused on architecture and other forms of creative work. Various events throughout the month were geared towards dismantling the model minority myth. In part, it was developed in response to evolving values and the growing student dissatisfaction with the lack of diversity reflected in the curriculum and faculty demographics within the UW College of Built Environments (CBE).   

MATUS seeks to create safe spaces for AA+NH/PI and BIPOC-identifying students by providing opportunities to meet with professionals with lived experiences to foster growth, learning, and awareness.  MATUS events provide inspiration and guidance to the next generation of architects and designers by bridging connections between students and other AA+NH/PI and BIPOC-identifying professionals who have walked similar paths, faced similar challenges, and ultimately succeeded. 

MATUS 2024 by the numbers: 

• 8 events in the month of May 

• 35 professional volunteers recruited for a portfolio review and mock interview event: 30 student participants. 

• 150+ attendees for Q+A Speaker Panel, Happy Hour Social, and Finale Discussion 

• $6,100 raised. 

In line with their priorities of advancing global equity, MATUS committed half of their merchandise proceeds to the support those affected by the ongoing conflict in Palestine.   

Schemata Workshop firm tour and discussion for MATUS — May 10th 2024.

Schemata's involvement:   

• Schemata Architectural Designer, Caitlin Truong, was the founder and principal organizer of MATUS.  

• To support the efforts of MATUS, Schemata Workshop became a Title Sponsor and hosted a tour of the firm for students. Participants also had the opportunity to sit down with Principal Grace Kim and learn about her experience in the industry as a Korean American woman.  

• Shweta Sinha (Associate at Schemata) was a panelist for "Reclaimed Narratives: Reflections of the Asian American Experience in Architecture + Design" event, where she shared her reflections on the past and present as an Indian woman in the design industry.  

• Architectural Designer, Alex Lin, volunteered as a portfolio reviewer and mock interviewer, encouraging students as they prepare to enter the profession.  

Schemata is supportive of our staff's external initiatives, so we welcomed Caitlin's invitation to sponsor MATUS. As an Asian American leader, Grace especially appreciated Caitlin's leadership in highlighting an unspoken truth in our society - Asian Americans endure a lot of microaggressions and often succumb to an inadequate myth of being a “model minority”. Not all Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders share the same experiences or privileges associated with this trope. And more importantly this myth has a profound impact on personal perceptions of identity and internal racist ideologies. This was a topic and series of events that made sense for Schemata to sponsor, and we appreciated the many ways in which our staff stepped up/showed up to support Caitlin and the NOMAS chapter. As a BIPOC and women led company, we know representation matters. Not just by providing resources to sponsor an event, but also by showing up in person to demonstrate to the next generation of architects that there is a place for them, and that people that look like them hold a variety of positions within our profession.  

Panelist and organizers of MATUS "Reclaimed Narratives: Reflections of the Asian American Experience in Architecture + Design" — May 1st, 2024.

Top Row: Panelist ( Sonia-Lynn Abenojar, James Fung, Angela Yang (Moderator), Nikki Sugihara, Shweta Sinha, Taehyung Kim, Kan Paprakhon)

Bottom Row: Founders and organizers of MATUS (Hannah Hu, Eunice Chen, Carol Zeng, Caitlin Truong, and Jodi Van)

Schemata's hope for the Asian community/BIPOC community in our industry:  

Schemata Workshop is actively doing to the work to become an anti-racist company.  
That starts with identifying the racist systems that we are all operating in and the racist tropes that society tries to assign to each of us. We have conversations about this regularly. By supporting events like MATUS, we are helping all of us do the work. While BIPOC centered events may be geared for BIPOC communities to establish their presence and express their individual identities and stories, we hope that White allies will also attend these events to expand their perceptions and understanding. It is our hope that BIPOC students and architects continue to seek out leaders and mentors who look like them, and that those mentors keep their eye out for opportunities to engage and uplift the younger members of the profession.  

Schemata's Audacity to Hope

“The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.” - Frederick Douglass  

Schemata Workshop is committed to being an anti-racist company. We recognize that this might be a lifelong aspiration and not an immediately achievable goal…but we will try. In addition to external trainings, we have been hosting monthly internal Conversations on Race. We are working to foster dialogue  that creates a safe space to ask questions, discuss ideas, provide context, and share personal experiences. The hope being that we each grow in our personal comfort to engage with our friends, family, clients, and consultants on this topic. And grow in our confidence to interject appropriately when actions or words in a meeting or other professional setting require our intervention, so as not to cause or continue harm. And ideally prepare us for leadership within our firm, projects, and profession to challenge and dismantle systemic and institutional racism.

The Frederick Douglas quote above, juxtaposed with the image of the American flag was the inspiration for discussion this month, exploring  the topics of patriotism, national pride, and the idea of one America. We discussed what the flag means to us individually and our experiences and knowledge around Juneteenth and the Black National Anthem.

We used a conversational tool for discussing issues of race that a number of our staff learned about recently in Courageous Conversations’ Beyond Diversity training. We talked about how we might feel, think, believe, or act when encountering racist ideas or images and how the Courageous Conversations Compass can help us to be more effective in our communication with others by  identifying the mindset in which we are individually and collectively engaging with subjects of race.

In his book, A Promised Land, Barack Obama writes in the first chapter, that America is not perfect, there are many aspects of our country that remain unreckoned and unreconciled (the legacy of slavery, the slaughter of Indigenous people, textbooks full of one-sided history). AND yet, there is great promise for what our nation CAN be. We believe in the promise of our democracy. And we believe that we need to actively reclaim the flag as a symbol of everyone's freedom. And that we need to be vocal in our words and actions to create an equitable world for all who live in our beautiful country.

Welcome to the Team Emmanuella!

This summer we are joined by Emmanuella Mariano - a high school intern who aspires to study architecture in two years. In the meantime, they are getting an opportunity to gain some experience working in a professional office setting. They will be helping out with marketing and the website; as well as general office and project support. Emmanuella is a skilled illustrator and is excited to see how the concepts learned in an AP Human Geography course apply to real life projects.

If you are attending the National Cohousing Conference, you will have a chance to meet Emmanuella as they will be staffing the Schemata Exhibit Table!

If you had a time machine that would work only once, what point in the future or in history would you visit?
I’d go back to a little before the industrial revolution and introduce renewable energy to help slow climate change.

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Antarctica, so I could see penguins and the glaciers.

If your home was burning down, after family members and pets, what three things would you try to save?
My vinyl collection, the blanket of the Washington peninsula that I brought home from our old cabin, and probably as many stuffed animals as I could carry.

If you could talk to any one person now living or dead, who would it be and why?
Probably Laufey, not only because I enjoy and am inspired by her music, but also by her life and her stories, as someone who is also half white and half Asian.

If you had to give up one of your senses (taste, smell, touch, sight, hearing) which would it be and why?
Smell, because I’m so frequently congested from my allergies, I sometimes feel like already lost it.

If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
I think a crow, because I like giving people random things I find, like interesting rocks.

Do you have any pets? if not, what sort of pet would you like?
I’d want a penguin, even though they’re smelly, I’ve always loved them, and just want to be able to hold one.

Name a gift you will never forget.
The Swiss army knife I got for my 10th birthday. I remember feeling so grown up and trying to find anything I could use it for, like tightening all the screws on outlet covers or cutting paper.

What is one of your favorite family traditions?
Making food together, especially if it’s Korean food.

What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?
Spend time outdoors, going camping, and looking at the stars.

LGBTQ+ Month: The Amp

For LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Schemata Workshop dedicates this blog to highlighting The AMP: AIDS Memorial Pathway. The AMP holds a special place as it centers  and tells the stories of LGBTQ+  community members in Seattle’s historic Capitol Hill.

The AMP composes four different artworks: andimgonnamisseverybody (Christopher Paul Jordan, We’re Already Here (Civilization), Ribbon of Light (Horatio Hung-Yan Law), and In This Way We Loved One Another (Storme Webber). Situated around the Capitol Hill TOD project completed by Schemata Workshop in 2020.  Schemata was first involvement with the TOD project was as community members - serving on a community stakeholder advisory group, then later as consultants  documenting the community’s vision for the  site, and eventually became the architect for a developer-led response to Sound Transit's RFP.

TOD Charette 2009

Community members identified a desire for the future development to have high quality, sustainable design and construction, and lower parking counts than  other mixed-use development in the neighborhood. They also wanted to see the inclusion of affordable housing, community spaces, and permanent homes for the farmer's market, and performing and visual arts. Also expressed was the desire for an AIDS memorial to be incorporated into the site to acknowledge the impact of AIDS to the community, and the significant loss of lives during the late 80s. The AIDS Memorial Project was born, and later renamed The AIDS Memorial Pathway (AMP).

The Amp Workshop 2 2017

Initially there was discussion of hosting the National AIDS Quilt on-site at a LGBTQ+ Welcome Center. There proved to be no feasible way to do this within the bounds of mixed-use programming and available funding. Schemata looked at leveraging public spaces at the TOD development, and the developer’s desire to incorporate art into the project. The community advisory group then asked Schemata to host a series of workshops to develop the memorial project and identify appropriate artwork and potential locations around the site. This resulted in creation of an arts master plan. Schemata worked with the LGBTQ+ community, the developer Gerding Edlen, and the City's Office of Arts & Culture to select  artists to manage overall effort and produce individual pieces, meeting of challenge of not having a somber expression of memorial, while bringing attention to the AIDS epidemic and ongoing crisis.

Whim W'him Dance Troupe

After the completion of the Capitol Hill TOD project and the AMP, many community events have taken place here, using the X as a backdrop - whether it be dance performances  the weekly farmers market, drag shows, fundraisers, or impromptu roller skate meetups.

The Capitol Hill TOD project was important to the founders of Schemata Workshop –as Capitol Hill is their home—and they were committed to neighborhood improvement, both professionally and personally. They saw the project as an opportunity to uplift marginalized voices who had seen the threat of gentrification in their neighborhood.

Learn more about the Amp: https://theamp.org/

Take Action/Resources: https://theamp.org/take-action/#information

AAPI Heritage Month: Our Team

In the month of May, Schemata is taking the time to reflect and celebrate the important role that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have played in our industry from looking at AAPI descents who are making an impact on Seattle's design community to sponsoring and participating in NOMAS UW’s "Making + Taking Up Space: Dismantling the Model Minority Myth".

As we wrap up the end of AAPI Month, Schemata wants to spotlight our own talented architects and designers that represent part of the AAPI community: Alex, Joann, Ye, Grace, Shweta, & Caitlin!

We asked our AAPI team members to share with us how their cultural heritage informs their approach to work or design, and how do the values, traditions, or experiences from their background shape the way they approach projects or problem-solving.

Alex Lin

As a child of Chinese immigrants, my family has always adapted their traditions to the American context. From our living arrangements (housing three generations of my family and all of the family business’ staff under the same roof) to small daily rituals like burning incense for our ancestors, my parents purposed a typical single-family suburban home to create opportunity and community while continuing to practice their cultural traditions. As a designer, both my family’s and my experience navigating the blurring of Chinese and American culture continues to shape the values and ideas that I contribute to our work.

Joann Ware

I am a child of Taiwanese emigrants, who navigated a new culture in the US while raising children and working extremely hard. I watched my parents approach life with curiosity and saw them build community through acts of kindness and nourishing others with food. I carry these values forward in my work as a designer, community activist, and parent.

Ye Sun

Growing up in Shandong, China, I was steeped in the rich traditions of Confucianism, which permeated both my education and social interactions. Central to Confucian teachings is the emphasis on being people-oriented. This ethos compels me to maintain empathy and an open mind towards every team player and project user in all the design phases.

Grace Kim

As someone who immigrated to the U.S. in early 1970s, the Korean culture I was raised in is very collective and interconnected. There were very few Koreans in Seattle at that time. There is a high value for hard work, family, and respect for elders. At a very early age I learned we take care of each other and work together for the benefit of the whole. I think this is why I like working collaboratively to solve problems. And it’s why I like to engage the community in our projects. They have much wisdom- through their lived experiences, and knowing what their strengths and needs are. Also growing up in an America that was socializing the idea of assimilation, I see how I was indoctrinated into a very racist view of myself and my culture. This is informs my desire to have Schemata work towards being an anti-racist design practice. 

Shweta Sinha

I first came to the US for graduate studies, and brought with me influences from Indian culture, spaces, and architecture. I tried very hard to fit in and possibly even underplay those influences. I now celebrate the fact that my life experiences give me a unique perspective and allow me to think differently – aspects of community, intergenerational living and resourcefulness are integral to the architect I am.

Caitlin Truong

As a second generation Vietnamese-Chinese American, I have always felt caught between three cultures and worlds, never truly feeling like I belonged; always existing in a gray space. Through design, I hope to create a sense of home and belonging for others as I have learned how to navigate my identity in a world where I do not belong neither here nor there.