During our interview series the judges will tell us what they are looking out for in a winning entry and why they think you should enter the WAN awards.
Gary A. Li joined the KGA team in 2017 and became a Principal at the firm this year. He specialises in cultural, sustainable development and creative workplace sectors, with specific expertise in design, planning and detailing.
Prior to KGA, Gary worked at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill where he focused on education projects. The foundation of Gary's design ideology is creating place-based solutions. He thrives on understanding the complexities and minutiae of each project to create innovative solutions.
Why should people enter the WAN awards? What are the benefits in your view?
People should enter the WAN Awards to showcase the innovative works they’ve produced and to inspire other architects to achieve a similar calibre of work. After submitting several awards for some of the projects our firm has worked on, I’ve realized that the same big-name firms win most of the awards. However, being a judge of the WAN Awards for the past two years, I’ve seen both small and large firms get selected as finalists and winners.
What attracted you to becoming a judge for the WAN awards?
I wanted to be a judge because I’m always interested in seeing what is new in the industry - from materials and construction techniques to technological advances. Since becoming a judge I’ve been inspired by other projects from the awards and there is no better way to learn than from your colleagues!
What sort of scheme would you most like to see among the entries?
I would like to see schemes that reuse materials in an innovative way. As part of the global efforts towards net zero and climate change, the best way is to either reuse buildings or materials. I’ve seen several adaptive reuse type projects in the past few years and that has been the common trend. I’d like to see that go a step further and see materials reused instead of sent to landfill. Maybe the metal decking used as part of a concrete slab assembly can be reused as a façade material?
Tell us about some recent projects you're proud of…
There are two projects that I had the opportunity to lead in recent years. The first is the James Earl Jones Theatre Annex, which was my first project at KGA. It is an addition to the historic James Earl Jones Theatre (formerly Cort Theatre), where we were able to relocate many of the amenity spaces in the theatre into a new modern lobby on an adjacent annex. During the design process we made conscious efforts to tie both buildings together through materiality and theme. One of the major motifs of the theatre was Marie Antoinette and we expanded on this by creating a five-storey mural featuring a large cameo of Marie along with a bouquet of her favourite flowers. This project is a great addition to the Broadway community.
The second project is the Northland Center Mall Redevelopment in Detroit. This was part of a competition to revaluate building typologies and spaces as a result of COVID-19. We wanted to revitalize the underused mall and introduce performing arts spaces as a means of encouraging people to come together after being stuck at home during the pandemic. I was most proud of the replicability this project had in many under-served communities and how it transformed a once dead space into a lively experience.