Ian Towne
Ten projects in housing, infrastructure and climate response — in Yunnan, Chicago and Illinois.
Selected work
[ 01 — 10 ] 2024 / 2026In focus
[ 01 ] Bridge · Yunnan
Waterline Memory
“How can a bridge preserve the memory of traditional Chinese forms while improving modern circulation, waterfront openness, and passage for pedestrians, vehicles and boats?”
Read the projectMethod
[ Site → Structure → Light ]Read the site before drawing it
Precedent research, site observation and user interviews come first. Every project starts with a question about how people already move, build and live there.
Build the idea at more than one scale
Physical models, digital massing and sections run in parallel, so structural rhythm and daylight are tested while the plan is still loose enough to change.
Make the detail carry the concept
Roof profile, brick coursing, opening size and joinery are not decoration: they are where resilience, privacy and comfort actually happen.
2024 — 2026
project score
through ALI programs
The Mother's Canopy
Recognition
[ Selected ]Recognition has mostly arrived as a byproduct of the research — a county bureau asking to use a housing proposal as reference material, a mayor citing an urban plan, a newspaper publishing a village house.