Chow, Mina

Contact Information
Expert on Religious, Retail and Entertainment Architecture
Lecturer, USC School of Architecture
Office: Watt Hall 204
Phone:(213) 740-2723
E-mail: minachow@usc.edu

Video:
Face of a Nation "Trailer" (Youtube)
The Shape of America (Cadet Chapel) (Phillips Exeter Library)
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
"BRAVE NEW WORLD:  Architectural Icons of LA"(Vimeo)

Professor Chow is a licensed architect who currently teaches 1st year building science studio and professional practice at USC. She has taught 1st and 2nd year design studio, architectural history and theory, as well as serving as Faculty Coordinator for Executive Education. She is principal of LA design/multi-media and production firm mc² SPACES, which has completed several international design and multi-media projects.  Her design constructions focus on idea-driven structural and skin research based on the fundamental properties of materials and formulated in context site analysis.

Professor Chow is interested in expanding the awareness of architecture and design by bringing compelling and passionate stories about the built environment to film, television and multi-media. Her awards include production grants from the Graham Foundation in Chicago, the California Architectural Foundation, the USC Architectural Guild, the USC US-China Institute and the USC Ambassador's Fund. She has directed/produced films for the National Chapter and local chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the University of Southern California. Currently, she is directing and producing FACE OF A NATION:  "What Happened at the World's Fair?” a feature documentary about World's Fairs, and directing and producing the USC School of Architecture "100 Years of Architecture" documentary short and campaign launch. In 2011, she created BRAVE NEW WORLD:  Architectural Icons of Los Angeles, a broadcast pilot about innovative architecture that was created for the Mayor’s office in the city of Los Angeles.

Professor Chow has worked for several innovative architecture firms including Eisenman Architects, and TsAO + McKOWN Architects in NYC. At UC Berkeley, she won the Peerless Award for Architectural Design, and was on the winning team for the Amerika Gedenkbibliothek International Library Design Competition. At Harvard University, she co-taught a graduate seminar with Diane Lewis and researched architectural theory with K. Michael Hays. She has collaborated on several design-media projects with the late Doug Michels of Ant Farm. Recently, she was on the award-winning U.S. Pavilion team "Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good" at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Education:

• M.A., Harvard University Graduates School of Design, Architecture, Cultural Theory, Film Theory 

• B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Architecture

Honors and Awards:

• US-China Institute Grant 2010 from USC US-China Institute Educational Grant for Teaching 2010

• USC Fund for Innovative Teaching 2010 from University of Southern California

• USC Visions & Voices Fund 2009 from University of Southern California

• USC Visions & Voices Grant titled "This Land is OUR Land: Greening Architecture, Ethics and the Environment"

• USC Ambassador's Grant 2007 from University of Southern California Film Grant for "Off the Grid"

• California Architectural Foundation 2007 from California Architectural Foundation from Film Grant

• Specialized Training or Certificate Program: in Television Hosting from Creative Management Entertainment Group

• Intermediate to Advanced Techniques in Television Hosting Teleprompter