Sou Fang
Lecturer
School of Art and Design
College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
SDSU
Bio
Sou Fang is a designer and educator whose work examines the political economy of architecture and landscape, with particular interests in how social, economic, and institutional forces shape the built environment. A Hmong refugee born in Phanat Nikhom, Thailand, his lived experience has informed a career centered on communities affected by displacement and economic inequality. His recent work includes an ongoing collaboration with Groundwork San Diego–Chollas Creek and the Center on Global Justice at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), focused on reimagining blue-green infrastructure within the Chollas Creek watershed. As an administrator and Director of TRIO Upward Bound at the University of San Diego (USD), he has secured more than $4.5 million in federal and foundation grants to expand college access for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students across San Diego.
A trained architect, Fang previously served on the faculty at Syracuse University School of Architecture, where he taught undergraduate design studios focused on urban revitalization in shrinking cities and graduate seminars in critical cartography. His work has been exhibited internationally at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, the Saša Marčeta Foundation in Belgrade, University American College Skopje, and Syracuse University. He has held research roles at the Interactive Design and Visualization Lab (IDVL) / Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, developing Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM) applications, and has practiced with firms including Cottage Technologies, DOMAIN Office, and Fernando Romero.
Fang holds a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University, where his thesis on shrinking cities was a finalist for the Blackstone Launchpad IMPACT Prize for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He earned his B.A. in Architecture from the University of San Diego as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, where his research examined the political economy of mass housing production.
Education
- M.Arch, Syracuse University
- B.A. Architecture, University of San Diego