I’m Darius Luo, a senior architectural engineering student with a minor in sustainability engineering. I was born and raised in New York City and I miss the subway a little more every time I have to order from a ride-sharing app.

My Relationship with Art

I grew up believing that I was going to become an artist. One of my biggest hobbies throughout my childhood was drawing but I was never able to reach my own standards. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with art due to self-imposed pressure but, in the past few years, I’ve been focusing on developing a more positive relationship between us. Choosing art as my humanities depth was a very deliberate choice as I knew sweat and tears would inevitably be shed. My journey in art and my expectations with myself throughout college has been an incredibly rewarding one.

My work and class experiences have allowed me to become well-versed in various 3D modeling programs and gave me some experience in making physical models. I also have previous experience in general CAD design, 3D printers, CNC mills, laser cutters, and woodworking from my industrial design concentration in high school. More recently, I competed for the ballroom dance team during my first two years at WPI. As someone who didn’t have a musical bone in their body, this was an incredibly unexpected development. I learned how to count music, practiced almost everyday, and competed in every style available to me at the time.

As a result of my past experiences, I approach art cautiously in my current life as I’m aware of the effect it can have on me. Drawing has been mostly limited to casual doodling. I still use 3D modeling programs for work/classes and plan to use them during this academic year for personal 3D printing and laser cutting projects. I will continue these projects in my post-college life in addition to woodworking and social ballroom dancing.

My creative inspirations are often based in green architecture, especially those that combine form with function. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters is a famous net-zero project with moveable facades for access to an interior courtyard. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology features dye-sensitized solar cells that generate solar energy while creating a gorgeously colorful glazed facade. These buildings and architectural elements remind me that things can be beautiful while still serving another purpose. I also greatly appreciate artwork that provides social commentary. Although not a form of artwork I create, Bo Burnham’s “Inside” special compels me to create something with a deeper meaning.

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Recent Projects

My most recent project that I’m proud of is a mobile farm stand I helped design for a nonprofit organization for early childhood education with many constraints. I modeled potential designs in SketchUp and helped construct the finished product.

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For my last architectural studio class, I designed a net-zero library where I had to balance aesthetics with energy efficiency while still being up-to-code and having all the necessary spaces.

I’ve always struggled to draw people and chose to focus on drawing figures everyday for one of my art classes.

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A still life using pastels, an apple, and one of the juggling balls you receive as part of your freshman initiation.

And last but not least, for my architectural studio class focusing on lighting and daylighting, I helped conceptualize, design, and model an ecology center that our professor referred to as “a daylighting machine.”

I look forward to meeting all of you and seeing the projects we’ll come up with! Let’s make our first term back in-person a good one.

Cheers,