Doris Sung


Born in 1964, Doris Sung is a Korean American architect and educator in the Greater Los Angeles area. With a focus on smart materials, like thermo bimetals, Sung explores non-conventional architectural applications primarily driven by geometry and her background in biology. Some recent work and installations include Bloom, a stitched sun-tracking instrument, Invert, a no-energy sun shading system, and Fuller, a self-structured sculpture currently exhibited at the South Coast Botanic Garden.

Career

In 1986, Doris Sung graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture at Princeton University and the Grace May Tilton Award. Sung went on tenure-track at the University of Colorado in Denver in 1997. During this period, Sung started her firm DOSU Studio Architecture with work predominantly in the start-up tech industry and received several American Institute of Architects awards for her designs. In 2001, Doris moved to Los Angeles for a position at Southern California Institute of Architecture until 2006 when she started teaching at the University of Southern California. Around this time, Sung converted her practice into a research-based one. In 2016, she received tenure from USC, and currently serves as the Program Director of the Undergraduate Division of Architecture at USC. Sung is also the co-founder of TBM Designs LLC, a start-up company for smart building products that makes Invert Self-Shading Windows. The Invert window system received several innovation awards including a 2020 R&D Award from Architect Magazine.