Event Description
Across regions and cultures, we are seeing a growing convergence in building forms, streetscapes, and even the experiences our projects deliver. Too often, computer-generated imagery becomes the primary decision-making currency and rewards what looks familiar rather than what is culturally and regionally specific. As AI becomes embedded in urban design, masterplanning, and architectural workflows, the urgency increases: without a disciplined, culture-first method, we risk accelerating generic outcomes.
This lecture offers a practical countermeasure: a repeatable Place Process demonstrated through paired case examples from China/Asia and the U.S. Midwest, concluding with tools attendees can apply immediately, including a Sameness Diagnostic and a Place Test rubric for evaluating whether proposals are truly rooted in context.
Speaker
Gregory Yager, FAIA, Founder, GW Design Consultant Group
Moderator
Chris Chan, AIA, Chapter Representative, AIA Shanghai
Speaker Bios
Gregory A. Yager, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, and educator with more than four decades of international experience shaping cities, districts, and communities across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. His work focuses on the integration of architecture, urban design, landscape, and cultural context to create places that are contemporary while deeply rooted in local identity.
Over the course of his career, Yager has held senior leadership roles with global design firms including RTKL Associates and later Arcadis, where he served as Vice President and Senior Vice President leading multidisciplinary teams on complex mixed-use, waterfront, and urban redevelopment projects. While based in Shanghai, he directed numerous planning and urban design initiatives throughout China and across Asia, collaborating with public agencies, developers, and international institutions on projects ranging from new urban districts to historic urban revitalization.
Yager’s work is grounded in the belief that meaningful urban places emerge from a deep understanding of culture, history, landscape, and human experience. His approach emphasizes walkable urban environments, layered public spaces, and architecture that reflects the character and traditions of its setting.
In addition to professional practice, Yager has been active in architectural education. He has taught design studios and seminars at Kansas State University, including the university’s international program in Orvieto, Italy, and on the Manhattan, Kansas campus, focusing on contextual design and the cultural foundations of place-making.
A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Yager currently leads GW Design Consultant Group LLC, working with public and private partners on community development initiatives, rural revitalization strategies, and integrated plan-design-build projects in the United States and internationally.
