Cynthia Deng

Cynthia Deng is pursuing a dual Master in Architecture and Master in Urban Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Raised in an environmentally-conscious immigrant family, she has been especially fascinated by cultural conceptions of waste and how they shape the built environment. From waste audits of undergraduate residential colleges to investigating illegal dumping for a Riverkeeper organization, she has developed an interest in the complex local and international networks that have evolved around trash in the wake of heightened consumerism and contemporary social forces.

She holds a B.A. in Architecture with distinction from Yale University and has worked as an architectural designer in New York and Beijing on a variety of project scales.