Cerritos College Student’s Design to be Featured in 2008 Beijing Olympics
For Immediate Release: June 27, 2006
Media Contact: Kristen Habbestad, Public Affairs; (562) 860-2451, ext. 2287
Yang, of Anaheim, was the only student whose submission won—all of the other submissions came from architectural houses based in bastions of design—London, Paris and Tokyo. Unlike the other contest winners, Yang produced his mock-up design on a student’s modest budget and relied upon the open-24-hours convenience of Kinko’s to meet the contest’s deadline.
“I didn’t know if I had a chance or not, but I thought I’d try,” says Yang.
Yang’s design is simple, yet fascinating: it entails an open, stage-like area in the middle of the pavilion. The area is paved with see-through, acrylic-type material under which are 2,008 light bulbs arranged only a few inches apart in neat rows.
The area will act like a giant, flat, ground-level marquee underneath visitors’ feet. The lights can be synchronized to blink messages, advertising slogans, repeat color patterns that blink in time to accompanying music, or to display the time in giant numerals.
Yang says he thought of the light display because of its transcendence across cultures and through time.
“I think if they build buildings [in the Olympic village], after 50 years, they will be old,” Yang explains.
“But the lights can change and keep current—like life.”
Yang is a first-year Cerritos College student who came to the United States from the green, fertile Chengdu Plain area of China’s Sichuan Province. An aspiring artist, Yang was undaunted by the size and unfamiliarity of Los Angeles when he arrived two years ago. His own home city boasts a population of 11 million, and so the densely populated Los Angeles area was reminiscent of home.
Before enrolling in Cerritos College, Yang attended Montecito Fine Arts School in Arcadia. There, he says he learned to generate ideas, record them and to prepare a portfolio of samples.
When he enrolled at Cerritos College, Yang changed his declared major from psychology to design. He says this change came about after he spent time talking with an elderly acquaintance he met through one of his classes; having the wisdom of experience, his acquaintance encouraged him to pursue his passion in school.
“I wanted to study something that I like,” explains Yang.
“So, I decided to pursue art in school—drawing, filmmaking, anything I like.”
Currently, Yang is taking courses in free-hand drawing, Photoshop software, photography and in storyboarding—a technique used heavily in the film industry for conceptualizing a project visually prior to filming.
Yang plans to apply to art school once he earns his associate’s degree at Cerritos College. He says he’s also eager to travel more extensively and to learn about other cultures. Meantime, he’s quite philosophical about his studies and gifts, particularly with respect to the nexus of his studies and his Chinese heritage.
“Like music, good design can be understood by all people,” he says.