Leechen Zhu

Designer
Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

Leechen is a Designer at the Hudson Valley Design Lab. She joined MASS in 2023 as a design intern, contributing to the Youth Opportunity Union project. Her passion for designing for youth stems from her volunteer work in West Philadelphia high schools, where she witnessed the long-reaching effects of chronic disinvestment.

Leechen believes that design thinking is most impactful when it extends beyond buildings to encompass landscapes, data, and the human networks that connect them. In 2019, in conjunction with the Weitzman School of Design’s City & Regional Planning department, she conducted a statistical analysis exploring how local nonprofit capacity influences the effectiveness of the federal housing voucher program. In 2021, as part of the Penn Program for Environmental Humanities, she joined a three-person team investigating the health impacts of the shuttered Philadelphia oil refinery on nearby fenceline communities. In 2024, she collaborated with three landscape architecture students on a community-backed urban design proposal titled Siaya Eco-Park: A Vision for a Green, Inclusive Hub in Siaya’s Heart, which won the 2024 ASLA Student Award of Excellence in Urban Design.

One of her earliest community-driven initiatives was founding the Wellness Working Group during her graduate studies. This initiative fostered dialogue between the student body and departmental leadership, aiming to enhance the learning environment. In 2024, the committee was nominated for the Provost’s Honor for Developing New Initiatives.

Leechen holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also received her Bachelor of Arts in architecture and materials science. Before joining MASS, she was a façade design intern at Thornton Tomasetti and a design intern at EwingCole and NQH Architects.