People

Christina Cho Yoo

Christina Cho Yoo, AIA, PE, LEED AP BD+C is co-founder of Atelier Cho Thompson. She received a BS & MS in civil & structural engineering and construction management at Stanford University and received a masters in architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She was a structural engineer at the international engineering company Arup, where she was the Structural Sustainability Champion for the Americas & worked on projects such as the LEED-Double Platinum California Academy of Sciences, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Kaiser hospitals, Schroder Overcrossing, and various other projects. She went onto work at architecture firms internationally including Kao Design Group on Richard Branson's Eco-Island, SHoP Architects on the Google HQ, Neri & Hu in Shanghai, Mass Studies in Seoul, and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson on Apple stores, the Apple iAd office, and the Square HQ. Christina is a licensed architect (CA) and professional engineer (CA) and has been LEED accredited for over 20 years.

Her work has spanned typologies from residences, hospitals, libraries, schools, labs, museums, innovative workplaces, hospitality and food service, to retail, exhibits, furniture, and graphics for various organizations. Before architecture school, she staged at Tartine Bakery while taking courses at the California Culinary Academy. She has lectured on Green R&D at Harvard and served as a critic at Parsons, Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley, & the California College of the Arts (CCA). She has been a Lecturer at UC-Berkeley and an Adjunct Professor at the CCA, having taught studios on Ruinophilia & the Off-Modern Ruin with Neri&Hu, the Post-Retail City with Chris Roach of Studio Vara, and Integrated Building Systems.

Ming Thompson

Ming Thompson, AIA, IIDA, NOMA, is co-founder of Atelier Cho Thompson.  As a practicing architect, Ming is focused on bettering human experience through design; she insists that good design must occur at all scales, from the building to the furniture to the logo, and everything in between. Ming is a licensed architect in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut and was a winner of the 2020 AIA Young Architect Award.

Ming studied architecture at Yale University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Before founding ACT, she spent time working for large and small firms around the globe. Deeply interested in bringing the arts to the public, Ming has worked in museums and galleries throughout her career, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the National Gallery of Art, and has created and managed exhibitions as an independent curator. Outside of architecture, Ming is a First-Year Advisor at Yale and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Yale-China Association, the Board of Directors of the New Haven Preservation Trust, and Harvard Graduate School of Design Alumni Council. She currently teaches at the Yale School of Architecture.

Mary Kate Graeff

Mary Kate is a designer driven by the power of architecture to shape community interactions. She has designed for contexts as varied as metropolitan New York City and rural India through the Yamuna River Project in Jaipur. Prior to her time in New Haven, she worked on multi-family style projects in Washington DC, including a project that brought 125 units of affordable housing to one of DC’s busiest neighborhoods.

Before that, she graduated from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, where her thesis focused on the architectural typology of the church and its role in the growing urban/rural divide in the Shenandoah Valley. Her work is anchored in community, sustainability, and culture, and she is inspired by both her roots in Virginia's Blue Ridge and her extensive experience abroad.

When not at work, Mary Kate can be found at the nearest museum or coffee shop, or tracking down the best food in the city and sneaking bites to her dog under the table.

Neeta Patel

Neeta Patel is a graphic designer based in New Haven, CT. Her practice focuses on visually-driven design as a tool for sharing and organizing. Neeta works across many media and formats including visual identities and systems, environmental graphics, signage, publications, print ephemera, artists’ books, websites—and more. Her work prioritizes its audiences over any one visual style.
 
Before joining ACT, Neeta worked both independently and, in various configurations, for organizations including The New Yorker, Center for Book Arts, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and Linked by Air. Neeta holds an M.F.A. in Graphic Design from Yale School of Art and a B.A. in Visual Arts and Computer Science from Princeton University. She has taught graphic design at the University of New Haven and The Cooper Union and has served as guest lecturer and critic in design classrooms at Parsons School of Design, Princeton University, Rutgers University, the School of Visual Arts, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Outside of all-things-design, Neeta enjoys running, playing tennis, and fixing bikes at Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op.

Bridget Hewitt

Bridget grew up in Connecticut and earned both her B.A. in Architecture and Master of Architecture from Clemson University. Before joining Atelier Cho Thompson, she worked in Charlotte and Atlanta across education, healthcare, and sports projects.

Bridget is interested in the experiential qualities of architecture and how the same space can be perceived and understood differently by each person who encounters it. This perspective shapes her approach to accessibility, which she sees as extending beyond physical access to consider how welcoming, intuitive, safe, and approachable a space feels. She also loves rendering and visualization as a way to make design ideas more accessible and engaging.

Outside the studio, Bridget loves staying active through yoga, Pilates, cycling, or anything by the water. She enjoys traveling, trying out new hobbies, spending time with her family and her dog, Piper, and, of course, all things Clemson.

Sophie Duncan

Sophie Duncan is a New Haven-based designer who sees their practice as a portal to collaboration, imagination, and close observation. Drawing on their interdisciplinary background, Sophie uses tactile exploration to ask questions that leads them to unexpected places. 

Sophie is also passionate about youth empowerment and education and was a founding board member of RYSE, which fosters literacy, confidence, and community among K-12 refugee youth in Rhode Island. They are currently Co-chair of the Board of Directors for RYSE. Prior to design, Sophie worked at environmental non-profits and is particularly proud of the accessibility initiatives, internship programs, and partnerships they helped develop and lead. Sophie completed their MSc in Biogeography at the University of British Columbia, and received a B.A. in classics and environmental studies from Brown University.

Sophie derives immense, daily joy from their work as a graphic designer on projects that make the world a more habitable and humane place. When not looking out the window, Sophie spends their time swimming in the ocean and pursuing coursework in type design, lettering, and calligraphy.

Past Staff

Daniel Hui

Marcus Busby

Ken Yip

Sue Lee

Mikaela Leo

Liz Lessig

Huy Troung

Ella Hopfner

Jia Joy Hu

Caitlin Yu

Fany Kuzmova

Anjiang Xu

Julie Yen

Claudia Carle

Alex Mingda Zhang

Serena Ching

Carrie Luk

Fallon James

Michelle Badr

Emily Cass

Tianyu Guan

Xiaohui Wen

Layla Ni

Baolin Shen

Minji Seol

Jen Tai

Shikha Thakali

Marie Corriveau