Strokes of genius
When it was time to register for her design studio course, Sophie Burke was a woman on a mission: to do whatever it took to get into Ping Xu’s class.
“It was like buying concert tickets,” Burke (EnvDes’25) recalled with a laugh. “Everyone wanted to be in her studio.”
CMDI’s environmental design department curated a collection of work by Ping Xu and her students that was unveiled during a ceremony celebrating her impact as a teacher and researcher.Photo by Jack Moody.
In retrospect, getting into that studio course was even sweeter, as it turned out to be the last one Xu taught: In the spring, she retired from teaching architecture after 36 years at the University of Colorado, her home since completing advanced degrees from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. She is now professor emeritus of environmental design at CMDI.
And while her design studio course emphasized what Xu called “step by step, slow technology”—sketching and model building by hand—it wasn’t the only course where she brought different perspectives to generations of architects. She also taught popular courses on watercolor and feng shui; in all her classes, she emphasized experiential learning as a way of inspiring students’ creativity and critical thinking skills.
One of the best pieces of advice Sophie Burke got from Ping Xu was to not lose a great idea when it enters your head. ‘It doesn’t need to be perfect; you just need to get it out’ before you lose it,’ she said. Burke, right, poses with Xu after graduating in 2025.Photo courtesy Sophie Burke.
“She taught us about feng shui as a type of systems thinking,” said Burke, who recently left her role as an architectural designer with ǸԹ-based Coburn Architects to pursue work in New York.
“Ping taught us to see feng shui as a set of rules to base a design premise on, a starting point for your creativity. I think about it all the time in my work.”
Xu, a well-known consultant and prolific researcher on feng shui, published a plethora of papers on the ancient Chinese practice, often tying it to broader themes like how Indigenous peoples chose where to build or explaining wildfires and other disasters.
Doing well in her watercolor classes, meanwhile, meant mastering concepts like sketching, color, Impressionist theory, even using the brush correctly. Mackinzi Taylor (EnvDes’17) became a teaching assistant to Xu after completing the course, which she described as “less about art technique, and so much more about developing an eye for the world.”
“Her watercolor technique trained you to be an observer who looks for patterns and connections,” said Taylor, a project manager at the nonprofit Community Builders, in Glenwood Springs. “It forced you to become thoughtful and careful, and develop an attention to detail that every design professional needs.”
Xu also taught not to let that attention to detail stifle early-stage creativity.
“We can all relate to having a creative thought but losing it before you can express it,” Burke said. “Ping taught us to just sketch it—it doesn’t have to be perfect; you just need to get it out.”
Students said Xu recognized the difficulty of intense studio courses, and worked to create friendships in the class—Burke recalled a site visit where Xu asked passing hikers to take photos of the group. It was one way Xu balanced the demanding nature of the work with empathy for the challenges of succeeding in what she called “a moody and difficult major.”
“She demanded excellence, but with a warmth and a humor that made you want to do the hard work and grow,” Taylor said. “She asks something extra of you—and when you find out you can give it, it’s incredibly rewarding.”
Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.