Dihua Wei

Trained in architecture at McGill University, Dihua develops a place-based design practice grounded in local materials and craft traditions. While working on Fogo Island from 2017-2019, she contributed to the heritage renovation of traditional fishing premises, an experience that continues to inform her design approach. Her work reinterprets vernacular forms and construction techniques to create architecture rooted in place yet relevant to contemporary life.
In 2020, she left Fogo Island to apprentice with master woodworker Mike Paterson, learning to build traditional wooden windows and doors. This hands-on experience reshaped her approach to design, teaching her that enduring design begins with an intimate understanding of materials and craft.
Today, she continues to deepen her material practice in Atelier Clark, crafting compact and lightweight wooden furniture for her apartment as a personal pursuit. Working within a community of makers, she explores making as a way of thinking, nurtured by collective intelligence.