A Designing Woman: Hazel Sun’s Approach to Crafting Spaces

Hazel Sun has a knack for blending art, architecture, and landscape together in such a way as to create spaces that are both natural and commercial, while also emphasizing connection and community. Her professional journey has been one of bridging different creative disciplines, and she has a talent for using design to bring together culture, commerce, and natural environments.

Sun earned a Bachelor of Architecture with honors from Pratt Institute, where she received a merit scholarship, and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has earned her recognition through several accolades, including the NYCXDESIGN “Student Category” Winner, the UNI International Architecture Competition “Editor’s Choice,” and the Pratt Institute “Top Honor” Degree Project Award.

Currently, Sun works at Hart Howerton, an internationally recognized firm known for its large-scale hospitality projects. Beyond her design work, she has served as a Teaching Assistant at the Wharton School of Business, during which she connected design principles with business strategies. Deeply committed to education and community engagement, she also volunteers at AIA | Center for Architecture.

Sun’s creative curiosity extends to technology and art; her AI-based art was featured in an exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrating her interest in new media as a tool for spatial storytelling. Her focus areas include hospitality and placemaking, and she has ambitions to design natural environments within commercial settings.

Sun’s personal story includes a lifelong involvement with art, starting with her drawing lessons as a teenager. Her teachers were supportive and encouraged her to explore the arts. Later, during her time in Brooklyn, the city’s creative energy and places like the Museum of Modern Art helped to further shape her artistry.

During that time, she became fascinated by the power of New York’s public spaces to bring diverse communities together. From hidden pocket parks to bustling plazas, these spaces demonstrated how design can create connections across different socioeconomic backgrounds. She views design as a tool for building community, and she enjoys combining art, architecture, and landscape into her own unique creative expression.

Her inspiration comes from her deep appreciation for creativity and a desire to understand how design works in urban, commercial, and cultural settings. While she values traditional architectural education, she also seeks to apply theoretical frameworks to real-world practice, which has led her to explore how creative ideas can work with real estate, hospitality, and travel to shape diverse environments.

Early in her journey, Sun grappled with perfectionism and self-comparison—pressures common among emerging artists. Over time, she reframed her creative process around experimentation and growth.

“I’ve learned that creativity isn’t about achieving flawlessness – it’s about committing to one idea and iterating with rigor,” she explains. “Now I approach each project as an evolving dialogue rather than a final statement.” She feels this shift in perspective has enhanced her abilities as a designer and has helped her collaborate and build better resilience. Today, she believes it’s important for an artist to embrace their authentic artistic voice while avoiding comparisons to others.

Hazel Sun plans to continue developing her design skills, particularly in the hospitality industry. She wants to create spaces that become, as she calls it, “destinations.” She also aspires to write a book on design and creativity, contributing her unique vision to her field.