Lilian Cao
CV / Contact

Hello! I’m Lilian, a designer based in San Francisco and New York. I’m currently pursuing a B.Sc in Design + Environmental Analysis at Cornell University, and I’m interested in creating environments, spaces, and experiences that soothe, excite, inspire, and invigorate. Take a look at what I’ve been working on!



I.  SPATIAL DESIGN
II. GRAPHIC DESIGN
III. FUN

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FUN!


I. CREATIVE DIRECTION / Thread Magazine
“FAIR PLAY”
“THE WATCHERS”
“LEATHER”
2024-2025

Creative direction.

Every part of our photoshoots, from styling to makeup to photography, is entirely student-run! 


Photographers:
Noor Sattar
Peter Radzio
Dylan Rojas-Pederzini
Mikko Liivak
Jasper Drake
Sarah Hathorn
Claudine Miller
Adam Stein
Annie Park


II. VIRTUAL EXPERIMENTS


Minecraft.

Experimentation in urban design, housing solutions, transit solutions, zoning, physical realities of socioeconomic class, geopolitical environments, and architectural typology.

I leverage Minecraft as a medium for exploring questions I have about the built environment, such as:
  • What makes a city “feel” urban?
  • Do roads serve us, or do we serve roads?
  • How does the relationship between rural/urban shift over time and with development?
  • How do cars affect us on an urban scale?  What would a city built around a different form of transit look like?
  • What, or who, defines the perimeter of a city? What do we consider inside versus outside?
  • How can an urbanscape coexist with its landscape (mountains, deep canyons, etc.)? 








III. CERAMIC EXPLORATION
TEAPOT / Crystal Springs Uplands School.
April 2023

Startnig from absolutely no prior experience working with clay or ceramics, I taught myself how to throw and build a teapot in one month.







III. THE DRAGON 
DRAGON HEAD
Fall 2022

Dragon head prop created from foam board and expanding spray foam and hotwire for Crystal Springs Uplands School’s fall production of “The Dragon,” a satirical play written by Evgeny Schwartz and directed by Bennett Fisher.







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© 2025 Lilian Cao.