After an introduction by Hernán Díaz Alonso, describes the path of his career. After his first year in the undergraduate architecture program at Carnegie Mellon, he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue. He sought advice from all the Pritzker Architecture Prize laureates, of whom only Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown responded. He became their assistant and employee, which clarified what he needed to learn: how to put a building together, how to manage a business, how to talk to real estate developers, and also to define for himself his place within architectural discourse, the global world outside of design, and his social purpose. After experience working with big firms “with genius systems”, he went to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.

Song stresses the need to stay informed about developments outside of ones geographic or disciplinary bubble. The real estate investment firm Axel Capital provides projects for his design firm, SCAAA, with offices in Los Angles, Seoul and Osaka. And Axle Impact venture capital investment firm monitors developments in technology and the economy.