Dami Lee encouraged architects to harness the power of storytelling at AIA25

Through the right lens, even the most mundane ideas can become objects of fascination. 

That’s the philosophy of Dami Lee, International Assoc. AIA, an architect whose YouTube channel has garnered over 200 million views. She’s carved out a niche making fast-paced videos that bring sometimes complex architectural topics to a wide audience. 

In Lee’s June 7 keynote at AIA25, she shared what she’s learned about making architecture topics interesting and accessible. 

“Architecture can be not-so-approachable,” she said. “That’s been our question for the last couple of years—how do we make architecture interesting for a broader audience?” The answers have powerful implications for how architects communicate the value of their work. 

“Unlearning” to reach a new audience 

Lee originally started her YouTube channel while she was in architecture school, to share resources with other students. “I was frustrated that there wasn’t a lot of material out there of people sharing their experiences,” she said. However, she noticed that the videos showcasing her own projects received the most engagement. 

“If you looked at the title in the [video] thumbnail, you wouldn’t realize that it was about architecture,” she said. “That’s what I decided to transition the channel from a channel for architects to a channel about architecture for a broader audience.” 

Lee became more serious about the channel and hired collaborators. “We learned a lot over the years, but it was also a lot of unlearning on how to talk about architecture,” she said. YouTube’s powerful analytics tools offer crucial data about what works with audiences and what doesn’t. 

The two biggest metrics + key lessons and tactics 

The two biggest metrics that Lee and her team look at when reviewing content performance, she said, are input (the hours and resources spent on making a video) and output (the resulting views and retention). 
“What we found is that no matter how much time we spend making something beautiful or technical or perfect, none of that really matters if we don’t spend the time to make it human and reframe architecture from the human angle,” she said. 

Lee shared how she and her team try to frame the narratives in the videos they share. What they’ve found, she said, is that there’s a hierarchy to information that a general audience will find interesting. 
They’ve come up with a funnel or pyramid-shaped structure, like the “inverted pyramid” used in journalism, to engage viewers early. 

At the top of the funnel are more emotional ideas, while more technical ones are on the bottom. “This is the typical structure of our stories. Once [the audience] is hooked, they’re more likely to keep watching,” she said. “They start learning without even realizing they’re learning.” Another tactic Lee and her team employ is switching back and forth between tension and data to capture short attention spans.

“Our goal is not just to present the data or talk about the architecture, but we want to show the architecture through the human; we want to show the human condition through the architecture,” she said. “We try to move people in some way.”

Lee emphasized that by building an emotional connection with her audience via high-quality content, she and her team have built a strong brand that translates to tangible financial benefits.

“Architectural information can be dense and sometimes flat, but by weaving it together with human elements, you can increase the comprehension and also increase the emotional connection.” 

"A lession in attracting what you want" 

Lee acknowledged that her last piece of advice could be controversial. While conventional wisdom among architects dictates, “Let the work speak for itself,” Lee said, “If I followed this advice, my business would not be possible.”

Instead, she advised architects, “Speak about the work that you want to do."

“You are the final human element, and you are the vessel that delivers your ideas,” she said. “I wouldn’t underestimate yourself in this equation.” 

Katherine Flynn is Director, Digital Content at AIA.