Müller-Meylan Lecture: Xu Tiantian (DnA_Design and Architecture)
7 PM
With the support of the Hans and Renée Müller-Meylan Stiftung
Please join us for the second in a series of three lectures with the protagonists of the exhibition and film series ‘Groundwork,’ on view now at the S AM. The first chapter in the series, ‘Into the Island,’ follows architect Xu Tiantian as she develops a series of precise interventions to highlight and reinforce living traditions on the island of Meizhou, China. In this lecture, Xu will present her approach of ‘architectural acupuncture’ and the ideas she is implementing in Meizhou and elsewhere in further detail.
Xu Tiantian (Fujian, 1975) is the founding principle of DnA_Design and Architecture in Beijing. She was admitted directly to the Department of Architecture at Tsinghua University in 1992. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua in 1997 and went on to earn a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) in 2000. She is currently a professor at the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University. Xu was named an International Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 2020 and elected a member of the German Academy of Arts (Akademie der Künste) in 2024. Her work has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Swiss Architectural Award (2022), the Berlin Art Prize (2023), the Marcus Prize for Architecture (USA, 2023), the Holcim Gold Award for Asia-Pacific (2023), and the UNESCO Global Award for Sustainable Architecture. In 2025, she received the Wolf Prize in Architecture. Xu has also held visiting professorships at Yale University and the Mendrisio Academy of Architecture in Switzerland.
Venue: S AM
Admission: Free
Language: English
Images:
1 Jinyun Quarry #8, Lishui, China, 2022 © Wang Ziling
2 Huangyan Quarry Cultural and Art Center, Taizhou, China, 2024 © Wang Ziling
3 Brown Sugar Factory, Songyang County, China, 2016 © Wang Ziling
4 Huiming Tea Space, Lishui, China, 2020 © Wang Ziling
5 Mudland Cultivation Trail, Meizhou, China, ongoing © Wang Ziling
6 Portrait Xu Tiantian
