Yearbook 2013 - 2014 | XJTLU Department of Architecture

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University 

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE 

2013–2014

Introduction 

This book is a celebration of both the students’ work and their teachers at the 

Department of Architecture at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), Suzhou, 

China. It also marks the first time we have had all four years of our Bachelor of 

Engineering Architecture programme operating and hence, it represents the first 

graduating cohort of students from this institution. 

The Department of Architecture at XJTLU was established in 2011 with 7 members 

of staff, headed by Dr Thomas Fischer, after the spearheading efforts of Professor 

André Brown, then Head of the Liverpool School of Architecture. 

The core mission of the department is the critical architect, operating in a climate 

of open architectural discourse; we value risk taking and speculative experiments. 

We take for granted the autonomy and confidence of architects to change the built 

environment and beyond, while we seek to frame new definitions of modernism 

and humanism in architecture, in the effort to generate an international standing 

for the department in both research and practice of architecture. 

Students have the option of completing their studies in China at XJTLU, or 

articulating to the Liverpool School of Architecture after two years of studies at 

XJTLU. 

Since the establishment of the department, we have now grown to 25 members 

of staff, from 15 countries, and 370 students. We have secured RIBA Part I 

International Candidate Course status for the BEng Architecture programme, 

achieved Degree Awarding Powers in China, and have launched our new MArch 

programme. We have redesigned the initial curriculum to better fit the Chinese 

context along with the research and practice expertise of members of staff. I 

am certain that the always-restless Department of Architecture will continue to 

challenge the boundaries of the curriculum, to serve our purpose in becoming one 

of the best architecture schools in China. 

Beyond the field trips, studios, exhibitions and conferences, student magazines and 

competitions, the awards and recognition, I am immensely proud of the students 

and graduates of the department, and of the care that has been generously given 

by the academic staff in the push to shape the critical student. 

As a labor of love, we have not avoided ‘mistakes’, rather we have sought them 

out in the vicious cycle of testing to failure, testing and experimenting again, never 

failing to retry, try to improve again. The only reason for this is the immense, deep 

belief in human achievement and working for the future, a belief underpinning 

our academic community.In continuing this effort the question still remains: Why 

do we do this? Why a new Department of Architecture? Do we really want to be 

excellent? 

In this I am hopeful the future answer is still going to be Yes, and I look forward 

to see the next iteration of this book expand to contain even more the results 

of studio teaching, faculty research and projects along with our discussions and 

actions for (re)generating architecture. 

Special thanks to all staff of the Department of Architecture, for the achievements 

thus far. 

Theodoros Dounas 

Acting Head of Department 

Department of Architecture. Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Special Thanks 

Collective efforts are made easy with the support of unique, invaluable individuals. 

The establishment and growth of the Department of Architecture at XJTLU 

was supported by the following colleagues and collaborators from outside the 

department: 

Professor Youmin Xi, Executive President; Professor David Sadler, former Vice 

President of Academic Affairs XJTLU; Sylvia Franke, former Director of the Centre 

of Academic Affairs; Professor David O’Connor, Dean of Research; Dr Stuart Perrin, 

Dean of Learning and Teaching; Dr Jessica Sewell, Urban Planning and Design 

HoD; Kirsty Mattinson, Head of ISRS; Tom Ennis, Marketing Manager; Chuanhui 

Zhu, Head of Registry; Built Environment cluster and Language Centre staff, at 

XJTLU. 

At University of Liverpool, I would like to thank: 

Professor André Brown, former HoD of the Liverpool School of Architecture, 

now Vice President of Academic Affairs at XJTLU; Dr Andrew Crompton, HoD of 

Liverpool School of Architecture; and Dr Torsten Schmiedeknecht, BA programme 

director. 

T.D.

Contents 

Introduction 

Contents 

Level 00 - Year 1 

ARC002 Architectural Representation and Communication 


ARC107 History of Western Architecture 

ARC110 Humanities and Culture 

ARC103 Introduction to Environmental Science 

ARC104 Structure and Materials 

ARC108 Construction and Materials 

ARC101 Design Studio 




ARC203 History of Asian Architecture 

ARC206 Urban Studies 

ARC201 Environmental Design and Sustainability 

ARC202 Structural Design 




ARC303 Architectural Theory 

ARC308 Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics 

ARC306 Professional Practice 

ARC301 Architectural Technology 



Departmental Activities 

Faculty and Staff

Level 00 

Study Year 1 

BEng Architecture 

2013/2014

ARC002 

XJTLU Architecture 2013-14 

LEVEL 00 

Design Module 

12

ARC002 

Architectural Representation and 

Communication 


2013/2014 

ARC002 

Architectural Representation and 

Communication 

Level 0 (Study Year 1) 

Module Credit: 5 

Module coordinator: 

Thomas Fischer 

Teaching team: 

Marian Macken 

Christiane M. Herr 

Yiping Dong 

191 students 

Photo, Thomas Fischer 

Architectural Representation and Communication familiarises students 

with architectural perceptions and expressions. Students are introduced 

to basic architectural communication and its representational languages. 

This includes the reading and production of different kinds of drawing, 

model making and writing, addressing architectural concerns such as 

buildings, spaces and objects. Additionally, this module familiarises 

students with some notable architects and buildings. Students attend 

lectures, demonstrations, and work on a series of individual in-class and 

homework exercise assignments. Assessed deliverables are two models 

and a poster, as well as a report document containing outcomes of all inclass 

and homework exercises. 

13

Li Xiang 李想 

Liu Xin 刘鑫 

Zhang Kexin 张可心 

14 XJTLU Architecture 2013-14

ARC002 Design 

15

Li Xiang 李想 

Quan Zhuoran 全倬冉 

Shen Liyuan 沈立元 

Shi Haoyu 石浩宇 


ARC002 Design 

17

Level 01 

Study Year 2 



ARC107 


LEVEL 01 

History of Western Architecture 

20

ARC107 




ARC107 





Anuradha Chatterjee 


María Fullaondo 

Javier Fernández Contreras 


Yiping Dong 

Edward Farrell 


Austin Williams 

186 students 

Class Drawing Excercise, Wu Zhouyu 

De Stijl Workshop, Lai Fanyi 

De Stijl Workshop, Zhang Yanzhe 

History of Western Architecture gives students a generous overview of 

the vast field of architectural history but with an emphasis on inquiring 

into some topics in depth. It focuses on the designerly aspects of these 

histories so that these discussions become useful to design studio 

education. The module also enables students to develop drawing and 

essay writing skills through class-based formative exercises. One of the 

key aims is to strengthen critical thinking and an individual stance in the 

students. The module requires each student to select two separate topics 

and reconcile them in an essay, connected to analysis of real buildings in 

Shanghai. This shifts the teaching of architectural history from a history 

of images of buildings only, to real buildings in an urban context. The 

module also includes guest lectures, contributing a variety of approaches 

and voices. 

21

ARC110 


LEVEL 01 

Humanities in Architecture 

22

ARC110 




ARC110 



Module Credit: 2.5 


Andrew Johnston 

190 students 

Photo, Ciro Márquez 

This module introduces students to architecture and the built environment 

as a broadly humanistic concern and supports their future studio work 

by introducing them to theories and methods on the relationship 

between humans and space. This not only gives students more analytical 

approaches to architecture and design, but also emphasises for them the 

relationship between architecture, people, and society. 

The aims of ARC110 are to introduce students to approaches to 

architecture, urbanism, space, and the built environment that originate 

in the humanities and social sciences, including geography, sociology, 

anthropology, and history. The outcomes are that students will systematise 

a range of approaches to thinking about space and the built environment, 

and demonstrate uses of basic methods of data collection and analysis 

based in humanistic disciplines. 

23

ARC103 


LEVEL 01 

Introduction to Environmental Design 

24

ARC103 




ARC103 





Sung-Hugh Hong 


A. Benjamin Spaeth 



185 students 

Photo, Thomas Fischer 

Drawing, Bian Zhifan 

This module introduces the students to the principles of environmental 

science in buildings. The module focuses on the quantitative aspect of 

building science where the students learn the basic physics essential 

to the understanding of energy and environmental performance of a 

building. 

Students learn the climatic conditions that are relevant to building design; 

the factors that influence human thermal comfort; the basic principles 

of heat transfer mechanism; the role of different construction layers in a 

typical domestic wall; window performance; the impact of building fabric 

on energy consumption and thermal comfort; the difference between 

building energy efficiency and energy consumption; and fundamentals in 

daylighting, artificial lighting design and room acoustics. 

Upon completion of this module, students are able to: specify and 

design basic building walls and carry out relevant calculations to deliver 

building code specified energy performance standards; understand 

how buildings consume energy and are able to calculate building energy 

consumption; and design and specify the number and type of lamps 

required to deliver recommended lighting levels in typical rooms. 

25

ARC104 


LEVEL 01 

Structure and Materials 

26

ARC104 

Structure and Materials 



ARC104 

Structures and Materials 






Ciro Márquez 

187 students 

Tongji University, Construction Festival 2014 

Construction Site Visits. Photo, Christiane 

M. Herr, Sun Chenxing 

Drawing, Jin Yilei 

Structures are integral to buildings. They contribute not only to functional 

aspects by supporting loads but also form spaces and thus help to create 

architectural qualities. ARC104 provides students with an understanding 

of basic structural principles, basic types of structural systems and their 

relationships to common construction materials. The module introduces 

students to holistic design approaches that aim to integrate architectural 

intentions and structural considerations with a view to local construction 

contexts. 

To support architecture students’ ways of working in the design studio, 

students are encouraged to learn through designing and building 

experimental models. Structural understanding is approached primarily 

through visual means, case studies and applied exercises. Structural 

and material appropriateness are discussed with a focus on architectural 

design concerns and in the context of different regional building cultures. 

The module further encourages inter-disciplinary learning and awareness 

as contemporary architectural practice involves and requires team working 

between architects and engineers. As part of this module, engineers 

and architects are invited to give guest lectures or guest reviews for 

architecture students’ cross-disciplinary learning and awareness. 

27

ARC108 


LEVEL 01 

Construction and Materials 

28

ARC108 




ARC108 



Module Credit: 2.5 




Ciro Márquez 

189 students 

Photo, A. Benjamin Spaeth 

This module introduces students to the basics of construction methods 

and materiality. The students are familiarised with the use of materiality 

in architectural construction and its influence on the design process by 

identifying, researching and analysing examples of architecture in which 

the use of material is significant. 

The module is concerned with constructions in timber, concrete, steel, 

and masonry as well as with constructive principles of stairs, ramps, 

roofs, openings and insulation. The focus of this module lies in the 

tectonics of materials and their architectural dimension. 

Through self-selected case studies, students explore the texture, 

structure, haptic, colour and other physical material properties of their 

chosen project, in order to understand the significance of materiality 

in architecture. On the basis of these individual studies, students form 

groups to represent their findings as a poster presentation to the public. 

29

ARC101 


LEVEL 01 

Design Studio 

30

ARC101 

Design Thinking and Articulation 



ARC101 

Design Thinking and Articulation 




Marian Macken 




Ciro Márquez 

Ganna Andrianova 




Yiping Dong 

186 students 

Exercise 1: Lv Yixin, Yang Yuxun, Luo Yili, 

Yin Kaifeng. Photo, Ganna Andrianova 

This studio, the students’ first design studio, introduces relationships 

between the conception and representation of space through material 

explorations. The module is structured through a series of four integrated 

and cumulative exercises, completed and documented in a Design Book. 

The exercises are undertaken in groups and individually, with students 

working between scales of 1:1, 1:100 and 1:200. The main media of the 

module are physical models – as a combination of prescribed materials, 

techniques and intentions – drawings, and digital media. The exercises 

encourage ongoing research and use of precedents. 

This work is translated into a Design Book, which contains documentation 

of the exercises undertaken in ARC101, and additional material. It is an 

edited, designed artefact that is a compilation of work, carefully selected 

from process work, models, and research, with accompanying text. It is 

interpretive of narrative and presents work that is analytical, emphatically 

edited, sequential and reflective in tone. 

31

Xu Shuying 徐书盈 

Xu Chenyu 徐晨雨 

Ni Yunqian 倪韻倩 

Zhang Cuicheng 张璀宬 

Exercise 1 Wear: trio/triform/triplet>>wearing a conversation 

An apparatus, worn by three people 

to create a space for conversation, 

consists of three void semi-columns. 

They are combined with each 

other by three strips of card paper 

on the surface of the columns. A 

space for conversation offers more 

communicational inspiration when it 

is dynamic and flexible: the space you 

create is not what you feel but what 

others feel. 



33

Wang Xiao 王骁 

Zhang Qi 张琪 

Zhang Jialin 张嘉林 

Zhang Danyang 张丹阳 

Zhu Minxuan 朱旻轩 

Exercise 1 Wear: trio/triform/triplet>>wearing a conversation 

The key word of this exercise is 

‘limitation’. In this situation, a hat could 

control participants’ heads in order 

to focus on conversation. This design 

aims to prevent participants turning 

in other directions to do something 

else. Our team members all agree 

that communication is not just talking. 

We set one participant as a listener 

who listens to the other three; or this 

idea could also be explained as the 

conversation between three people 

is the imagination of the listener. We 

made a ‘skylight’ for the person in 

the middle, and use string to connect 

the skylight with ‘hats’. The skylight 

was designed for the listener to look 

through the pattern to observe the sky. 



35

Jin Yilei 金怡蕾 

Exercise 2 Void>solid>void: a sectional model 

Sketch sequences form a process of 

procuring volumetric drawings about 

the enclosed space of Exercise 1. 

These volumetric drawings directly 

extract sparse linear features, such as 

silhouettes, using a framework. Doing 

volumetric drawing requires 

imagination, but deepens my 

understanding of the space, since it is 

transformed from a plane into a 

volume. 



37

Tan Shuang 谭爽 

Exercise 2 Void>solid>void: a sectional model 

Group drawing: Tan Shuang, Tianchi Chen, Youdi Gu, Xun He 



39

Yang Xiaoshuang 杨晓霜 

Hu Yaofang 胡耀方 

Exercise 3 Move // record: documenting action 

We are curious about the comparision 

between chopsticks and knives and 

forks. We chose the activity of eating 

noodles because people in China 

generally use chopsticks to eat which 

is different from the people living 

in Western countries. We recorded 

eating noodles and pie to investigate 

the movement of eating tools. We 

used to think designing a building just 

requires models and drawings such as 

plan, section and perspective. But now 

we think the interior space experience 

is also an important factor to consider 

and we should also use drawings to 

explain how people can experience 

and use the space. 



41

Li Yuxi 李禹熙 

Yang Yiwei 杨一苇 

Exercise 3 Move // record: documenting action 

We want to study the activity of a 

part of the body instead of the whole 

body. Among those parts of the body, 

the hands are often considered as the 

most flexible. 



43

Lai Fanyi 赖凡伊 


Xia Jinling 夏金灵 

Dai Anni 戴安妮 

Design Books 



45

ARC105 


LEVEL 01 

Design Studio 

46

ARC105 

Design Studio 



ARC105 

Small Space Design 








Ciro Márquez 

Marian Macken 




Yiping Dong 

Harry den Hartog 

Wu Lei 

Chris Hardie 

186 students 

Photo, Ganna Andrianova 

Artist’s House 

Houses for creative people always have some specific points of difference 

with everyday houses. For people not involved in this field, creative 

people sometimes seem a bit crazy and unusual; they are not of this 

world, starry-eyed, relaxed and contemplative. The creative process asks 

for curiosity, for free-thinking people to explore the world around them. 

A house for an artist requires an atmosphere for creativity, and spaces 

for thinking. 

This module requires students to design a house for an artist from the 

following fields: 

- Visual arts: drawing, painting, design, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, 

crafts, photography, video, filmmaking or architecture. 

- Creative writing: novels, biographies, short stories, poems, writing for 

kids or teens. 

- Music: classical, folk, rock, popular, music related to different musical 

instruments. Your artist could be a musician or a singer. 

- Dancing and drama: folk, hip-hop, Latin dance, traditional jazz, house, 

punk, contact improvisation, swing dance, experimental dance and 

ballet. 

The students create a detailed personal story and profile for their subject, 

and their particular creative sub-group, and reflect that profile in their 

design proposal. The artist’s house is located on a site in the old city 

centre of Suzhou, offering the opportunity to work in an urban context. 

47


Artist’s House: House for a Painter 

The flows of starry night collide and 

fuse together and complete the dark 

night. The whole world is floating just 

like the painter’s dream. A house for 

a painter would lead him to lightness 

and torsion, and complete the very 

dream of him. I intend to design 

a house that is floating and could 

communicate with him. It could be 

the inspiration for the artist. The curvy 

walls touch and join every idea that 

comes from him. 



49

Lai Fanyi 赖凡伊 

Artist’s House: Cross Cube, House for a Filmaker 



51

Chen Jiaci 陈嘉词 

Artist’s House: House for a Photographer 



53

Liao Longtai 廖隆泰 

Artist’s House: House for a Poet 



55

Meng Jiaxi 孟佳茜 

Artist’s House: A Living House 



57

Peng Sirou 彭思柔 

Artist’s House: House for a Sculptor 



59

Su Zhan 苏展 

Artist’s House: House for Photographer 



61

Wang Yitong 王乙童 

Artist’s House: House for a Dancer 



63

Cheng Yuzhan 程宇瞻 

Artist’s House: Three-Dimensional House 



65

ARC102 


LEVEL 01 

Design Studio

ARC102 

Design Studio 



ARC102 

Small Scale Architectural Design 







Christian Gänshirt 

Ciro Márquez 




Marian Macken 



Yiping Dong 

Hanan Bensho 


Alek Heihachi 

Bart Mahieu 

Ting-Ting Dong 

Yang Fan 

183 students 

Photo, A. Benjamin Spaeth 

Primary School in Suzhou 

The enormous development in China from a rural agricultural society 

towards an industrialised country and an information society, where more 

than half of its population are to be living in cities, creates a vast demand 

across all levels of education and is a key issue identified by the Chinese 

government to be addressed. Children in China enjoy nine years of 

compulsory school education divided into primary and junior secondary 

levels; the education in the primary level typically lasts six years. 

This design studio is concerned with the development of a primary 

school, with two strands of classes per year. The students are provided 

with a site, measuring 60M x 77M, in Suzhou Industrial Park which appears 

to be left over. The site is surrounded by residential areas of apartment 

buildings, another school, and a small-scale commercial area. 

The design studio focuses on the materiality of architecture. 

Different materials inherit different construction principles and unique 

characteristics are reflected in the use and tectonics of materiality. 

Students research and learn about characteristics of materials and 

explicitly express their interpretation of the material tectonics through 

their design proposal. Students choose a specific material for the design 

work and explore, as an academic exercise, the potential of materiality 

for architectural development. 

67

Lin Guijiadong 林圭佳栋 




69

Meng Jiaxi 孟佳茜 




71

Chen Tianle 陈天乐 




73





75





77

Jia Ru 贾茹 




79

Yan Suqing 颜苏青 




81

Li Yanzhuo 李妍卓 




83

Liu Guangbo 刘广博 




85

Tan Shuang 谭爽 




87

Level 02 

Study Year 3 



ARC203 


LEVEL 02 

History of Asian Architecture 

90

ARC203 




ARC203 





Yiping Dong 




Glen Wash 

66 students 

Photo, Irena Farrell 

History of Asian Architecture provides an introduction to architectural 

history from ancient times to the present in Asia. The module focuses on 

the Chinese architectural tradition, and includes some additional materials 

on the wider Asian architectural context, such as Indian and Japanese 

architecture. The module further briefly introduces the history of urban 

design and key concepts in Asian town planning. The history of built 

architectural form is introduced with selected references to associated 

theoretical discourse, and to cultural and philosophical contexts. 

The module uses lectures and readings, case studies and field trips to 

explain key developments in Asian architectural and urban history. Essays 

test individual learning and presentational skills; drawing exercises help 

students to form a visual memory of architecture. An examination tests 

students’ learning and invites students to discuss how they understand 

the historical environment in the contemporary world. 

91

ARC206 


LEVEL 02 

Urban Studies

ARC206 

Urban Studies 



ARC 206 

Urban Studies 






Glen Wash 




67 students 

Photo, Austin Williams 

The module provides students with the tools to understand the city as 

a dynamic system, and to be able to critically engage with various urban 

challenges. It examines some of the key debates, terms, writings, ideas 

and spatial qualities about urban formation using examples from Europe, 

USA and Asia. The module comprises of lectures on urban history, 

mobility, design history, urban exemplars, theories and methodologies, 

policies in East and West, public and private space, maps and diagrams, 

slums and eco-cities, as well as the ambitions for the city: past, present 

and future. The module helps students to understand the similarities and 

differences in urban form across the world and uses weekly seminars to 

explore these ideas further. The module aims to raise students’ analytical 

faculties, to cultivate opinions about the nature of urbanism and urbanity, 

to encourage a critical reading of the literature, and to garner the necessary 

knowledge to analyse, question and understand their surroundings. 

93

ARC201 


Psychrometric Chart 

Location: Shanghai-Honghqiao, Chin 

Display: Monthly Mean Minimum/Maximum 

Barometric Pressure: 101.36 kPa 

Weather Tool 

LEVEL 02 

Environmental Design and 

Sustainability 

94

ARC201 

Environmental Design and 

Sustainability 



ARC201 

Environmental Design and Sustainability 









70 students 

Psychrometric Chart, Shanghai-Hongqiao, 

China, Li Changlong 

This module engages the students with a wider understanding of how 

various environmental factors interact and influence building design. 

The module focuses on the qualitative understanding of different 

building environmental design strategies through the learning of various 

sustainable building concepts and technologies and how these are 

applied in architectural design through case studies. 

Students learn: the site conditions that are relevant to the principle 

of sustainability; the impact of building layout on site and building 

environmental performance; the causes of heat island effect and 

mitigating building design strategies; adaptive thermal comfort and its 

impact on building energy consumption; the principles behind natural 

ventilation and passive solar building design strategies; the impact of 

window design on daylighting and solar gain; the principle of double-skin 

facades; different green building standards and how they compare; and 

the fundamentals of renewable energy systems. Upon completion of 

this module, students are able to form opinions and develop methods of 

implementing environmentally responsive approaches to building design. 

95

ARC202 


LEVEL 02 

Structural Design

ARC202 

Structural Design 



ARC 202 

Structural Design 






Ciro Márquez 

64 students 

Drawing, Can Cui; Photo, Christiane M. Herr 

In the context of architectural designing, structural design describes the 

conception and articulation of building structures that integrate architectural 

qualities with structural requirements. ARC202 provides students with 

an understanding of different types of structural systems and their 

potential to support and enhance given architectural intentions. In this 

module, structural design is approached primarily through visual means 

architecture students can easily relate to, focusing on the integration of 

structural and programmatic patterns, scales and proportions in structural 

layouts. Throughout this module, lectures are accompanied by applied 

structural design exercises during seminar classes. As part of these 

exercises, students will produce a series of structural design proposals 

addressing a variety of structural types and scales. In addition, students 

will participate in a bridge design competition that requires students to 

design, build and test bridge models for their structural performance. The 

module also includes construction site visits as well as guest lectures 

and guest reviews by internal and external engineers and architects. In 

2013/2014, a collaboration with Shanghai-based firm JAE (Jiang Architects 

& Engineers) led to several mutual visits, reviews and guest lectures. 

97

ARC205 


LEVEL 02 

Design Studio 

98

ARC205 

Design Studio 



ARC205 

Level 2 ( Study Year 3) 

Design Building and Typology 



Nancy Diniz 





Glen Wash 

72 students 

Photos, Nancy Diniz 

Adapting Mass Housing to Local [& Unstable] Conditions 

Students are asked to devise a programme for a compact high density 

vertical community located in the old downtown of Shanghai – the 

Xiaonanmen area. The design project includes 350 small size living units 

on a site area surrounded by high-rise housing. It is a dilapidated area, 

with pockets of rubble and destruction, a compact labyrinth of low-rise 

buildings with integrated small businesses, facing immanent urban 

renewal. 

The main question the brief investigates is how housing typologies can 

absorb the unavoidable present and future outcomes of social, economic, 

material and human flows within Chinese cities. Further to this, how 

can we construct meaningful models of contextualization on such 

(un)structured and (un)stable fabrics? Can new models for future housing 

be imagined not just for local residents but for a varied and increasing 

number of newcomers? Can we leave room for adaptation, growth, or 

retraction and better serve current shifting patterns of living in the fast 

urbanisation of cities? 

The start of the conceptual process begins with developing ‘Minimal 

Living Prototypes’ based on the integration of minimal inhabitation needs 

through a series of physical models. This shifts our focus from ‘form’ to 

‘assembly’, concentrating on ‘interior space optimisation’ and ‘building 

adaptability’. This is followed by ‘Context Insertion and Narrative’ stage 

where we visit the site in Shanghai for the first time. Narratives for the 

local residents and newcomers will be explored, and students test, adjust, 

and reconfigure the previous housing prototypes through horizontal and 

vertical assemblies to the site conditions. 

99

Cui Can 崔璨 

New World 


ARC 205 Design Studio 

101

Thomas Kirby 

Extensions 



103

Hannah Bryan 

Adapting Mass Housing 



105

Zhang Jiayun 张佳赟 




107

Wang Tianhe 王天禾 

Vertical Extensions 



109

Dai Ronghe 戴荣和 




111

Li Yirong 李依融 


This design focuses on the use of the corridor. As corridors could both 

connect and seperate space, they are applied to link each unit, which 

could create opportunities for residents to communicate and protect their 

privacy as well. Due to the increasing population, a large amount of illegal 

buildings are constructed in the original alleys. As a result, the site is not 

as transparent as shown on maps, and blind alleys can be discovered 

everywhere. The design also breaks the huge volume on site and provides 

people with different routes that could reach the same destination. 

Furthermore, as the market, historical buildings and commercial streets 

should serve residents inside, the design also creates many shortcuts for 

residents to access.The idea of corridors is like vertical development of 

houses with streets surrounded, which could well explain the meaning of 

‘minimal houses’. 



113

Yu Mengfei 余梦菲 

Gather and Separate 



115

ARC204 


LEVEL 02 

Design Studio 

116

ARC204 

Design Studio 



ARC204 

Small Urban Buildings 




Glen Wash 


Nancy Diniz 




67 students 

Student work: Pan Jialin, Cui Can, Sun Xueyi, 

Dai Ronghe, Zhang Jiayun, Zhu Haoruo, Wei 

Liu, Guo Dongyue 

A Conservatory for Suzhou: An Exploration of Transitions 

In classical music, a transition is a section of a theme which is ‘a 

complete, yet not independent musical idea’; that is, it is complete in 

itself but dependent upon the music which comes before and after it. In 

this sense, it can be understood as a structural link within a composition. 

In designing a school of music in Suzhou, the students are expected to 

explore the idea of spaces of transitions: both at the scale of the whole 

building as a transition space within the city, and within the building itself. 

When creating a link between two concepts or different parts of the 

city, a space of transition could become a significant urban landmark. 

For this, an understanding of the context and a deep site analysis are 

crucial. Also, architecture has a number of spatial dualities that could have 

a transition between them: light and darkness, open and closed, loud and 

quiet, private and public, urban and nature. Finally, the building is a public 

school, so students have to define and provide for all the programmatic 

complexities which a building of this nature requires. 

117

Pan Jialin 潘佳霖 

School of Music 



119

Cui Can 崔璨 




121

Sun Xueyi 孙雪怡 




123

Dai Ronghe 戴荣和 




125

Zhu Haoruo 朱昊若 




127

Zhang Jiayun 张佳赟 




129

Guo Dongyue 郭东玥 

School of Rock 



131

Wei Liu 魏柳 




133

Level 03 

Study Year 4 



ARC303 


LEVEL 03 

Architectural Theory 

136

ARC303 




ARC303 






31 students 

Shanghai Westbund 2013 Biennale of 

Architecture and Contemporary Art. 

Photo, Christian Gänshirt 

Architectural theory is the discipline which critically reflects on the written 

discourses in and about architecture. This module introduces students 

to the main concepts of architectural theory, and provides a framework 

for the understanding of the ongoing discourses in the field. Themes 

and topics of this class vary from year to year, but address historical 

debates, such as criticisms of high modernism, the rise of postmodern 

and post-structural theory, critical regionalism and tectonics, as well as 

contemporary discourse, the relation and mutual influence of Asian and 

Western concepts of architecture, and reflect areas of interest articulated 

by students and/or staff in this module. The main tasks for the students 

are to write a first paper, based on readings, discussions and research, 

and a second paper developing their own position on a core topic of 

architecture. A final written exam stimulates the students to rethink what 

they learned in this course. 

137

ARC308 


LEVEL 03 

Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics 

138

ARC308 




ARC308 





Claudia Westermann 

Teaching Team: 



30 students 

Photo, Yang Jiajing 

The module Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics provides an introduction 

to the wider cultural framework that forms the basis for architecture 

and architectural design. It introduces critical reflections at the border of 

architectural discourse, from both East and West, in order to facilitate a 

better understanding of cultural contexts and their influence on positions 

and expressions in the fine arts and architecture. 

This year’s course responds to the theme ‘Framing Openness’ with a 

specifically designed series of lectures and seminars, addressing notions 

of openness in art, design and architecture. Philosophical reflections, 

responding to the theme in an explicit or implicit way, are given as reading 

assignments and discussed in the seminars in relation to selected 

artworks, such as paintings, installations, and street art, as well as to 

films, poetry and other forms of creative writing, but also to works 

generally categorised as design. An excursion to the ‘Design Shanghai / 

Aesthetics City’ exhibition offers an additional opportunity for reflection 

particularly on contemporary positions. 

Students demonstrate their understanding of how philosophy, art, and 

architecture mutually influence each other in short coursework exercises 

related to the seminar discussions, as well as two essays, one of which 

offers an optional link to the Final Year Project studio project. 

139

ARC306 


LEVEL 03 

Professional Practice

ARC306 

Professional Practice 



ARC306 

Professional Practice 





30 students 

Photo, Edward Farrell 

This module introduces Level 3 students to the management of 

architectural practice, the role of the architect as a professional and the 

role of the architect in the construction industry and the built environments 

of China and the West. It provides students with a background into the 

management of professional practices, the management of design 

projects and design teams and the management of staff. It sets out the 

duties and responsibilities of architects to clients, staff and others. 

Students develop an awareness of how architecture practices operate. 

They understand how buildings are designed and built in the context of 

architectural and professional best practice and the framework of the 

construction industry within which it operates. Building users’ needs, 

legislation, performance standards all form part of the learning process. 

The module introduces students to forms of procurement and contract 

types and sets out the role the architect plays in dealing with contractual 

matters. An understanding of health and safety requirements both at 

design and construction stages is also introduced. Students are introduced 

to the organisations, regulations and procedures for negotiating 

architectural designs, land law, development control, and building control. 

Students develop an understanding of cost control mechanisms and an 

awareness and understanding of the principles of whole life costing. 

141

ARC301 


LEVEL 03 

Architectural Technology 

142

ARC301 




ARC301 









31 students 

Renderings, Han Jiaxin, Huang Chien-hua, 

Wen Shunhe, Han Kunling 

Technology contributes to the autonomy of architecture as a discipline, 

defining and shaping the field, and through which the performances of 

the next generation of buildings are realised. Stemming from a deep 

understanding of past and current buildings’ architectural technology, 

defined both as outcome and process, technology cancels boundaries 

between digital and physical understandings of the world. Seen as an 

agent of change and as an enabler of design ideas, technology provides 

the link between design and production, research and development, 

design exploits and social ambitions. Seen through the lens of human 

capital and potential in the built environment, architectural technology 

may erase the boundaries between dream and reality, potential and 

realisation. Within this framework, architectural technology should be 

understood as a recovery of human ability rather than a constraint, in 

both processes and output. 

Through in-class seminars and workshops delivered by the teaching team, 

with the active participation of the students, Architectural Technology 

explores new materials, methods, engineering, technologies, functions 

and processes. This module perceives technology as starting from, and 

progressing beyond, highly ordered views of project coordination, to a 

level where the architect becomes a maker of tools and an orchestrator 

of architectural technology. 

143

ARC305 


LEVEL 04 

Design Studio 

144

ARC305 

Design Studio 



ARC305 

Small and Medium Scale Buildings 








31 students 

Shanghai Picks: Beyond Conservationism and Tabula Rasa 

No country in human history has seen a process of urbanisation as fast 

and intense as that undertaken by China in the last two decades. With 

24 million inhabitants and 300,000 newcomers per year, Shanghai is the 

most populated city in the world. 

This demographic stress has resulted in vast areas of the old city being 

progressively substituted for new developments of corporate office 

buildings and generic housing compounds. The idea of a hybrid model, 

where the existing low-rise urban fabric can coexist with new forms of 

high density remains, to date, unexplored. 

Lao Cheng Xiang is the oldest of these remaining ‘traditional Shanghais’. A 

district within the old city rampart, its urban fabric still consists of narrow 

streets and 2-4 storey houses. Shanghai Picks explores new forms of 

hybrid density for this district, asking the students not only to design 

architecture but, more importantly, a piece of the existing city whose 

density must be dramatically increased without wiping out more than 

40% of its existing buildings. 

Moving away from the conventional dialectic tabula rasa vs. 

conservationism, the students’ work has helped to frame new reurbanisation 

strategies for the Chinese context, in which the old urban 

fabric becomes an active element in the modernisation of the city, able 

to maintain its liveability, yet at the same time addressing contemporary 

demands of density, program and urban life. 

While working on the same brief, each student has been assigned a 

different plot of the district: the result of their individual projects becoming 

a piece of collective work that replicates the complexities of the citymaking 

process. 

145

Han Jiaxin 韩佳昕 

Shanghai Picks 



147

Bao Lijia 包丽佳 




149

Han Kunling 韩昆凌 




151

Su Yating 苏雅婷 




153

Wu Dong 吴冬 




155

Ma Kaidi 马凯蒂 




157

ARC304 


LEVEL 03 

Design Studio 

158

ARC304 

Design Studio 



ARC304 

Final Year Project 


Module Credits: 10 









Ciro Márquez 


Glen Wash 


Marian Macken 

Nancy Diniz 


30 students 

Final Review: Han Jiaxin, Prue Chiles, 

Christian Gänshirt, Theodoros Dounas, 

Christiane M. Herr. Photo, Claudia 

Westermann 

Jiang Yu; Wu Dong; Wu Dong’s models. 

Photos, Su Yating 

Framing Openness 

The framework of this Final Year Project design studio in the BEng 

Architecture program ensures a diversity of approaches allowing students 

greater freedom in defining their method of learning and their access to 

architectural design. The 14 briefs written for this year’s final year studio 

respond in various ways to the current Year 4 theme ‘Framing Openness’. 

Under this common theme, they open a conversation on architecture that 

is to be reframed and redefined by the students in the course of their 

research and design process. 

The individual briefs require students to design buildings that respond to 

specific urban and socio-cultural conditions, and to pay focused attention 

to social values and the centricity of human needs and desires. On the 

basis of a coherent design process, students need to demonstrate their 

understanding of architecture as informed by inter-dependent cultural, 

historical, technological and contextual issues. The studio module actively 

encourages students to embrace a culture of risk and experimentation. 

The project work is developed in a studio setting supported by a weekly 

lecture series, as well as by group and individual tutorials. Students 

regularly present their work for public discussion. These reviews include 

all staff of the department, as well as visiting lecturers from other schools 

and architects from local practices. 

159

Huang Chien-hua 黄建桦 

Architecture Narratives / Common Fiction 

Pudong’s skyline narrative dominates 

the world’s image of China, yet it also 

dominates the lives of its inhabitants, 

whose personal narratives of life 

seem to be lost. The project takes this 

crisis, which is also an architectural 

crisis, as an initiation to propose a 

new narrative of scale to challenge 

the categories of space – i.e. our 

ideas of specific scales connected 

to specific spaces and activities. The 

disconnected scales of city, building, 

house, and room are re-structured and 

their boundaries dissolved. Exterior 

disappears. The project is: room, 

building and city. Offering activities of a 

cultural centre, the proposal facilitates 

the residents’ sense of belonging by 

dissolving the categories of scale and 

by re-composing them to have both 

personal narratives and the dominant 

narratives of Pudong’s urban planners 

in conversation. 



161

Han Kunling 韩昆凌 

The Bund Bridge 

Along the Shanghai Bund, a large 

number of high-rise buildings have 

created a landscape of landmarks. 

The brief calls for the design of a 

further landmark building in the shape 

of a new type of bridge crossing the 

Huangpu River. The bridge is conceived 

as an inhabitable structure integrating 

residential, commercial and public 

uses. After research of the site and 

its context, the coherence of scale 

becomes one focus of the project. 

The project aims to achieve coherence 

between urban scale and human scale, 

as a landmark crossing the Huangpu 

River. The strategy is to use two logics 

which can interact with each other. The 

logic of line represents high efficiency 

and function while the logic of surface 

provides human scale space with more 

flexibility and continuity. 



163

Bao Lijia 包丽佳 


Dare you say that you know the past, 

or future, or even, today? 

Science guides us to the future; 

written texts indicate our past, but are 

they necessarily true? No… or yes… 

we don’t know. Pudong represents the 

front edge of today, but that’s not all 

there is, yet all there will be perhaps, 

when its hidden history is wiped out. 

The project looks into Lao Bai Du area 

in Pudong – along the riverside of 

Huangpu River. Since the beginning 

of 2000, a group called ‘Pudong 

Greenland Developing Office’ set off 

their continuous actions called ‘Saving 

Huangpu Project’. It aims to clean the 

‘trash’ (industrial relics) and to give the 

river back to the citizens. The cyborg 

is a Living Archive. It archives the past 

which some may hope to preserve, 

the present of which some may like to 

see more, the future of which some 

may want to convince others, most 

importantly, it archives the place and 

its inhabitants. 



165

Han Jiaxin 韩佳昕 

Architecture as 10,000M 2 of Infrastructural Opportunism 

Shanghai’s expansion to a major 

metropolis has introduced into its 

urban fabric huge road junctions that 

connect the city at a metropolitan 

level, however, locally they divide 

and fragment the city. The Inhabited 

Wall proposal plays with this apparent 

contradiction, and explores possibilities 

for introducing shifts to transfer 

‘negative’ infrastructure spaces into 

spaces for inhabitation. Consequently, 

the proposal occupies a space ‘left 

over’ by one of Shanghai’s cloverleaf 

junctions, introducing into this 

‘negative’ space leisure facilities, but 

also facilities for culture and sport, and 

office spaces for creative industries. 

The Inhabited Wall as an entertainment 

hub provides opportunities for 

re-connecting Shanghai’s divided 

population by offering opportunities 

for people at every income level, also 

explicitly providing options for the local 

population in its close proximity at the 

lower income level to participate in 

Shanghai’s metropolitan lifestyle. 



167

Wu Dong 吴冬 


Multiple layers of different cultures 

make the complexity of Shanghai 

and create it as a lively cosmopolitan 

city in which unexpected encounters, 

surprise and distraction are common. 

During the past one hundred years, 

Shanghai literature has presented the 

city in its complexity but also made 

Shanghai as it influenced people’s 

perception of what the city is like. 

Pudong – the new Shanghai on the 

other side of Huangpu River – seems 

to be disconnected from the old city’s 

lively culture. The proposal attempts to 

connect the new Shanghai to the old 

by suggesting an architectural project 

that restages Shanghai Literature and 

with it Shanghai as a lively experience. 

The project’s spaces offer surprises, 

interferences, and events. They are 

dedicated to two interconnected 

activities, dancing and reading. Within 

this project – like in the old city – 

everyone is always both audience and 

performer. 



169

Jiang Yu 姜宇 

Thinking from the Outside 

Surface is not flat. It is complex. It is 

skin, threshold, liminal space, edge, 

boundary, and interior space. In 

Thinking from the Outside, XJTLU’s 

Foundation Building is transformed 

through a surface intervention, 

redefining the building’s architecture by 

considering human inhabitation from 

cultural, temporal, and climatic points 

of view. By re-working the thresholds, 

corners and sections of the building 

the proposal creates new connections 

and functions. 



171

Yang Jiajing 杨佳菁 

Museum of Time 

My concept begins with the question 

of whether time can be frozen. On 

one hand, I acknowledge an object can 

be frozen in a moment of time; thus, 

I use recycled local bricks as façade 

materials, the form of the museum 

(recycled house and scaffolding) 

represents a frozen moment of 

constructing a museum. On the other 

hand, time is an ongoing process and 

in putting every moment together, a 

new thread of story comes out, so 

the collection and donation process 

is dynamic; for example, people drive 

through the first floor of the museum, 

then donate objects in a storage 

and retrieval system. In addition, the 

exhibition shows a new story of time. 

In the exhibition, different objects of 

different times are put together to 

make up a room, to provide a special 

experience. In addition, this museum 

has a private viewing room: people can 

store objects in the museum which are 

then displayed to people in the future. 



173

Zhang Xinyue 张昕月 

Floating: Inhabitation Between Ground and Air 

Water is an important natural feature 

in Jiangsu Province and on the project 

site. The proposition explores the 

resident’s relationship with water not 

only as a scenic element, but also 

as a means to provide economic and 

sustainable development to a migrant 

community. A rain harvesting system 

of pipes feeds into different pools 

on different levels that serve fish 

farming and recreational purposes. 

The proposal focuses on how a 

vertical village can be organized by 

making water the defining element. 

A series of water tanks and platforms 

is devised to store rain water and to 

connect the building with the river, 

taking advantage of the different tides 

and allowing different activities to take 

place, such as fishing, swimming and 

relaxing. 


4th floor 


175

Xie Junwei 谢军伟 

Metro Station & Neighborhood Centre 

The proposition provides a 

metro station with an integrated 

neighborhood centre, in Higher 

Education Town at the station of 

Dushu Hu Avenue. The design aims to 

erode the boundaries that generally 

exist between subterranean utilitarian 

functions and buildings above the 

ground to create a project that is better 

connected and more open by enforcing 

the relationship between organisation 

and form. The development of the 

project focuses on shape grammars as 

a vehicle of exploration on architectural 

type. 



177

Departmental 

ARC 

Activities 

Department of Architecture 




WORKSHOP 

Shaping Light

Workshop 

Shaping Light: 


From Origami to Sun-shading Screens 


Workshop 

Shaping Light: From Origami 

to Sun-shading Screens 


Nancy Yen-wen Cheng 

University of Oregon 

Workshop Coordinators: 

Thomas Fisher 


9 students 

Shi Daqi, Ye Mengzhe, Zhu Xiaoyi, Chen Yu, 

Yang Yiwei, Chen Wei, Hu Yaofang, Lei Shuyu, 

Sun Chenxing 

Exploratory photo, Jiang Yunan 

Nancy Yen-wen Cheng, University of Oregon 

Nancy Yen-wen Cheng creates sun-shading screens with sculptural 

folding. Her work explores how physical prototyping and digital methods 

can be combined to explore design based on material properties. It has 

used parametric modeling, kinetic studies, and lighting simulation for 

both open-ended studies and interior installations. 

In the Workshop, students create screens and discover and refine 3D forms 

that emerge from combining folds, understand how to create compelling 

light and shadow effects; and work with material characteristics. 

181



WORKSHOP 

Urban Parasite

Workshop 


Urban Parasite 


Workshop 

Urban Parasite 

Levels 1, 2 (Study Years 2, 3) 

Workshop Coordinator: 


Teaching Team: 

Joachim Kieferle (University of Applied 

Science Wiesbaden, Germany), Wolfram 

Poppenhäger (GBG Hildesheim, Germany), 

Anuradha Chatterjee, Christian Gänshirt, Ciro 

Marquez, Ganna Andrianova, Javier Fernández 

Contreras, Maria Fullaondo, Marian Macken, 

Sung-Hugh Hong, Theodoros Dounas, Yiping 

Dong, Austin Williams, Edward Farrell, 

Andrew Johnston, Glen Wash, Nancy Diniz, 

Richard Bradford (Language Centre), Jennifer 

Howard (Language Centre), Gina Molinero 

(Language Centre), James R. Lee (Language 

Centre), Ralph Hughes (Language Centre) 

273 students 

This international workshop is a design exercise integrating all Level 1 

and 2 students with 16 guest students from the University of Applied 

Science in Wiesbaden, Germany. During an intensive one week workshop 

students work in mixed groups on an urban design exercise in the old city 

centre of Suzhou. Students experience intercultural enrichment through 

complementary fieldtrips to Shanghai, Chinese opera events or visiting 

the Suzhou Museum and local gardens. 

This ad hoc design exercise explores the possibilities of the biological 

phenomenon of parasites when applied to the urban and architectural 

context. It explores the ambiguous relationship between a parasite 

and the urban landscape. The urban parasite is colonising the urban 

environment of Suzhou: the symbiotic community might be destructive 

or beneficial for the host, yet beneficial for the urban context and the 

users of the city. The parasite – between 10M³ and 1000M³ – has a mission 

to be specified: it is seeking specific conditions or patterns to infest the 

host. Repetitive patterns are identified in the urban fabric to where the 

parasite is attracted; the parasite appears not only at unique locations, but 

everywhere it finds the respective condition or pattern. 

183



WORKSHOP 

Binjiang Yuan Neighbourhood, SIP Suzhou

Workshop 


Community Design Workshop for the 

Binjiang Yuan Neighbourhood, SIP Suzhou 


Workshop 

Participation and Community Design 

Workshop for the Binjiang Yuan 

Neighbourhood, SIP Suzhou 

Levels 1, 2, 3 (Study Years 2, 3, 4) 


Nancy Diniz (ARC); Yiping Dong (ARC); Ying 

Chang (UPD); Bin Cheng (UPD) 

22 students 

Architecture: 

Guo Dongyue, Mao Yuyang, Lei Yujia, Li 

Yuchen, Wei Liu, Liu Jiafei, Wang Siyao, 

Liu Siying, Zhao Shuyu, Shen Tianye, Wang 

Weilu, Zhang Xinyue, Zhong Xinyue, Wang 

Xiaoyu, Jiang Zhenhao 

Urban Planning and Design: 

Xu Chunan, Ai Huahui, Zhou Yiyun, Shi Jieyu, 

Bao Linglin, Wu Mengxiao, Li Xueying 

Photo, Nancy Diniz 

Jointly organized by the Departments of Urban Planning and Design and 

Architecture, the task of this inter-disciplinary design charrette was the 

re-design of the internal architecture of the community centre in a final 

stage of construction in a housing development project in SIP Suzhou: 

the Binjiang Yuan neighbourhood. 

The overall aims of the workshop were: to integrate ‘live projects’ into 

teaching methodologies by involving outside agents, such as real users, 

designers and local government around the discussion of design ideas; 

facilitate opportunities for students and tutors from Departments of UPD 

and Architecture to work and learn from each other’s different approaches 

to design process and teaching; and expose students to participatory 

planning and design methods. 

In terms of specific learning benefits, the aims were for the students: 

to create visual communication methods for design ideas to be easily 

understood by the local residents; to develop a sense of empowerment 

and trust in the residents so that they could voice their opinions; to establish 

a ‘design dialogue’ between residents, designers and developers; to filter 

and incorporate feedback in the final design of the community centre and 

thereby improve the outputs. 

The workshop had several stages of design development and interaction 

with the several agents for four weeks. We first visited the site, collected 

information, interviewed the developers and residents to understand the 

current socio-economic conditions and activities and the resident needs. 

Then a design stage followed and work was presented for discussion and 

feedback from residents. A feedback wall was set up in a social space of 

the neighbourhood and residents wrote their opinions about the various 

common services of the housing estate. A final presentation to developers 

and designers took place with the students’ fine-tuning ideas according 

to the residents’ feedback. On a third and final stage, we received from 

the developers the reviewed final design for the community centre and 

to our satisfaction the new proposal had in fact incorporated many of our 

students’ ideas for the community centre. 

185



COMPETITION 

Tongji University Construction Festival 

2014, Third Prize

Competition 

Tongji University Construction Festival 



Workshop 

Tongji University Construction Festival, 

2014 – Third Prize 



Ciro Márquez 

Yiping Dong 


12 students 

Chen Yu, Lv Yixin, Li Zhenya, Jin Yilei, Liu 

Linzi, Liao Longtai, Zhang Yanzhe, Bian 

Zhifan, Tao Yi, Mei Yuchen, Jia Ru, Wang 

Weiping 

Photo, Christiane M. Herr & Ciro Márquez 

On the first weekend of June 2014, a team of 12 Level 1 students from 

XJTLU’s Department of Architecture participated in the Eighth Tongji 

University Construction Festival, an annual event that is held on the 

grounds of Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning 

(CAUP). The Construction Festival gives first year students of architecture 

and related disciplines an opportunity to construct a small but life-size 

pavilion from cardboard, demonstrating their design as well as team 

working skills in the construction of the cardboard pavilion. 

Invited to participate in the event for the second time this year, the XJTLU 

team designed and built a pavilion that adopts a glue-less method of 

assembly from only two simple element types, flat wall panels and square 

beams. The system was adapted from an earlier, smaller pavilion designed 

by a team of Level 1 students for a cardboard structures assignment as 

part of the module ARC104 Structures and Construction. While using 

only two simple elements, the XJTLU cardboard structure creates rich 

spatial experiences by creating a multitude of views within the pavilion, 

not unlike those found in classical Suzhou scholar gardens. The playful 

spaces especially attracted children visitors of the Construction Festival. 

Facing challenging conditions, with very little time to prepare the 

competition during the final weeks of the semester, the XJTLU team 

worked intensely on the project for about a week preceding the 

competition. The competition judges rewarded the team’s cardboard 

pavilion with third prize. 

187



COMPETITION 

IDEERS, Earthquake Safe Design Competition

IDEERS 

Earthquake Safe Design Competition 



Workshop 

IDEERS Earthquake Safe Design 

Competition 





8 students 

Zhu Haoruo, Wang Siyao, Nan Fang, Xiong 

Henan, Li Jiehan, Li Yirong, Gu Mengxue, 

Cai Xinting 

Photo, Christiane M. Herr & Thomas Fischer 

Following Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s (XJTLU) success during 

last year’s event, eight Level 2 students from XJTLU’s Department of 

Architecture, working in two teams, participated in the International 

Annual Earthquake Safety Design Competition IDEERS 2013 in Taipei, 

Taiwan. Based in Taiwan’s leading earthquake research facility, the 

competition requires teams of students from three different categories 

(high school, undergraduate and postgraduate) to design and build scale 

models of multi-storey towers within a strict 6.5 hour time limit, using 

only a limited set of materials and tools. Once finished, the tower models 

are first reviewed by a jury of leading earthquake engineers, and then 

loaded with solid steel weights and subjected to earthquake testing on a 

large shaking table. 

Under the supervision of Christiane M. Herr and Thomas Fischer, the 

two teams (Zhu Haoruo, Wang Siyao, Nan Fang, Xiong Henan and Li 

Jiehan, Li Yirong, Gu Mengxue and Cai Xinting) spent two months 

during the summer continuously improving the earthquake resistance 

of their structures as well as their craftsmanship. One team achieved 

an earthquake safety certificate, while the other team, entering the only 

non-standard geometric design of the entire competition, was awarded 

with the First Prize in Most Creative Structural (Engineering) Design, the 

Second Prize in Most Creative Architectural (Art) Design, as well as the 

‘Most Preferable’ public choice award. 

189



EXHIBITION 

Venice International Architecture Biennale

Exhibition 

Venice Biennale 

International Architecture Exhibition of the 



Exhibition 

International Architecture Exhibition of 

the Venice Biennale 

Levels 2, 3 (Study Years 3, 4) 

Exhibition and Trip Coordinators: 


Ciro Márquez 



21 students 

Han Jiaxin, Gao Zhuozhou, Xiong Yujie, Chen 

Zexin, Wu Dong, Wang Qianwen, Pu Yao, 

Su Yating, Wen Shunhe, Zhao Yu, Xie Junwei, 

Han Kunling, Ma Kaidi, Zhou Zhixun, Sun 

Xueyi, Zhu Qianyun, Jiang Zhenhao, Wang 

Xiaoyu, Guo Dongyue, Wei Liu, Cui Can 

Photo, Liu Wei & Ciro Márquez 

Students from the Department of Architecture at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool 

University (XJTLU) held an exhibition of the work at the prestigious 

Venice International Architecture Biennale earlier this year, the first time a 

university from China has taken part in the event. 

26 architecture students from Years 3 and 4 went on a 10-day tour of 

northern Italy this summer visiting Milan, Florence, Bologna and Venice, 

culminating in the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice 

Biennale, curated by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. 

The exhibition of student work was held at the British Council’s pavilion 

in the Giardini to the south of the main island. The exhibition, devised 

by Ciro Márquez and María Fullaondo, XJTLU professors, comprised an 

innovative design that reconciled the constraints imposed by working 

in an historic building where no physical attachment or alteration to the 

space was permitted. The student projects, printed onto gauze and linen, 

were seen by many visitors to the Biennale, as the space is also used as 

a regular meeting area and place to bring visiting international students. 

Two final year students from XJTLU remained in Venice for an additional 

three weeks, funded by a British Council scholarship sponsored by a grant 

from the British Council in Shanghai and London, during which time they 

were taken on as ambassadors to help steward the various exhibitions 

and also to conduct research at various building locations, universities 

and libraries throughout Venice. The two students will report back to 

the British Council in China to present the results of their studies, while 

the main group of XJTLU students compiled a documentary record – in 

drawings and in film – of their Grand Tour. 

191



MAGAZINE 

Master Planning the Future Magazine

Magazine 

Master Planning the Future 



Master Planning the Future Magazine 

http://www.masterplanningthefuture.org/ 

Editorial Board: 

Li Yirong, Zhang Jiayun, Liu Linzi, Yu 

Mengfei, Su Zhan, Dai Ronghe, Sun 

Chenxing, Zhao Zhe, Jia Ru, Zhu Xiaoyi, 

Gong Ruochen 

Managing Editor: 


Lv Yixin and Thomas Kirby interview Fergus 

Corner. Photo, Kong Ye. 

Masterplanning the Future is the first independent architectural magazine 

in China; written in English it is an online portal for student engagement 

in architectural ideas, design criticism and constructive debate. 

Emerging out of the MPTF conference in 2012, the magazine is written and 

managed by students presenting Chinese architecture and architectural 

journalism to the world. It now has a global readership and acts as a 

mechanism for students to test out their thoughts and ideas. The editorial 

team and their writers address issues of architecture and culture, history 

and design, formulating opinions and challenging the passive way that 

architecture is regularly understood. The rigorous process helps them 

learn organisational and time management skills, but most importantly 

it enables them to understand themselves through the prism of critical 

dialogue. Students regularly visit new architecture, interview leading 

practitioners and critique significant work. This prepares them to build up 

contacts and bring experienced voices into the university as part of our 

speakers programme of activities, to understand the key issues of the 

profession and to give them an opportunity to network in the real world. 

Team members are drawn from all four years of the undergraduate 

programme and we will also be opening up opportunities for our 

postgraduate students to contribute. We are always looking for reliable 

writers, good designers and keen members of an active, friendly and 

important team. 

193

Department of Architecture, Xian 

Jiaotong-Liverpool University 


PhD, Odessa State Academy of Construction 

and Architecture (UA) 

MArch, Odessa State Academy of 

Construction and Architecture (UA) 

BArch, Odessa State Academy of 

Construction and Architecture (UA) 


PhD, University of New South Wales (AUS) 

MArch, University of New South Wales (AUS) 

Dipl Arch, TVB School of Habitat Studies, 

New Delhi (IN) 

Previously Registered at Council of 

Architecture (IN) 

Nancy Diniz 

PhD, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, 

University College London (UK) 

MSc, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, 


MA Urban Design, ISCTE/Instituto 

Universitário de Lisboa, Lisbon (P) 

Dipl Arch, Lusíada University, Lisbon (P) 

Registered Architect OASRS (P) 

ARB (UK) 

Yiping Dong 

PhD, Tongji University (CN) 

MArch, Tongji University (CN) 

BArch, Tongji University (CN) 


Dipl Eng Arch, Aristotle University of 

Thessaloniki (GR) 

Chartered Architect (GR) 


MSc, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, 


BArch, University College, Dublin (IE) 

RIBA Chartered Architect and Specialist 

Conservation Architect (UK) 


PhD, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES) 

MArch, ETSAM, Universidad Politécnica de 

Madrid (ES) 

Registered Architect (ES) 


PhD, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 

University (AUS) 

PhD, University of Kassel (D) 

MEd equiv., University of Kassel (D) 


PhD, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (ES) 


Madrid (ES) 



PhD, Brandenburg University of Technology 

(D) 

Dipl-Ing Arch, Universität Fridericiana zu 

Karlsruhe (D) 

Licensed and registered Architect, Berlin 

Chamber of Architects (D) 


PhD, University of Hong Kong (HK) 

MArch, University of Hong Kong (HK) 

Dipl-Ing Arch, University of Kassel (D) 

SungHugh Hong 

PhD, Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, 


MSc (Distinction), Bartlett School of Graduate 

Studies, University College London (UK) 

MArch, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 

(USA) 

Leed Associate (USA) 


PhD, University of California, Berkeley (USA) 

MArch, University of California, Berkeley 

(USA) 

MSUD, Pratt Institute (USA) 

BA, Hampshire College (USA) 

Registered Architect and Certified Planner 

(USA) 

Marian Macken 

PhD, University of Sydney (AUS) 

MArch (Res), University of Technology Sydney 

(AUS) 

BLArch, University of New South Wales 

(AUS) 

BSc (Arch), University of Sydney (AUS) 

Ciro Márquez 


Madrid (ES) 



Dipl-Ing Arch, University of Stuttgart (D) 

Chartered Architect (D) 

Glen Wash 

PhD, University of Tokyo (JP) 

MEng, University of Tokyo (JP) 

Dipl Arch, Catholic University of Valparaiso 

(CL) 

Licensed Architect (CL) 


Dipl Arch, Birmingham Polytechnic (UK) 

BSc(Hons), Bartlett School of Architecture, 


Chartered Architect RIBA (UK) 


PhD, University of Plymouth (UK) 

Pgr Dipl Media Art, Karlsruhe University of 

Art and Design (D) 

Dipl-Ing Arch, University of Karlsruhe, TH (D) 

Chartered Architect (D) 

Jiaqi Fu, Built Environment Administrator 

Yao Zou, Department Secretary 

Chongyao Huang, Department Secretary 

Jian Chen, Lab Technician 

Qinting Gu, Lab Technician 

Part-time Tutors 

Hanan Bensho 


Ting-Ting Dong 

Yang Fan 

Chris Hardie 

Alek Heihachi 

Wu Lei 

Bart Mahieu 

Language Centre Tutors, Levels 0+1, Xian 

Jiaotong-Liverpool University 

Helen Beech 

Richard Bradford 

Ee Loon Chwa 

Mark Coyle 

Shu Deng 

Nigel Dixon 

Jennifer Howard 

Hongmei Hu 

Ralph Hughes 

Renate Kirchner 

James Richard Lee 

Gloria Molinero 

Gareth Morris 

David Munn 

Alyson O’Shea 

Andy Snyder 

Minghao Zhang 

Wei Zhang

CHITRAJ 

KHINE KHIN 

 

 

GALLOWAY WILLIAM 

 

 

 

 

TEN STANISLAV 

ZABIHI MARYAM 

 

KISTAMA

ANTHONY CINDY 

HEIM RIWAN 

 

THAN TIN 

 

BISSOONAUTH 

 

 

 

GHESHAV RAMPERSAD 

 

KIRBY THOMAS 

 

CONNER SEAN 

 

 

 

BRYAN HANNAH 

H RYAN 

 

 

GIBBS HUGH 

RIGON MARCUS

Yearbook 2013 - 2014 | XJTLU Department of Architecture

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