Li Xinggang Studio: Vital Architecture

Between Idealism and Reality

Developed by the Li Xinggang Studio, “Vital Architecture” refers to an architectural approach that guides the studio’s research and practice by blending poetic sensibility, attention to context, and reflection on contemporary conditions of living. Drawing on the principles of spatial design from the Chinese tradition while reinterpreting them through the tools of contemporary design, “Vital Architecture” seeks to provide solutions to the current challenges of living and the conditions of human life in the contemporary world.

The ten projects featured in this exhibition illustrate five manifestations of “Vital Architecture”: introverted gardens in the heart of the city; the symbiosis between the new and the old on sites marked by memory and transformation; structures designed for environments lacking contextual reference points; clusters of shelters composed of structural and spatial units; and, finally, architecture that blends into the topography and forms of the landscape.
Together with other projects by Atelier Li Xinggang, these projects form a cohesive whole that outlines the contours of a true “Vital City.”

The exhibition unfolds through a layered curatorial design that combines sketches and text fragments, models and drawings, photographs and videos, installations, and furniture. The wooden crates used to display the models are repurposed from the packaging originally used to transport the exhibition. This choice reflects the philosophy of Atelier Li Xinggang, whose practice closely integrates research, design, construction, and experience, as well as its ambition to create a “Total Milieu”—an environment where architecture, use, and perception form an inseparable whole.