We caught up with Tiantian at the exhibition, where she discussed the exhibition of renderings, photographs, and models, and also responded to questions from Priya Pawar from the Holcim Foundation.

About Xu Tiantian

Xu Tiantian is Founder of DnA_Design and Architecture based in Beijing, China. Her work has engaged extensively with rural revitalizing processes, as well as architectural acupuncture to work with different context and heritage of village and rural regions.

In 2006, she received the WA China Architecture Award and in 2008 the Young Architects Award from The Architectural League New York. In 2019 she was awarded the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture. She received the Swiss Architectural Award in 2022 in recognition of her approach to architecture that is sensitive to contemporary ethical, aesthetic and ecological issues. She won the Holcim Awards 2023 Gold for Asia Pacific for Fujian Tulou in China - a project focused on conservation and adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

Priya Pawar, Holcim Foundation (HF)

Could you explain a little more about your background - why did you choose architecture?

Xu Tiantian (XT)

I first studied architecture in Beijing at Tsinghua University, and then at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in the USA. I worked for OMA in the USA and the Netherlands, before founding studio DnA_Design and Architecture in Beijing in 2004. I wanted to explore the capacity of architecture to make a tangible difference for society, and to be able to take on new and interesting challenges.

HF

Your Holcim Awards winning project, Fujian Tulou, centers on finding new purposes for abandoned tulou buildings in the mountain valleys of Fujian Province. Can you explain why the buildings were abandoned in the first place?

XT

The buildings served as fortresses and communal housing for clans of up to 800 people for hundreds of years. With economic development in the 1990s and beyond, villagers started to build their own houses with modern amenities and didn’t want to live together anymore. Eventually, the buildings were mostly abandoned.

HF

How have you approached designing a future for the buildings?

XT

We focus on revitalization rather than restoration. We take whatever remains and work with the existing conditions. There’s no need to rebuild everything in a strict form of heritage restoration – it is perhaps a more practical and contemporary approach to extend the life of the building.

HF

How did the community react to the proposals?

XT

The response has been very favorable since people see their historical family homes will be restored. The approach values collective memory, but also introduces a new cultural infrastructure for the community. Each tulou building then provides community space – for example as a meeting place, a library, or a pop-up market for fruit in spring.

HF

How would you describe your design process?

XT

Architecture is like acupuncture. Like an alternative therapy, we start from the premise that there are symptoms for which we provide a treatment or remedy. The treatment should avoid drastic impacts or surgery – and is mindful to support recovery and overall well-being. We aim to activate blocked energy to revitalize the existing social, cultural, and economic fabric.

HF

So how do you apply “architectural acupuncture” to a project?

XT

We see that every village has something unique that defines the community and their identity. We start from the point of knowing the local history, culture, and heritage, so the program applied serves that community and leverages the local context. Each intervention then inspires something new: proposals, start-ups, or attracting youth back to the villages when they see there are new opportunities. It’s a systemic strategy to create revitalized clusters that encourage regional circulation.

HF

Can you tell us about any new projects you are working on?

XT

We’re currently working on a project on Meizhou Island in my home city. The island attracts more than three million visitors every year who come on pilgrimage to workshop Matsu, the goddess of the sea – but they see very little else that the island offers. The island’s 38,000 inhabitants are mainly involved in the fishing industry. The project aims to restore the coastal ecology through contemporary mangrove plantings to support the marine ecology and cultivation of oysters, fish, and kelp. It’s a fascinating new ecosystem for us – and a rewarding process to consider how architectural acupuncture can contribute on a social, environmental, and economic basis.

HF

With International Women’s Day approaching, what special role do you see for women in architecture?

XT

Resilience and persistence are strengths that are part of our nature as women. I think we have a desire to create something better – something caring and loving – where we consider inclusion on all levels.

HF

What is the most important role for an architect today?

XT

Architecture can no longer be just about making buildings! In our practice we use a “diagnosis process” before we start with design to understand the symptoms and challenges in each specific context. Through this process, we discover the real issues and needs of the local community. It’s such an important part of the process, that I ensure it’s a central component of how I teach design studios at university.

HF

Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us, and we look forward to hearing more about your work in the future.

This interview has been edited and condensed.