Li Zhang

Zhang Li is the Dean / Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture, Vice Principal in THADI, Tsinghua University, China. He also leads the design office Atelier TeamMinus in Beijing. He is a currently a standing board member of the Architectural Society of China, Alternate Council Member of UIA, and the Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese magazine World Architecture. Zhang Li’s is the founder and a main advocator of Urban Ergonomics, an inter-disciplinary domain focusing on human body and space, and the design of active urban spaces. Zhang Li's design works cover a wide range of scales, from urban designs, buildings to micrososm interventions. All of his works adopt the principles of Urban Ergonomics, and try to establish sustainable solutions through the reconnection of the human body and the environment. His best internationally known works include a visitor centre to the Jianamani stone pile in Tibet (2013), a youth camp in a seaside community (2017), and the iconic Olympic big-air slope in an industrial heritage (2019). Zhang Li was appointed dean of School of Architecture, Tsinghua University in 2020. He has since been proposing the idea of 'Cross-scale Intervention' for architectural education, trying to embrace technological inventions and sociological rethinkings in design teaching, cross traditional boundaries of scales, and to seek inter-disciplinary fertilisation and disruptive innovations. Zhang Li is also an active promoter of contemporary Chinese architecture on the international stage. He has curated many exhibitions, competitions and publications centred around Chinese cities and architecture. He is committed to promote UN and UIA values, particularly SDG awareness in China. Zhang Li has been a visiting professor in Politecnico di Torino (2017), Syracuse University (2012), and NUS (2010). He has been invited to lecture in GSD, HKU, Berlage, and many other institutions. Zhang Li and Atelier TeamMinus have won Zomtobel Group Award for Young Practice (Frankfurt, 2017), ArchMarathon Best Art and Culture Building (Milan, 2014), AR+D Highly Commended (London, 2013), along with multiple Chinese national awards. Zhang Li is also deeply involved in important state-sponsored projects in China. He is currently the Architect-in-Chief of Zhangjiakou Zone, and Shougang Big Air, both for Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. He is also the curator of China Pavilion in Venice Architecture Biennale 2020.