SOM Foundation Announces Winners of the 2024 China Fellowship

This year’s jury was led by Peter Duncan (Practice Leader at SOM, Shanghai) and included Wang Lin (Professor, Department of Architecture, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Researcher, China Urban Governance Institute; Director, Center for Urban Studies, Shanghai) and Sun Yimin (Dean and Professor of School of Architecture, South China University of Technology Guangzhou, Guangzhou). All proposals were evaluated independently by each of the jurors, who then submitted their individual recommendations. Shortlisted proposals were subsequently discussed as a group.

Zhangxiang Dai is an undergraduate student at Chang'an University, majoring in architectural design. He plans to go to the United States next year to further his studies. He was born in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, a water town along the Yangtze River. The tenderness of the water town gave him a delicate perspective in the field of architecture, and he pays more attention to humanistic care in architectural design. In life, he likes to play the piano and guitar, and he also likes to travel to broaden his perspective. His proposal is titled “Vertical Deconstruction, Housing Equity, and Humanistic Care.” Based on urban vacancies and population density, Zhangxiang Dai will visit four cities in China and Japan in order to explore sustainable housing forms that conceptually challenge the status quo.

Wenxiao Xiang is an undergraduate student at Hunan University School of Architecture and Planning. Inspired by her mentor, Associate Professor Xiaojun Li, she takes interest in merging technology and design to benefit people’s everyday living. She believes that the role of an architect bridges sensual perception and rational thinking, building “invisible matters” like space and material upon “visible matters” like building physics and historical context. Through quantitative, evidence-based methodology, proper construction techniques, and deep understanding of context, she strives to achieve the ultimate goal of “poetic dwelling.” In the foreseeable future, she plans to delve deeper into this subject, further exploring the connection between the visible and invisible matters of architecture. As part of her proposal “Re-Inhabit the ‘Invisible Room‘,” Wenxiao Xiang will travel to four European countries to study the concept of “invisible rooms” in collective housing—shared spaces that serve residents’ well-being by providing natural light, air, and views.

Xiangqing Zheng is currently a Master of Architecture student at the University of Hong Kong after receiving her Bachelor of Architecture degree from South China University of Technology. She is interested in how historical context reveals the social and economic background of place and how architectural design responds to the complex built environment. In her proposal, titled “Adapting Housing Strategies: Temporary Construction and Code Compliance,” Xiangqing Zheng will explore how adapting housing strategies responds to new realities from the perspective of codes.

Congratulations to the three recipients of the 2024 China Fellowship and we all look forward to seeing the results of their research in the near future.