“Great Architecture is like poetry.”
We met Chinese architect Zhu Pei to discuss his approach to building and why he thinks he can make a difference to society.
“I strongly believe architecture is art. Nothing else. We need to invent, to create something new. Architects can change people’s living conditions.”
To begin with, Zhu Pei was inspired by the Opera House in Sydney. Here, he understood that architecture could be different from what he usually saw in his surroundings in China.
“In China, we do things totally upside down. We make very simple things generic and with no character. It’s a huge effort to build the wrong way; we waste a lot of energy and complicate things. It’s a misunderstanding of architecture. Actually, making something special does not mean that it costs more. On the contrary. A lot of great architecture consists of less effort, but it feels rich.”
Zhu Pei (b. 1962 in Beijing, China) studied at Tsinghua University and UC Berkeley, founded Studio Zhu Pei in 2005, and from there, he has produced an extraordinary corpus of cultural works that have made him one of the leading figures of his generation. Marked by his American experience, which includes teaching at Harvard, Columbia, and serving as a visiting professor at Yale University. He was also the Dean and professor of the School of Architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China. He was recognised as an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for his contribution to architecture. He was a jury member for the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011.
Zhu Pei’s works have been exhibited at important museums worldwide, such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Venice Biennial, GA Gallery, Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kassel, Dresden State Art Museum, the Sao Paulo Art Biennial, the solo exhibition at Aedes, Harvard University, the Rome MAXXI Museum, and so on. His works have also been collected by MoMA, Pompidou Art Center, the Victoria and Albert Museum, M+, and the Carnegie Museum of Art.
Zhu Pei has been recognized with architecture’s most prestigious awards and honors, such as Design Vanguard Award from Architectural Record, AR Awards from The Architectural Review, AIA Honor Award, Culture Winner from THE PLAN Award, Museum Winner from Architizer A+Awards, Architecture Winner from AZ Awards, Grand Prize Winner from Brick Award, Architectural Design Award from ASC, 1949-2009 Grand Design Award from ASC, DFA Grand Award and Special Award for Culture from Hong Kong Design Center, Special Merit Award from UIA and UNESCO.
Studio Zhu Pei was founded by Zhu Pei in Beijing in 2005. The studio’s experimental works and research are dedicated to contemporary architecture, arts and cultural fields. With an artistic and experimental approach, it consistently explores the importance and relations between the roots that ground the work deeply into a specific nature and culture, and the innovation that defines the revolutionary thinking of architecture as art. Along with Zhu Pei’s experimental practice and teaching, the studio developed its own architectural philosophy, Architecture of Nature. It is not only the poetics of construction culture, but also in response to the challenges of global climate change and regional culture rupture. The most notable work includes Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum (2020), Yangliping Performing Arts Center (2020), Shou County Culture and Art Center (2019), Zibo Art Center (2020), CUBE Art Museum at 798 (2020), Minsheng Museum of Modern Art (2015), Taimiao Art Museum (2015), Yi Garden I, 12th Venice Biennale (2010), and Cai Guoqiang Courtyard House Renovation (2007).
Zhu Pei was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner in May 2024. The conversation took place during a visit to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
Camera: Rasmus Quistgaard
Edited by: Astrid Agnes Hald
Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2025
Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond and Ny Carlsbergfondet. This video is supported by Dreyers Fond.
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