Dijia Chen

My research investigates the process in which overseas architectural exhibitions instigated the recognition of the unlicensed, independent Chinese architects that emerged in the early 1990s as a resistance to the state-owned, mainstream design institutes, both at home and abroad. Here, architectural production is approached as a mediated culture phenomenon in global power dynamic rather than the construction of physical buildings in a local setting. These European-curated exhibitions grouped them under the unifying label of the “contemporary Chinese architecture”, established their positions in design markets and academic institutions and ultimately entitled the creative class, instead of the state-owned institutes, to represent China on the world platform.