"You Have to Leave Some Space for the Future People to Interpret": In Conversation with Zhu Pei

Written by Vladimir Belogolovsky
Published on January 23, 2025

Over the last eight years, I have interviewed Beijing-based architect and educator Zhu Pei several times. His persistent quest to combine traditional planning and construction principles with innovative formal and spatial sensibilities intrigues me. His latest projects, including Zijing International Conference Camp (2022) and Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum (2020), are widely published and represent his most mature works. Yet, he is convinced that his best building is in the making. "This is going to be amazing! I feel so excited!" the architect told me, referring to his now under-construction Majiayao Ruins Museum and Observatory in Gansu province in Northwestern China. "I hate column-beam solutions. I want column-free spaces for the public building," he continued. Our conversation took place earlier this year on a video call, complete with dozens of relevant illustrations.

About this author

Vladimir Belogolovsky

Author

#Tags

News Articles Studio Zhu-Pei Architecture Education Contemporary Chinese Architecture China beijing Interview Vladimir Belogolovsky ArchDaily Interview Zhu Pei Chinese Architecture Contemporary Architecture Traditional Architecture Architectural Education Architecture

Cite: Vladimir Belogolovsky. ""You Have to Leave Some Space for the Future People to Interpret": In Conversation with Zhu Pei" 23 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026107/you-have-to-leave-some-space-for-the-future-people-to-interpret-in-conversation-with-zhu-pei> ISSN 0719-8884

")[0]),AD.localStorageAvailable()&&(localStorage["kenneth_me_html_"+AD.site]=e),document.dispatchEvent(new Event("kenneth:rendered"))})["catch"](function(e){console.error("User profile loading error",e);var t='';n&&(n.innerHTML=t),document.querySelector("#kenneth-root-simple")&&(document.querySelector("#kenneth-root-simple").innerHTML=t),document.dispatchEvent(new Event("kenneth:rendered"))})}else{var i=window.localStorage["kenneth_me_html_"+AD.site];n&&(n.innerHTML=i),AD.populateMobileMenu(i),document.querySelector("#kenneth-root-simple")&&(document.querySelector("#kenneth-root-simple").innerHTML=window.localStorage["kenneth_me_html_"+AD.site].split("")[0]),document.dispatchEvent(new Event("kenneth:rendered"))}};var menuUserMobile=function(){function t(e){e.target&&e.target.matches(".kth-user__dropdown--mobile, .kth-user__dropdown--mobile-item")&&(n.classList.remove("kth-user__dropdown--mobile--show"),n.removeEventListener("swiped-down",t))}var n=document.querySelector("body"),e=document.querySelector("#js-afd-nav-user .js-professional-user"),o=document.createElement("div");o.classList.add("kth-user__dropdown--mobile-backdrop"),e&&(n.appendChild(o),e.addEventListener("click",function(){n.classList.add("kth-user__dropdown--mobile--show"),n.addEventListener("swiped-down",t)}))};AD.setCurrentUser=function(e){"minimal"===AD.profile_type?AD.CurrentUser={id:e.id,email:e.email,jwt_token:e.jwt_token,subscription:e.subscription,full_name:e.full_name,avatar:e.avatar,confirmed_at:e.confirmed_at,legacy_confirmed:e.legacy_confirmed,updated_at:e.updated_at,accepted_at:e.accepted_at,notified:e.notified}:AD.CurrentUser={id:e.id,email:e.email,jwt_token:e.jwt_token,subscription:e.subscription,full_name:e.full_name,about_me:e.about_me,avatar:e.avatar,country:e.country,ocupation:e.ocupation,website:e.website,facebook:e.facebook,twitter:e.twitter,instagram:e.instagram,pinterest:e.pinterest,birth_date:e.birth_date,confirmed_at:e.confirmed_at,legacy_confirmed:e.legacy_confirmed,updated_at:e.updated_at,accepted_at:e.accepted_at,notified:e.notified}},AD.notifyUser=function(){AD.CurrentUser.notified&&(document.querySelector(".kth_notification_dot").style.display="block",document.querySelector(".kth_notification_dot--mobile").style.display="block")},AD.getUser=function(){var e={"Content-Type":"application/json","x-csrf-token":AD.csrf_token},t=AD.getAccessToken(),n={token:queryString("token"),campaign:queryString("campaign")};if(n.token&&n.campaign?e.Authorization="Email-Campaign "+n.campaign+" "+n.token:null!==t&&(e.Authorization="Bearer "+t),e.Authorization||AD.legacyCompatibility()){var o=AD.profile_uri;"minimal"===AD.profile_type&&(o+="&minimal=true"),fetch(o,{method:"POST",headers:e,body:JSON.stringify({})}).then(function(e){return e.json()}).then(function(e){AD.setCurrentUser(e),AD.load_upper_menu(),AD.localStorageAvailable()&&(localStorage.kenneth_updated_at=AD.CurrentUser.updated_at),AD.isLoggedIn=!0;var t=new Event("kenneth:successful-login");document.dispatchEvent(t),setKennethRootWidth()})["catch"](function(e){console.log(e),AD.load_upper_menu();var t=new Event("kenneth:anonymous-access");document.dispatchEvent(t)})}else{AD.load_upper_menu();var a=new Event("kenneth:anonymous-access");document.dispatchEvent(a)}},AD.showMessage=function(e,t){var n=document.querySelector(e),o=null;n.innerHTML="",n.classList.remove("afd-hide");try{if((o="object"==typeof JSON.parse(t)?JSON.parse(t):t).hasOwnProperty("error")){var a=document.createElement("p");a.classList.add("kenneth-validation"),a.innerHTML=o.error,n.appendChild(a)}else if(o.hasOwnProperty("errors")){var i=document.createElement("ul");for(var s in i.classList.add("kenneth-validation"),o.errors){var r=document.createElement("li");r.classList.add("kenneth-validation__item"),r.innerHTML=""+(s.charAt(0).toUpperCase()+s.slice(1)).replace(/_/,"")+" "+o.errors[s],i.appendChild(r)}n.appendChild(i)}else n.classList.add("kenneth-modal__success"),n.innerHTML=o}catch(c){n.classList.add("kenneth-modal__error"),n.innerHTML=t}},AD.afterLogin=function(e){return AD.setCurrentUser(e.resource),!AD.use_cookie&&AD.localStorageAvailable()&&(window.localStorage.kth_access_token=e.access_token),AD.closeModalAfterAction?null!=AD.redirect_uri?(window.location.href=AD.redirect_uri,!1):AD.reload_on_login?(window.location.reload(),!1):(blockBodyScroll(!1),showModal(!1),null!=AD.callback&&AD.callback(),void(AD.modalOpened=!1)):(AD.load_upper_menu(),null!=AD.callback&&AD.callback(),!0)},AD.resend_confirmation_email=function(){AD.CurrentUser!=undefined&&AD.CurrentUser.id!=undefined&&fetch(AD.resend_confirmation_email_uri,{method:"POST",body:JSON.stringify({email:AD.CurrentUser.email}),headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json","x-csrf-token":AD.csrf_token}}).then(function(e){if(e.ok)return e.json();throw new Error("Something went wrong")}).then(function(e){AD.create_modal_content(e.message)})["catch"](function(e){AD.create_modal_content(e.message)})},AD.check_user_email=function(e,t,n,o,a,i){null!=a&&0",n.innerHTML=o,t)t.innerHTML="",t.appendChild(n),t.classList.add("kth-validation-email-modal__show");else{var a=document.createElement("div");a.classList.add("js-validation-email-modal","kth-validation-email-modal","kth-validation-email-modal__show"),a.appendChild(n),document.body.insertBefore(a,document.body.firstChild)}},AD.isReady=function(){AD.initialized||AD.init(),document.addEventListener("kenneth:successful-login",function(){if(setKennethRootWidth(),AD.showConfirmationAlert(),document.querySelector("#kth-subscribe-button")){var e=document.querySelector("#kth-subscription-banner");e&&e.classList.add("hidden");var t=document.querySelector("#kth-subscription-banner-home");t&&t.classList.add("hidden")}}),document.addEventListener("kenneth:anonymous-access",function(){if(document.querySelector("#kenneth-embedded")&&(AD.embedWelcome(document.querySelector("#kenneth-embedded")),AD.signup_src="embedded"),window.adInsights){document.querySelectorAll(".js-btn-zoom").length&&(AD.trackFormEvent("show","nrd-gallery-zoom-btn"),document.querySelectorAll(".js-btn-zoom").forEach(function(e){e.addEventListener("click",function(){AD.signup_src="nrd-gallery-zoom-btn",AD.trackFormEvent("click","nrd-gallery-zoom-btn")})})),document.querySelectorAll(".acordeon__category, .sales").length&&document.querySelectorAll(".acordeon__category, .sales").forEach(function(e){e.setAttribute("data-insights-category","kth-signup-form"),e.setAttribute("data-insights-label","nft-local-sales-contact"),e.addEventListener("click",function(){AD.signup_src="nft-local-sales-contact"})});var e=document.querySelectorAll(".myarchdaily-multiple-fav");e&&e.forEach(function(e,t){e.setAttribute("data-insights-category","kth-signup-form"),e.setAttribute("data-insights-label","nrd-save-this-bookmark"),e.setAttribute("data-insights-value",t),e.addEventListener("click",function(){AD.signup_src="nrd-save-this-bookmark"})})}AD.setPageviewsStorage(),document.querySelector("#kth-subscribe-button")&&document.querySelector("#kth-subscribe-button").addEventListener("click",function(){AD.signup_src=this.dataset.insightsLabel,ga("send","event","Register","click",AD.signup_src),AD.loadWelcome(undefined,undefined,function(){var e=document.querySelector("#kth-banner-input").value;document.querySelector("#new_user_email").value=e})})}),document.addEventListener("kenneth:rendered",function(){AD.checkConsent(),menuUserMobile()}),AD.cleanStorage(),AD.getUser(),AD.auto_open&&AD.hasConsent()&&(AD.openWelcome(),AD.signup_src="auto_open"),document.addEventListener("submit",function(e){if(e.target.matches("form.forgot")){e.preventDefault();var t=e.target,n=new FormData(t),o=AD.prepend_api+t.getAttribute("action")+"?site="+AD.site;fetch(o,{method:"POST",body:JSON.stringify({email:n.get("email")}),headers:{"Content-Type":"application/json","x-csrf-token":AD.csrf_token}}).then(function(e){var t=e.json();return e.ok?t:t.then(Promise.reject.bind(Promise))}).then(function(e){AD.showMessage(".forgot .messages",e.message),document.querySelector(".messages").classList.remove("kenneth-modal__error");for(var t=document.querySelectorAll(".js-kth-forgot-1"),n=0;nTerms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.';var s=document.createElement("p");s.classList.add("afd-desktop-e"),s.innerHTML='If you want to make the best of your experience on our site, sign-up.';var r=AD&&"cl"==AD.site?".jv-header, #js-afd-nav":".jv-header, .afd-header-main__container";o.appendChild(a),n.append(i,s),e.append(n,o),t.appendChild(e),document.body.classList.add("kth-toast__padding-body"),document.querySelectorAll(r).forEach(function(e){e.append(t.cloneNode(!0))}),document.addEventListener("click",function(e){e.target.matches("#gdpr-consent")&&AD.acceptConsent({callback:AD.hideConsentBanner})}),t.style.display="none",t.style.animation="fadein 0.5s",setTimeout(function(){t.style.display="block"},500)},AD.hideConsentBanner=function(){document.body.classList.remove("kth-toast__padding-body");var e=document.querySelector(".kth-toast");e&&(e.style.display="none"),AD.removeConsentElements()},AD.removeConsentElements=function(){var e=document.querySelector(".kth-toast");e&&e.parentNode.removeChild(e)},AD.check_image=function(t){if(!t||!t.length)return 0;loadImg({src:t.replace("http://","https://"),maxSeconds:10},function(e){if(e.err)return replaceImage_toFallback(".kth-user__avatar",t,!0),replaceImage_toFallback(".afd-avatar",t,!0),replaceImage_toFallback(".afd-user-avatar",t,!0),void replaceImage_toFallback("#js-kth-avatar",t,!1)})};var Survey=function(t,e){function n(e){document.querySelector(e)&&(g.container=document.querySelector(e),g.steps=g.container.querySelectorAll("[data-name]"),g.selector=e,g.container.style.display="none",(w={potentialToken:f("token"),potentialAnswer:f("answer")}).potentialToken&&w.potentialAnswer?m("occupation_email").then(function(e){e&&!1===e.answered&&o({occupation_popup_shown_at:null,occupation_popup_shows:null})}):AD.isLoggedIn&&setTimeout(function(){m("occupation_popup").then(function(e){o(e)})},k))}function o(e){null!==e?(_=e.occupation_popup_shown_at?new Date(e.occupation_popup_shown_at):null,e.occupation_popup_shows&&(y=parseInt(e.occupation_popup_shows))):_=new Date,a(),i()?g.open():g.destroy()}function a(){y?g.container.classList.add("attempt--2"):g.container.classList.add("attempt--1")}function i(){if(null===_)return!0;var e=((new Date).getTime()-_.getTime())/1e3/60/60/24;return b-->

	
		OSZAR »