Twenty-five years ago, Aedes presented TUMU, an exhibition that brought a generation of young independent Chinese architects to international attention for the first time. A Structure of Feeling builds on that legacy, turning its gaze towards a new generation working under changed conditions. Twelve projects by nine practices, alongside works by several artists, take up the transformation of existing urban fabric, rural development and new forms of spatial production. A period of unbridled expansion has given way to a more differentiated mode of building, with altered scales and demands. The title draws on Raymond Williams' concept of the 'structure of feeling': a shared experience in the process of becoming, which resists straightforward description. The exhibition follows the traces of that shared experience, making them legible through concrete works – as a snapshot of shifting architectural practice.
Lishui Guyanhuaxiang Art Center, Lishui, Zhejiang, CN, 2024. © schranimage | Mansion on Lotus Mountain, Changchun, Jilin, CN, 2022. © Chen Xi Studio
CONDITIONS OF A GENERATION
The architects participating in the exhibition work outside China’s state-owned design institutes and beyond the logic of property-driven mass production — whilst remaining entangled in both. International educational trajectories have broadened their perspectives; friction with the realities of building has shaped their practice.
Three intertwined dimensions form the core of the exhibition: the urban, the economic-geographical and the epistemological. They point to a shared yet still unnamed condition: how can agency be gained within a system that has opened up without truly being open? What justifies building amid the entangled economies of city and countryside? How does architectural judgement develop in the absence of stable frames of reference?
The works on show claim neither representativeness nor stylistic coherence. They mark the beginning of an investigation — a cross-section, not a panorama.
LYCEUM School, Chongzuo, Guangxi, CN, 2022. © Zhu Yumeng | Annoso · Hill, Tengchong, Yunnan, CN, 2019. © Weiqi Jin
STRUCTURE OF FEELING
The term, coined by cultural theorist and literary scholar Raymond Williams (1921–1988), denotes a social experience in the process of becoming — not yet conceptually fixed or ideologically solidified. The exhibition takes this condition as its starting point. It does not ask what Chinese architecture ought to be, but rather under what forces and within what contradictions it is currently taking shape — bound as it is to a specific economic, institutional, cultural and geographical field.
Haiyan Ke Tang, Haiyan Village, Kunming, CN, 2023. © Chen Hao | Wu Guannan Art Museum, Dingshu Town, Yixing, Jiangsu, CN, 2023. © Xu Zhang
PROJECTS
The twelve selected projects span a wide range of typologies and geographical contexts — from educational buildings and cultural institutions to hotels and interventions within existing urban fabric:
· Atelier Alter Architects (Bu Xiaojun & Zhang Yingfan): Dali Transformer Factory Theatrical District, Dali, Yunnan,CN (2023)
· Atelier XÜK (Liu Kenan & Zhang Xu): Wu Guannan Art Museum, Yixing, Jiangsu, CN (2024); Kunshan Wutong Experimental School, Kunshan, Jiangsu, CN (2023)
· genarchitects (Fan Beilei, Xue Zhe, Kong Rui): Dining & Swimming Complex of Shanghai Zhonghua College, Shanghai, CN (2025)
· line+ studio (Meng Fanhao): Mansion on Lotus Mountain, Changchun, Jilin, CN (2022); Lishui Guyanhuaxiang Art Center, Lishui, Zhejiang, CN (2024)
· DL Atelier (Liu Yang & Xu Dan): LYCEUM School, Chongzuo, Guangxi,CN (2022)
· People’s Architecture Office (James Shen, He Zhe, Zang Feng): Plugin House, Shenzhen, Guangdong, CN (2018)
· Yanfei Architects (Shui Yanfei): Deckground, Shanghai,CN (2025); Haiyan Ke Tang, Kunming, Yunnan, CN (2023)
· Studio QI Architects (Qi Shanshan): Annoso · Hill, Tengchong, Yunnan, CN (2019)
· BUZZ / Büro Ziyu Zhuang (Zhuang Ziyu): Poodom Deqin Meri Hotel, Diqing, Yunnan, CN (2024)
The architectural projects are complemented by works by the artists Drawing Architecture Studio (Li Han, Hu Yan, Zhang Xintong) (Ideal City), Ouyang Shizhong (New Zone – Mansions) and Yang Yongliang (Artificial Wonderland II – Travelers Among Mountains and Streams).
EXHIBITION
The projects are presented at Aedes through models, films, photographs and graphic works. In addition, the shipping crates used to transport the exhibits from China to Berlin by rail have been incorporated into the spatial display.
A Structure of Feeling is curated by Gao Changjun (Kris), with curatorial advice from Li Xiangning.
