Beijing-based architect Tiantian Xu has been awarded the 2023 Marcus Prize in Architecture, administered by the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prize, which recognizes emerging global talents, is funded by the Marcus Corporation Foundation. It provides a $100,000 award \u2013 half to the winner and the other half to bring Xu to Milwaukee to teach a spring 2024 studio at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning that will focus on a specific topic affecting the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marcus Prize honors architects for their outstanding work to date as well as their promise of future greatness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so thrilled for Tiantian Xu and 51ÁÔÆæ students and faculty for this great exchange of cultures and experience across oceans and great plains,\u201d said juror Kai-Uwe Bergmann of the international firm Bjarke Ingels Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that the students and Tiantian Xu will create visions that will serve Milwaukee well as it looks towards its future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beside Bergmann, the jury included David Marcus, chairman of the Marcus Corporation; D\u00e9bora Mesa, principal at Ensamble Studio in Madrid and the 2021 Marcus Prize winner; Samantha Schuermann, 51ÁÔÆæ assistant professor of architecture; and Mo Zell, dean of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s College of the Arts and Architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xu, the 10th Marcus Prize awardee since the award\u2019s inception in 2005, is the founding principal of DnA _Design and Architecture. Her firm\u2019s architectural projects have engaged in the economic revitalizing process in rural China, using a holistic approach described as \u201carchitectural acupuncture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her designs are respectful of the landscapes they are built on, but also intend to revive under-populated locales that have a variety of topographies, cultures and climates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, in southern China\u2019s Jinyun County, years of mining natural stone on the semi-arid land has left over 3,000 small, abandoned quarries. To attract tourists to the area, Xu has carved dramatic, public-friendly spaces into the caverns nestled within rock formations, taking cues from indigenous knowledge during the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in the 1970s and \u201980s, Xu experienced the transition of Chinese cities from traditional to modern. During that time, China\u2019s rural populations began to pour into cities seeking new opportunities, leaving the countryside with unattended farmland and run-down houses. Xu was influenced by the desire to help these \u201cleft-behind\u201d communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Xu earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in architecture from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and her master\u2019s degree in architecture-urban design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has received numerous awards including the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture 2023 and the Berlin Art Prize \/ Kunstpreis Berlin- Architecture 2023. In 2020, she was appointed an honorary fellow of American Institute of Architects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Marcus Prize was established in 2005 as a biennial, international architecture award that honors emerging architects for their outstanding work to date, as well as recognizing the promise of their future contributions to the field of architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The $100,000 prize provides $50,000 to the winner and a further $50,000 to lead a design studio in collaboration with faculty in the School of Architecture & Urban Planning. In addition to the award itself, the Marcus Corporation Foundation provides financial support to host the selection jury and to bring the awardees to Milwaukee for the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe at the Marcus Corporation Foundation are proud to support the important work of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning through the Marcus Prize,\u201d said David Marcus, chairman of the Marcus Corporation Foundation. \u201cThe opportunity to identify and bring in so many talented architects over the years to work with the students has been truly unique. The impact of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture & Urban Planning\u2019s students on the architectural landscape in our city and region has been remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The esteemed 2021 Marcus Prize jury included 2019 Marcus Prize recipient Tatiana Bilbao, founder of Mexico City-based Tatiana Bilbao Estudio. Bilbao was joined by David Brown, artistic director of the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial, and Lesley Lokko, founder and director of the African Futures Institute. David Marcus, chairman of the Marcus Corporation Foundation, and Robert Greenstreet, dean emeritus of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UW-Milwaukee, also served as jurors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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