Harvard GSD, Xinyun Li Shares About Exploring the City Through Design

Receiving recognition from the London Design Awards is a profound privilege. It validates my pursuit of design that not only innovates but also builds cultural bridges, advances sustainability, and speaks to the human experience.

Receiving this award has been a turning point in my career, strengthening my credibility, widening my circle of collaborators, and opening doors to new possibilities. It motivates me to keep stretching creative boundaries and to create work that speaks more powerfully to both culture and emotion.

Experimentation is central to my creative process, helping me test ideas and push beyond conventions. For instance, in the project Aero Grove, I explored unconventional massing to express the relationship between building and city, which resulted in a more meaningful and resonant design.

Architecture has the power to resonate deeply with human experience when designers embrace users as co-creators. The architect’s intent, enriched by people’s everyday actions, transforms a static structure into a living, evolving design.

One thing I wish more people understood is that design is an iterative process. Inspiration can arise at any moment, from an observation, a conversation, or even a fleeting experience, and each insight helps refine and advance the design. This continuous cycle of reflection and iteration ultimately shapes meaningful, resonant spaces.

My approach is rooted in attentive listening and transparent communication. By engaging in open dialogue, I align the client’s aspirations with innovative design opportunities, ensuring the outcome fulfils practical requirements while preserving authenticity and depth.

Aero Grove: How to infuse vitality into a community through a humble design approach, while respecting users’ existing habits and functions and serving the broader urban context. 

$2,500 Vernacular Home: How to make full use of local materials through design to respond to specific climatic and functional needs while keeping the budget under control.

I will reconnect with the world, whether wandering the city, experiencing nature, or connecting with art and culture. Each encounter sparks inspiration and fuels my return to design with greater clarity and imagination.

My work is rooted in green building principles, guided by respect for the environment and for those who use the space. Beyond functionality and sustainability, I seek to design places that carry emotional depth and foster meaningful human connections.

My advice would be to stay curious, embrace experimentation, and remain open to learning from every experience.

I would love to collaborate with Junya Ishigami because of his innovative approach to blurring the boundaries between architecture, nature, and human experience. His work inspires me to explore fluidity, lightness, and poetic experimentation in design.

I wish people asked more about how I navigate the balance between creativity and technical demands. For me, architecture reaches its fullest potential when imagination and precision converge, creating spaces that uplift while remaining practical and achievable.