A Conversation with Xinyun Li About her Insights on Architecture

Receiving recognition from the French 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 at the heart of my creative process, enabling me to test ideas and move beyond conventions. In the project Aero Grove, for instance, I sought to integrate a large building into a public green space with humility, respecting its original function while introducing new programs that enrich and diversify people’s experiences.

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.

Design is not a single stroke of genius but an evolving process. Inspiration can surface at any moment, through what we see, hear, or experience, and each insight becomes a step toward refinement. It is this continuous rhythm of exploration and adjustment that ultimately gives rise to spaces that feel both significant and deeply human.

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 fulfills practical requirements while preserving authenticity and depth.

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

$2,500 Vernacular Home: Exploring how to make full use of local materials through design to address 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.

I encourage staying curious, embracing experimentation, and treating every experience as an opportunity to learn.

Collaborating with Junya Ishigami would be a dream, as his visionary practice blurs the lines between built form, landscape, and human life. His philosophy motivates me to pursue designs that embody fluidity, delicacy, and poetic exploration.

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.