Between Idealism and Reality
With Vital Architecture, Atelier Li Xinggang presents selected projects from China that create spaces where nature and the built environment merge into a living whole. Architecture is understood here as an interplay of space, environment, history and experience – a position between idealism and reality in which the built mediates and connects.
Image gallery
Nationales Bob- und Rodelzentrum Yanqing im Wettkampfareal der Olympischen Winterspiele 2022 in Peking
Five spatial strategies form the foundation of a 'Vital City' concept, in which buildings do not stand in isolation but exist in poetic dialogue with their surroundings. A multi-layered scenography composed of models, sketches, images, and installations make the architectural process tangible – from research through design to use. The exhibition demonstrates how spatial knowledge is translated into concrete, contemporary architectural ideas, contributing to a vital built environment.
Exhibition
The exhibition at Aedes organises the projects into five spatial strategies: Introverted Gardens in the City; Symbiosis of the New and the Old on 'Ruins'; Structures in Context-Deficient Environments; Clustered Shelters Based on Structural-Spatial Units; Architecture Merging with Topographical Landscape. Despite varying scales, these works share a common goal: to develop architecture as a living system that balances environment, structure and human experience.
The presentation follows this integrative approach. Sketches, models, photographs, films and spatial installations are arranged in layers, opening up different approaches to the projects. The wooden crates used for displaying models are made from reused transport packaging, referencing the studio's working process in which research, design, construction and use are understood as a connected cycle. At the centre is the idea of a 'Total Milieu' – architecture that is experienced physically and intellectually.
- Exhibition opening:
- Friday, 06.02.2026, 18:30
- with: Li Xiangning, Curator / Vice President, Tongji University, Shanghai
- Li Xinggang, Founder, Atelier Li Xinggang / Professor, Tianjin University, Beijing
- Exhibition period: 07.02. to 18.03.2026
Opening hours
Mon, 13:00 to 17:00
Tue, Wed + Fri, 11:00 to 18:30, Thu 11:00 to 20:00
Sun and public holidays, 13:00 to 17:00
Saturday, 07.02.2026, 13:00 - 17:00
Location:
Aedes Architecture Forum
Christinenstr. 18-19
10119 Berlin
