Spring, Along Beijing Central Axis

Video Installation at Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
In collaboration with Yalun Li and Feiyue Chen

This project is a point-cloud animation installation centered on the Beijing Central Axis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the 7.8-kilometer north–south line that has structured Beijing’s spatial organization since the 13th century. Along this axis lie many monumental landmarks such as the Forbidden City, as well as parks, lakes, local markets and residential neighborhoods. It stands as a living archive of a longstanding urban philosophy grounded in the dynamic harmony between human activity and the natural environment.

Embracing an eye-level perspective and the pace of walking during a springtime traversal of the old city, the work gathers data as traces of lived experience: blooming flowers, chess games in the park, vendors preparing street food, aunties practicing tai chi… Rendered across a symmetrically folded LED screen and accompanied by a woven city soundscape, these micro-events foreground autonomous re-adaptations that sustain the axis as a contemporary public space. By shifting attention away from grand narratives of monumental heritage toward situated, ordinary encounters, the installation offers a critical counterpoint and proposes an intimate mode of engagement—one that reflects on how history continues to be inhabited, negotiated, and re-created through the rhythms of street life.

Mapping of Walking Routes, Spring 2025

Special thanks to curator Ma Yansong and MAD curatorial team (大冉，大飞，潘工，优格，龙哥) ; to technical support of To0Space (Liu Xingchen, Yan Junpeng) and Tang Yishui