Spring, Along Beijing Central Axis

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

This project is a 3-min point-cloud based video of Beijing Central Axis* as a digital “Chinese landscape painting”. Embracing an eye-level perspective at the pace of walking throughout a spring time, data was collected, processed and montaged into imagery, flowing over a symmetrically folded LED screen with woven city soundscape. Rejecting the usual grandiose gestures to depict such significant historical sites, this project embraces an intimate understanding of the Central Axis as a lively public space in everyday life.

*Beijing Central Axis is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a 7.8-kilometer line spanning north to south that historically organized the layout of ancient city of Beijing, dating back to 13th century. Along this axis lie key landmarks like the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and Drum Tower; as well as parks, lakes, markets, residential areas (hutongs). It is a testimony to an ancient urban planning philosophy, the harmony of nature and human (天人合一), preserved and slowly refined over time.

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