(“Text as taken from the website”)
Binke Lenhardt
holds a Diploma degree in Architecture from the University of Applied Sciences, Dortmund, Germany and a Masters degree in Architecture from Pratt Institute, New York, USA. After studying and practicing in Europe and the United States for 5 years, she moved to Beijing in 2002. Today she works as a consultant for the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) and is also co-founder of Crossboundaries, established in 2005. Binke Lenhardt is a registered architect in Germany and was appointed as a member of the BDA (Association of German Architects) in 2016, she is regularly teaching architectural design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) and recently also at Tsinghua University. She received a number of international awards and fellowships, i.e. the Fulbright Grant for Mutual Understanding, the Sidney Katz Award for talented graduate students of Architecture and the DAAD Graduate Scholarship for study and work in China. Binke Lenhardt is managing director of the office in Beijing and partner and managing director in the Frankfurt´s office.
DONG Hao
holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture, and a Masters degree in Architecture from Pratt Institute, New York, USA. In 2002, he returned to China and started practicing and teaching after living and studying in the United States for almost 5 years. Besides working in one of the biggest state-owned design enterprises, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) since 2003, Hao Dong co-founded the practice of Crossboundaries, based in Beijing. He is regularly teaching at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) and recently also at Tsinghua University, Hao Dong is managing director of the office in Beijing.
Antje Voigt
holds a Diploma degree in Architecture from the University of Kassel, Germany. After studying and practicing in the US, Spain and Germany she worked from 2000-03 for Herzog & de Meuron Architects in Basel, Switzerland. From 2003-10 she was employed as an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Industrial Building and Construction Design at the Technical University of Brunswick, Germany. Beside her research and education work in Brunswick she organized and conducted various educational programs at the University of Applied Sciences, Mainz, Germany, the ETSA Barcelona, Spain, and the Tsinghua University Beijing, China. She is a registered architect in Germany and was appointed as a member of the BDA (Association of German Architects) in 2007. In 2003 she founded her own architectural practice in Frankfurt. Her successful collaboration with Binke Lenhardt let to the transformation of both offices into “Crossboundaries Architektenpartnerschaft mbB Lenhardt + Voigt” in 2012, where Antje Voigt is partner and managing director.
Practice Ideology
Crossboundaries contributes to a vital built environment through architecture, environmental design and urban regeneration. The studio creates enduring architecture that often deals with remarkable technical processes, yet always has a pleasant material touch and human atmosphere. Organized as an international partnership, Crossboundaries has staff originating from and trained in different parts of the world. Its first office was founded in Beijing, China in 2005, by Binke Lenhardt and DONG Hao, later, in 2012, a partner office was established in Frankfurt, Germany by Binke Lenhardt and Antje Voigt.
After receiving their Masters Degrees in Architecture from Pratt Institute, Binke Lenhardt and DONG Hao worked in New York for several years before making their home in China. In Beijing they both started off in the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) before founding Crossboundaries. Today they frequently lecture and teach at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) and at Tsinghua University. From urban scale architecture all the way down to graphic design, to teaching and event creation, Crossboundaries practices by name, crossing the boundaries into activities and dialogues in the broad field of design and the subject of architecture, continually thinking and doing, the studio is engaging, evolving and adapting.
Crossboundaries has completed a wide range of small scale interior designs and architectural projects of larger sizes. The project portfolio includes Aimer’s Lingerie Factory, several Beida High Schools, Family Box, Soyoo Joyful Growth Center, kindergartens in rural areas, showrooms and offices in collaboration with Siemens and BMW. The firm engages in theoretical research projects such as China House Vision, exhibited at the 15th International Architecture La Biennale di Venezia and also in Beijing in 2018 and is actively participating the current discourse on architecture in China.
Crossboundaries’ work has been published across a range of leading industry magazines and is also frequently featured in online design media. The practice has received multiple international accolades, most recently the 2018 and 2019 German Design Award, Architizer A+ Award 2018, the Architecture MasterPrize 2018 and 2019 and the ARCASIA Awards for Architecture 2015, Architectural Digest China’s 2015, 2017 and 2019 Award among others.
