(“Text as submitted by architect”)
Qi Fan
Qi Fan is the founding partner of Vari Architects, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He has been devoted to architectural design and urban renewal for over a decade.
Mr. Fan is highly dedicated to the academic exploration and theoretical thinking of architecture and urbanism. He served as an instructor and associate researcher at the School of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong. His research, teaching, and practice center around urban renewal at various scales. He has also curated and participated in numerous exhibitions at various architectural forums and creative weeks.
His design portfolio encompasses a diverse range of scales, from urban design to architectural design, and from urban renewal to interior design. He has won multiple international competitions and received numerous awards. He places great emphasis on the interactive relationship between architecture, urban space, and human activities. Additionally, he values utilizing sensory experiences and spatial scenes as an entry point to shape more forward-looking buildings and cities.
Yang Dingliang
Yang Dingliang, who holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Zhejiang University, a Master of Architecture and Urban Design degree, and a Doctor of Design degree from Harvard University, is the founding partner of Vari Architects.
Mr. Yang is dedicated to innovative design and critical research across various scales and fields, including regional, architectural, landscape, and interior design, throughout the process of urban development and renewal. His design works encompass urban design, commercial buildings, cultural and office buildings, which have received extensive media coverage. He has been the recipient of various prestigious awards, including the American Architecture Prize, the World Architecture News Award, the Architizer A+ Architecture Award, the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Thesis Prize, the Paul Rudolph Fellowship, and the Zhu Kezhen Award.
Mr. Yang’s works have been showcased at numerous exhibitions, such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, Beijing Design Week, Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, the Boston and Los Angeles chapters of the American Institute of Architects, and the A+D Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles. Moreover, since 2015, he has been serving as a teacher and researcher at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he supervises senior design and seminar courses.
Practice Ideology
Vari Architects is an international and innovative design firm that specializes in comprehensive urban design. The company is committed to innovative design and critical research across multiple scales and fields, including regional, architectural, landscape, and interior design, in the process of urban development and renewal.
The company’s members mainly hail from China and the United States, with the core team having graduated from Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. They have garnered long-term and in-depth practical experience from well-known foreign architectural firms such as SOM, Safdie, KPF, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, and SWA. Vari’s design works span urban planning and design, commercial and residential buildings, cultural and office buildings, exhibition and interior design, and landscape design, with projects distributed in cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Xi’an, and Los Angeles.
Vari’s design works have won prestigious awards such as the American Architecture Prize, the World Architecture News Award, the A+Award, and the Paul Rudolph Fellowship. These works have also been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Beijing Design Week, Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, as well as at the Boston and Los Angeles chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the Chongqing International Creative Week.
