Renowned Chinese architect wins Swiss award

Xu Tiantian won a prestigious architecture prize in New York two years ago. 2020 Getty Images

Xu Tiantian from China has won the Swiss Architectural Award 2022 by a Swiss foundation in Ticino.

The 47-year old Xu was selected from 26 candidates from 14 countries, the Teatro dell’architettura foundation said.

The jury, which included the renowned Swiss architect Mario Botta, was impressed by the works submitted by Xu for the competition, which are located in a rural area of the Chinese province of Zhejang.

The award is aimed at recognizing and spotlighting architects from all over the world that, through their own work, have made a significant contribution to contemporary architecture by showing a peculiar sensitivity to the environment and at the same time encouraging public debate on the role of architecture in contemporary society.

The prize, worth CHF100,000 ($107,380) will be handed over at the Academy of Architecture of the University of Italian Switzerland in Mendrisio in May.

This is the eighth time that the prize has been awarded to an architect under the age of 50 whose work demonstrates sensitivity to the landscape and the environment, the organisers said on Monday.

After working in the United States and the Netherlands for OMA, Xu founded the DnA Design and Architecture studio in Beijing. In 2006, she received the WA China Architecture Award and, in 2008, the Young Architects Award from the Architectural League in New York.

In 2019, she won the Moira Gemmill Award for Emerging Architecture. In March 2018, the AEDES Architecture Forum in Berlin dedicated an exhibition to her.