Hi, I am Dr. Yiqiu Liu (刘奕秋), an urban researcher, designer and architect.

 

In 2023, I received my doctorate from the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich, where my dissertation was nominated for the ETH Medal. I hold a BA and MA in Architecture from Southeast University, China, with honors and distinction.​

 

My research focuses on political ecology, state space, and urban China, particularly through studying contemporary Beijing under the lens of planetary urbanization. I am currently researching the production of green, home, and cloud.

 

Beyond academia, I am a practising architect and urban designer with experience across continents. Our Gunan Street revitalization project won two awards at the 2024 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. I have been a collaborator on several projects with Christian Kerez over the past 10 years. 

 

My academic and professional pursuits focus on establishing a critical theoretical and methodological framework, for posing questions, seeking answers, and sculpting a dynamic path between architecture design and urban research.