Zhang Hetian is a Chinese architect, born in Beijing, principal and founder of unarchitecte, also serving as chief architect and executive director at Superstructure. Educated at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville, Zhang Hetian holds three master’s degrees—in architecture, urban planning, and urban design—and has professional experience with Bernard Tschumi and Francois Roche in Paris. After returning to China, Zhang Hetian established three architectural practices—unarchitecte, Cutscape Architecture, and Superstructure—guided by a philosophy that blends innovation, rigorous construction, and respect for both historical and contemporary contexts.
Zhang Hetian’s designs have garnered widespread acclaim over the past decade. Noteworthy works include the Forbidden City Red-Wall Teahouse (2014), named one of America’s Top 7 Most Amazing Chinese Buildings and awarded at the Chinese Construct Biennale and Architecture New Media Awards; the Beijing Dodo Museum (2017), recipient of Italy’s Napoli Cultural Classic Award; Jilin Museum of Classic Art (2018), awarded the Gianfranco Unione International Excellence Award; the Walking Box installation in Nanchang, winner of the 2019 ArchMarathon Education Building Award and featured in Architecture Lab Magazine 006 Fabric; and the ephemeral Floating Islands of Sky pontoon bridge in Chengdu (2021), recognized for its inventive detailing and expressive form.
unarchitecte’s portfolio spans museums, cultural installations, and public landscapes—each project showcasing a commitment to exploring new materials, forms, and experiences through precise, unornamented geometry and a respect for context. Zhang Hetian’s practice stands as a compelling example of contemporary Chinese architecture grounded in academic rigor, technical excellence, and international dialogue.
What inspires you?
Like most architects, I’m often inspired by the intrinsic logic of objects and sensibilities. In certain contexts, when a particular logic unfolds in a way that makes the whole proposition intriguing, we consider it a promising starting point.
What inspired you to become an architect?
My parents are structural and HVAC engineers. Growing up immersed in their world, I naturally pursued a similar path, graduating from the same university with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Structural Engineering. By chance, I began working on small architectural projects after graduation. Later, I studied urban planning, urban design, and architecture in Paris, earning my master’s degree while working at French firms. Upon returning to China, I launched my independent practice.
How would you describe your design philosophy?
It’s about relentlessly seeking interesting possibilities. Whether confronting the contemporary or the historical, we treat everything with openness and respect. We observe urban changes, landscape impacts, and spatial experiences, studying the essential and often overlooked elements of a context. Through the holistic balancing of multidisciplinary considerations, we uncover paths to innovations—new materials, functions, methods, forms, and above all, human experiences.
What is your favorite project?
We enjoy tackling diverse typologies, as each brings fresh challenges. To date, we’ve completed fewer than 20 projects with virtually no repeated typologies—buildings, landscapes, interiors, installations. If I had to choose, it’d be Floating Islands of Sky—a temporary pontoon bridge in Chengdu. We built it ourselves with local workers, developing many practical yet poetic on-site construction details. Sadly, it’s since been dismantled, but the process was unforgettable.
What is your favorite architectural detail?
If this refers to our projects, let’s revisit Floating Islands Of Sky. On land, such a bridge would be straightforward, but water changes everything. Each “island” had to remain level despite off-center gravity; all needed uniform elevation; connecting bridges required two states: aligned with islands or submerged 5 cm for playful wading. Precision mechanisms such as gears or rails risked jamming due to water movement. Instead, we devised two simple, dynamic joints to handle lifting and sinking, positioning, and linkage—resilient, low-cost, and tolerant of waves.
Do you have a favorite material?
Not one in particular, but we’re drawn to unconventional or non-traditional materials paired with simple construction details and effective structures to realize imaginative constructions.
What is your process for starting a new project?
After gathering context, we assess how deeply we can explore possibilities. We then define viable directions through keywords and imagery, guiding concept development. We exhaust all ideas—testing, merging, discarding, or pivoting—while evaluating technical feasibility at key nodes. Once a direction is chosen, we execute it rigorously across all scales.
How do you fuel your creativity?
There’s no perfect method. Creation is hard; most ideas have precedents. I trust prolonged incubation and relentless searching. Daily life might be the best source; achieving a design that feels both effortless and joyful—one that captures pure lived experience—is rare enough.
What inspired A Walking Box?
We needed a “big friend” through children’s eyes: a companion with life and personality. It walks and climbs with them, suggesting spaces beyond right angles. Its “soul” hides within, waiting to be discovered. Through play, it subtly shares its worldview—curiosity, warmth, and grit.
How did materiality shape A Walking Box?
A Walking Box is a spatial container—a “box with a raised head,” its non-coplanar edges demanding double-curved surfaces. Inside, layered passages and a floating core let children navigate, see, and hear each other, and alternate between standing and climbing. Steel frames and rope nets emerged as the ideal lightweight solution.
Reflecting on your career, which project presented the greatest challenges?
Currently, it’s a several-thousand-square-meter Wuhan Visitor Center. Spiraling pedestrian, vehicle, and boat circulation routes warp the building’s form into a complex double-curved structure. After a year of work, we’re now in Design Development.
Where do you see the future of global architecture heading?
Architecture thrives on cross-pollination through technology, materials, philosophy, and more. Without external nourishment, the discipline stagnates. AI won’t replace architects soon, but breakthroughs it catalyzes in other fields could reshape practice.
