Co-hosted by Yale Club of Beijing and Yale Center Beijing

Event Time

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Registration
6:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Presentation and Q&A
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Location

Yale Center Beijing 
36th Floor Tower B of IFC Building 8 Jianguomenwai Avenue Chaoyang District, Beijing (Yong'anli Subway Station, Exit C) 

Registration and Fees

Registration
Please click “HERE” to register.

Please send an email to yalecenterbeijing@yale.edu if there are any problems. If you encounter any payment issues, please attach a screenshot that identifies the issue.

Ticket: Free for Yale alumni; RMB 30 for regular admission. 

*The registration fee is non-refundable. Unless due to a force majeure reason, Yale Center Beijing will not refund any part of the registration fee if a participant fails to attend the event.

Walk-ins will not be accepted.

The language of the event will be Chinese.

Note: Seats are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

The Event

How can traditional Chinese architectural culture be infused into contemporary design? On June 18, Boyuan Zhang MArch'15, Senior Associate at Robert A.M. Stern Architects, will share his insights on traditional Chinese architecture and engage in a dialogue with Xiaoxi Cheng, Professor and Vice Dean of the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University. The talk will spotlight two Yale architects who designed for Yale-China projects—Henry Murphy and King-Lui Wu—examining their design practices, objectives, and strategies. The speakers will also explore the enduring challenges of integrating tradition with modernity, balancing foreign influences with local identity, and navigating the tensions between architectural purity and cultural hybridity.

The Speaker

Boyuan Zhang MArch '15 
Senior Associate, Robert A.M. Stern Architects

Boyuan Zhang is a Senior Associate at Robert A.M. Stern Architects, a licensed architect in New York, and a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He specializes in the design and management of large-scale, mixed-use projects and is currently overseeing a luxury residential development in New York's Upper East Side. His experience spans the United States and Asia, with notable projects including Hengqin Port Square, Lakeville V in Shanghai, and Metropolis One in Tianjin. His work encompasses large-scale planning, high-end residential, hospitality, retail, exhibition, healthcare, and interior design. He has also taught at various institutions and published research on cross-cultural architectural history prior to World War II. He holds a Master of Architecture from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University.

The Discussant

Xiaoxi Cheng  
Professor & Vice Dean, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
Former Visiting Scholar, Yale School of Architecture

Xiaoxi Cheng is Professor and Vice Dean of the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University. From 2014 to 2015, she was a Visiting Scholar at the Yale School of Architecture. Her research primarily focuses on the design and renewal of culturally and ecologically integrated educational and cultural buildings. She has completed more than 20 projects at institutions such as Tsinghua University and Minzu University of China. She is a National First Class Registered Architect and also serves as Vice President of the Beijing Women Architects Association. She received the Young Architect Award from the Architectural Society of China.