In China’s rapidly changing urban and rural environment, how can architecture reveal the spatial genius loci and humanistic spirit? Faced with demands for large scale, mixed functions, and high density, how can architecture regulate scale, establish relationships between individual buildings and the collective, and foster interaction between built form and the natural environment?

On April 8, 2026, Between Urban and Rural: Courtyard Urbanism as an Architectural Environmental Strategy – Wang Weijen Architecture Research/Design Exhibition will officially open at the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University in Shanghai. From multiple perspectives, the exhibition presents nearly two decades of urban and rural practice by Wang Weijen Architecture, grounded in courtyard urbanism as an architectural environmental strategy. In addition to design practices for urban-rural campuses and community buildings, the exhibition also features the research studio’s ongoing field-based investigations and studies in urban and rural contexts, highlighting the architect’s commitment to human scale, ecological nature, and community place, as well as the everyday work of navigating between city and countryside.

Introduction

This exhibition is organised in three parts, with the thematic discussions on Campus Courtyard, Urban-Rural Practice and Architect respectively.

Campus Courtyard: Density / Scale / Landscape

This section explores Courtyardism as a cross-cultural prototype which can be developed into a multi-layered three-dimensional system of architectural urbanism, coordinating scale while accommodating nature in contemporary high-density cities. Through a series of campus designs including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, four schools in Shenzhen, and the Lishui University in Songyang, the exhibition explores how Courtyardism as typology can be developed into a sectional design method, through overlapping and interweaving, enclosure and connecting, sequence and transition, trees and ponds, establishing an effective spatial strategy for sustaining architectural and natural environments.

Urban-Rural Research: Fabric / Place / Construction

This section presents the studio's extensive research and built projects in diverse urban and rural contexts. From studies of Macao's Tsz Lam Wai and Hong Kong's urban fabric to the adaptive reuse and design transformations in Beijing's hutongs, villages in Zhejiang and Henan, the Hakka settlement of Kuk Po Village in Hong Kong, and the reconstruction of Choi Yuen Village, the exhibition highlights the dialectical and symbiotic relationships between city and village, architecture and landscapes, settlement and wetland, high and low density, conservation and innovation, amidst vast urban-rural transformations.

Architect: Humanity and Nature

Finally, a short film presents the personal and intellectual trajectory of WANG Weijen. It traces the development of his ideas and actions, from his upbringing and education to his consistent focus on people and observation of nature. This narrative reveals his continuous exploration of Courtyardism as a method and offers a glimpse into his daily work across the multiple roles of teacher, scholar, architect, and curator.This Shanghai exhibition marks the third iteration of the "Wang Weijen Architecture Research/Design Exhibition," following its previous shows in Hong Kong (May-June 2025) and Shenzhen (November 2025-March 2026).

Information

Courtyardism: an urban-rural strategy

Venue: Gallery on UG/F, Building C, CAUP, Tongji University

Duration: April 8 – April 30, 2026

Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday, 9:00–18:00

Curators: QIAN Jianshi, JIANG Naixin, WANG Weijen

Organizer: College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University

Media Support: Time+Architecture, Architecture Asia、Perspectives in Architecture and Urban Planning

Opening Ceremony: April 8, 2026, 12:00

Exhibition Tour: April 8, 2026, 12:30–13:15

Forum: Campus Courtyard / Urban-Rural Research / Teaching Practice, April 8, 2026, 13:30–15:30

Forum Guests

Wang Yi: Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University

Wang Fangji: Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University; Principal Architect, Shanghai Bofeng Architectural Design Consulting Co., Ltd.

Zhi Wenjun: Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University; Editor-in-Chief, Time+Architecture

Zhuang Shen: Professor, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Director, Future Space Research Center; Principal Architect, Atelier Archmixing

Gu Daqing: Professor, Internationalization Demonstration School of Architecture, Southeast University

Huang Yinwu: Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture, School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University