Atelier Archmixing was founded by ZHUANG Shen and REN Hao in July, 2009, Joined partner areTANG Yu and ZHU Jie.
The studio’s Chinese name A Ke Mi Xing echoes the pronunciation of "Archmixing ", which means Mixing Architecture, a critical position as well as strategy we hold from the very beginning.
Nowadays in China, cities and buildings are growing extremely stimulating and overpowering. By contrast, living and sensible spaces are separating into lonely islands. At the same time, the alienation between Chinese architects’ spirits, the public and the whole society are inevitably increasing. We think it necessary to move beyond our narrow area of expertise to a wider range of unlimited boundary by seeking every opportunity and employing strategies with no priori notions, thus to arrive at a creative design which benefits the ordinary people in contemporary China. We are interested by the multiple demands rooted in the complex urban context, as well as the architectural diversity and the hybrid way of organization in design.
Since established, Atelier Archmixing is gradually recognized as one of the most influential architectural practices in China. The projects we have completed feature in various scales and functions, covering the range from urban design to artistic installation, from professional manufacture to informal locale craftsmanship. We boast in extensive design interests as well as flexible practicing strategies.
Through two decades of practices, Atelier Archmixing’s principal architects have accumulated plenty of practicing and researching experiences. We see China’s rapid urbanization and extensive commercialization as our design context, China’s controversial urban and rural status quo, which is also the everyday environment we live in and impossible to ignore, as our point of departure. Is it possible to draw new strength for architectural discipline from these circumstances? We especially see opportunities in city life and architecture of the everyday, which is problematic but also energetic and vibrant.