The Illinois School of Architecture is proud to have Alumnus Gong Dong of Vector Architects as the 2019 Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor!
Please join us for his public reception and lecture.
4:00 - Reception
Blicharski Atrium, Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
4:30 - Opening Lecture by Zhu Pei
Dean, China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)
Plym Auditorium, Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
6:00 - Lecture by Gong Dong
Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor, Vector Architects
Plym Auditorium, Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
Gong Dong bio:
Gong Dong is the 2019 Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor. The Plym Distinguished Professorship is a very special position within the School of Architecture. It was made possible by a gift to the School in 1981 by the late Lawrence J. Plym of Niles, Michigan, past president of the Kawneer Corporation. Mr. Plym and his family have a very warm association with the University of Illinois and the School of Architecture. The Plym Professorship is conferred upon an architect who has a distinguished record of achievement and can make a positive contribution to the enrichment of the professional education of students in the School. Our past Plym Professors have included Gunnar Birkerts, Paul Rudolph, Joseph Esherick, Minoru Takeyama, Edmund Bacon, Thom Mayne, Carme Pinos, Dominique Perrault, Frances Halsband, Norman Crowe, Ken Yeang, Kengo Kuma, Kenneth Frampton, and Juhani Pallasmaa.
Gong Dong received Bachelor & Master of Architecture from Tsinghua University, followed by his Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He worked for Soloman Cordwell Buenz & Associates in Chicago, then at Richard Meier & Partners and Steven Holl Architects in New York. In 2008, Gong Dong founded Vector Architects in China, and he has been a visiting Studio Professor in Tsinghua University since 2014.
His firm and projects have been widely covered by many academic media and are awarded both in China and internationally. Representative Work: Seashore Library, Seashore Chapel, Alila Yangshuo, Suzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, Chongqing Taoyuanju Community Center, Bayuquan Vanke Exhibition Center, Eco-Farm Series-Visitor Center and Harvest Pavilion, and M Woods Entrance Revitalization, etc.
Zhu Pei bio:
Zhu Pei, one of the leading Chinese architects, received his Master degree in Architecture both from Tsinghua University and UC Berkeley, he founded Studio Zhu-Pei in Beijing in 2005.
Zhu Pei won The Architectural Review Future Project Awards in 2017, Honor Award from the AIA in 2015, he was named one of “the 5 greatest architects under 50” by the Huffington Post in 2011, DFA Grand Award and Special Award for Culture, Hong Kong, in 2008, the Design Vanguard Award by Architecture Record in 2007, China Award from Architectural Record in 2005, WA award in 2004, Special Merit Award by UIA and UNESCO in 1989.
In 2006 and 2007, Zhu Pei was commissioned by Guggenheim Foundation to design Guggenheim Art Pavilion in Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Museum in Beijing. His built works include Cai Guo-Qiang Courtyard House Renovation (Beijing, 2007), Digital Beijing, Olympics Control Center (Beijing, 2008), OCT Design Museum (Shenzhen, 2011), Minsheng Museum of Modern Art (Beijing, 2015), Taimiao Art Museum (Beijing, 2015), etc. He is currently working on Imperial Kiln Museum in Jingdezhen, YangLiping Performing Arts Center, Shou County Culture and Art Center, Ningbo Jiangdong Catholic Church, Jingjiang Cultural Center, Dali Museum of Contemporary Art, ＂Cube" Art Museum, etc.
His works have been exhibited at world important museums such as Venice Biennial in Italy, Sao Paulo Art Biennial, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Victoria and Albert Museum in UK, Dresden State Art Museum in Germany, AEDES in Germany, Kassel in Germany, Harvard University and Rome MAXXI Museum in Italy, etc.
He has also been selected as an architecture jury member for Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011, Hong Kong Design Week in 2011 and Korea International Competition in 2015/2017. He has given many lectures at Harvard University, Columbia University, UC Berkeley, Rice University, Rhode Island school of Design, University of South California, University of Texas at Austin, Yale University, UCLA, University at Buffalo, Syracuse University and University of Auckland, etc.
