Preview of the exhibition “Chinese Voices on Palladio” at the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing
Last Thursday, 16 April, the official presentation to the press and the cultural community of the exhibition Chinese Voices on Palladio took place at the Auditorium of the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing. The exhibition is curated by the Politecnico di Torino (Department of Architecture and Design – DAD) in collaboration with Tsinghua University.
The initiative was held in the context of the visit to China by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, who attended the preview of the exhibition set up at the Institute’s Auditorium
The event was introduced by the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, Federico Roberto Antonelli, and featured speeches by the Director of DAD Michele Bonino, Dean Zhang Li (Tsinghua University), and Guicciardo Sassoli (Associazione Nuova Artearea ETS). The event was also attended by the Director General of the Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Massimo Bray, as well as representatives of the diplomatic staff of the Italian Embassy in Beijing.
Promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute and the Italian Embassy in Beijing, Chinese Voices on Palladio will be open to the public from 12 July to mid-October 2026 at the Tsinghua Art Museum in Beijing. The exhibition explores the dialogue between the architectural legacy of Andrea Palladio and contemporary Chinese architectural thought, identifying shared ground between two great architectural cultures in the principles of proportion, symmetry, harmony, and relationship with nature.
Curated by Michele Bonino, Pierre-Alain Croset, Giorgia Cestaro, and Edoardo Piccoli for the Politecnico di Torino, and by Qing Feng and Li Luke for Tsinghua University, the project is part of a broader programme of initiatives in China dedicated to Palladio (including the ongoing historical exhibition Geometry, Harmony and Life. The Architecture of Andrea Palladio from Antiquity to Classicism at the National Museum of China). It proposes a contemporary reinterpretation of Palladio’s legacy through the contributions of twelve leading Chinese architecture firms. The architects involved include Chang Yung Ho, Dong Gong, Li Xinggang, Li Han, Zhu Pei, Wang Hui, He Jianxiang, Jiang Ying, Hua Li, Liu Heng, Zhang Li, Fang Xiaofeng, Xu Haohao, and Feng Jiang, whose reflections form the living core of the exhibition.
Alongside these contributions, the exhibition features an unpublished photographic series by Lois Conner dedicated to Palladian architecture, as well as a section devoted to contemporary Italian artists—Luca Pozzi, Matteo Basilé, Davide Sebastian, Davide Bramante, and Pietro Ruffo—who reinterpret Palladio’s legacy through contemporary visual languages. This section is curated by Nuova Artearea.
During the event, a preview of the exhibition was presented, bringing together interviews, drawings, and installations, and offering a multifaceted perspective on how Palladian thought is reinterpreted today within contemporary cultural contexts. More than a traditional exhibition, Chinese Voices on Palladio presents itself as a platform for academic and cultural exchange, capable of fostering dialogue between two major architectural traditions.
The installation of the preview at the Italian Cultural Institute was designed through the POLITO Studio initiative, a collaboration between the Politecnico di Torino and the Order of Architects PPC of Turin.
- Immagine
NomeFrom the left: Antonio Tajani, Michele Bonino, Guicciardo Sassoli and Zhang Li - Immagine
NomeAntonio Tajani - Immagine
NomeExhibition details
