Architect and scholar Ruo Jia examines the unexpected intellectual exchange between French theory and Chinese architecture.

In her new book, Chinese Experimental Architecture Or French Poststructuralist Theory, Ruo Jia begins with a paradox: how the Chinese Cultural Revolution influenced French poststructuralist thought—and how that theory later returned to China and ultimately shaped experimental architectural practices. Focusing on the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jia traces how these theoretical approaches reshaped one another across political and cultural divides.

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Ruo Jia is an architect/artist/theorist/historian/educator, founder and director of the research-based practice IfWorks. She is the author of Chinese Experimental Architecture Or French Poststructuralist Theory, constructing a decolonizing postmodern materialist space, which expands to her on-going research/practice envisioning the possibilities of Asian Feminist Architecture and Posthumanist Sustainability. Her works have been published with The Journal of Architecture, Representations, Log, Brooklyn Rail, Journal of Architectural Education, arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, among others. She has guest edited the special publication series on “Asian Feminist Architectural Possibilities” in collaboration with e-flux Architecture. Jia holds a Ph.D. in architectural history and theory from Princeton University, and a M.Arch.II from Harvard University.

READ THE BOOK:

• Request: NYPL Research Catalog

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Courtesy Ruo Jia