Chinese-born architect turns urban decay into latent economic, civic assets

Chinese-born, Harvard-trained designer Siyu Zhu is quietly proving that "demolition-first" redevelopment is no longer the only financially viable option for aging waterfronts. Her research-led practice challenges conventional approaches to obsolete infrastructure — reframing decay not as liability but as latent economic and civic capital that can be strategically repurposed rather than written off as scrap.

Zhu completed her Master of Architecture degree at Harvard University in the United States on a full Dean's Merit Scholarship and later served as a teaching fellow. Her widely circulated study, "Constructive Deconstruction", models how Manhattan's obsolete docks can be converted into modular public spaces for a fraction of the cost of new construction. By re-using existing piles, slabs, and retaining walls, the scheme eliminates the line-item expense of a full teardown while creating rentable pop-up venues for markets, performances, and sponsorship activations.

In noting the approach, industry outlet Designboom described the work as "an adaptable framework that supports play, movement, and civic interaction" — positioning the research as both a spatial and economic strategy.

The exposure has already translated into paid commissions. At award-winning US firm Johnston Marklee, Zhu has led design efforts for exhibition projects Speakers' Corner I and Speakers' Corner II, presented at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Installed within two of the most influential platforms for contemporary architecture worldwide, the projects attracted international audiences on site and extended their reach through coverage by outlets including e-flux, The Plan, and The Architect's Newspaper.

Zhu has also contributed to the exhibition design of How Modern: Biographies of Architecture in China, 1949–1979 at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal in Canada, where archival material, spatial narrative, and architectural artifacts were integrated to situate modern Chinese architecture within its historical and cultural context, fostering cross-cultural understanding on a global stage.

Independent work with research partner Tracy Yijia Tang has likewise delivered measurable returns. Their heritage-landscape installation "Eye for Earth, Eye for Sky" secured Gold Awards from the International Design Awards, MUSE Design Awards and London Design Awards — competitions that together drew more than 22,000 entries and typically convert top honors into client inquiries. The accolades, granted to fewer than 2.5 percent of submissions, position the duo for future public-realm contracts without the marketing overhead of conventional business development.

Zhu noted that operating across exhibitions, competitions, and academia allows her studio to keep overhead low while staying continuously visible to municipal agencies and cultural boards.

"Every built project is also a research prototype," Zhu said. "The moment you can demonstrate cost recovery or alternative revenue, aging infrastructure becomes investable again."