We were lucky to catch up with Minquan Wang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Minquan , appreciate you joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss, mentor or leader leading you? Can you us a story or anecdote that helps illustrate why this person was such a great leader and the impact they had on you or their team?

This might have less to do with technicalities and skills but more of a moral story. A few years ago, I was going through a particularly rough period due to health problems. This rendered my position in the already highly demanding architectural profession rather precarious. The thought that I may never go down the career path for which I have a deep passion and went through arduous efforts to pursue was constantly looming in my mind.

My boss at the time, who shall remain unnamed for privacy reasons, saw my struggle and shared with me her life’s story. She told me how when she was around my age and, much like me, was on her way up with precious opportunities lining up ahead, was forced to pause her career and return to her homeland to care for a family member who was suffering from a rare condition. The prolonged absence had a sizable impact on her career. But she never gave up pushing forward and through twist and turns, ultimately there she was, rising among the most highly regarded leaders in an internationally prestigious architecture firm.

She was not only a role model of courage and perseverance, but an inspiration on kindness and strength. In the corporate world, assertiveness and toughness are almost universally prized, whereas disclosing setbacks and limitations could be considered a sign of weakness. In telling me her story, my boss imparted to me something I will always uphold: true leadership lies within acknowledging one’s vulnerability.

Minquan , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi! I am an architect based in Shanghai. I work for David Chipperfield Architects and work as an independent practitioner at the same time.

I was born in China. I discovered my art talent as a child, and would spend a lot of time drawing and painting, but never seriously considered an art career as it was a little scary for a “good kid” like myself. Conveniently, China experienced its once-in-a-lifetime urbanization craze in the early 2000s, rendering real-estate related careers promising. This prompted me to study architecture in college, which would allow me to pursue my passion in art and design without losing the basic ability to pay the bills. I came to the US where I got my Master of Architecture at Yale and later my license. After graduation I worked for KPF in New York City, whose portfolio heavily focused on commercial design, typically with large-scale mixed-use developments involving office and retail. I had the opportunity to work on a series of high-profile international projects, through which I gained a lot of experience with the said typology.

During the pandemic I went back to China, where I have been working at David Chipperfield Architects Shanghai. At that time, I yearned for a change from the commercial corporate environment at my previous job. DCA has indeed been a whole new experience in that regard. It greatly expanded my exposure to cultural projects (museums, art centers, etc.), and offered many unique opportunities such as curation, exhibitions, publications, teaching, etc. We taught a design studio at Tongji University in Shanghai last year for example, and I greatly enjoyed these tangential ventures.

At the same time, the reunion with some of my past connections in China also sparked opportunities for a number of independent works on my own and with my architect friends. Our works won several awards internationally and hopefully would broaden the pathway forward. These kept me busy and brought me where I am today.

As a licensed architect, I work on all phases in the architectural design process, from the initial conceptualization to the technical documentation and construction administration. I specialize in two types of projects: commercial mixed-use and cultural. While working at KPF I worked on many mixed-use projects, including the tallest building in Southwest China, Chongqing International Land-Sea Center, and the tallest building in the southern hemisphere, Thamrin Nine in Jakarta. At DCA I participated in many important cultural landmark proposals, such as Shanghai’s Jinqiao Art Center and the ongoing Minsheng Wharf redevelopment. I think my mileage in these two distinct and mutually complimenting fields offers me a broadened perspective.

Across typologies, I have a particular interest in how space brings people together. The public quality of architecture has been both my strength and my focus. Envisioning how space could be given back to the city and shared with people, even in convoluted and unlikely spatial/programmatic scenarios, is my forte. This could be both challenging and rewarding. Take Chongqing International Land-Sea Center for an example: the unique topology of the city meant that the project has a railway joining at the roof level of its mall. We were able to turn it into a unique experience where a transit station is seamlessly stitched into the office and retail spaces, allowing the public to flow through and with the traversing railway a sight to behold for the local.

As I started working on independent projects, I carried over these experiences, and interests. I am generally keener to push boundaries and experimenting with ideas when working outside the office. My friends and I completed a proposal for China Academy of Art’s new Mengyuan Campus earlier, which won the silver prize in this year’s MUSE Design Awards in the educational and institutional class. We designed a dual spatial system with two disparate layouts juxtaposed so as to be tailored for the academy’s specific pedagogy. The result was incredibly complex, and yet beautifully resolved.

While I am certainly adept at complicated building problems, I would not fret at going beyond physical constructions when necessary. In 2023 I completed the RAM Assembles in Shanghai, a cultural biennale for which DCA was commissioned for its art direction and installation design. After elaborate discussions on public spaces with the RAM (Rockbund Art Museum) team, we came up with a program that curates multi-location synchronous events in synergy with a series of decentralized architectural installations lending backdrop to improvised urban activities. The biennale truly went beyond the confines of conventional architecture and kick-started successful revitalization of the neighborhood. As a matter of fact, as my career unfolds, I have become increasingly interested in how architecture liaises with conventionally “non-architectural” motives, and generate a renewed impact not just to the profession itself but to the broader society.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The reputation of architects is always hinged on their works. However, being able to claim authorship over certain projects can be very difficult for beginners, as in practice it is almost always the corporate brand or the leading principal who takes credit for the project despite the cooperative nature of architectural design.

In order to gain project credits as a sole practitioner, I entered into some open international competitions, many of which are less likely to be built per se, but offers great platforms for individual designers to showcase their skills. I also worked with other architect friends and local technical architect firms. These firms are usually technically well-equipped but in need of design talents, which is essential in acquiring certain high-profile projects. In working with them as an individual consultant on a project-to-project basis instead of affiliating myself to them as a full-time employee, I essentially trade project design credit for profit (the actual contract goes to the firm after, say, procuring a project through a competition together).

Once acquiring project credits, I was able to submit my works to awards and accolades. They provide some very meaningful industrial exposure and work as affirmations of one’s achievements. Building one’s reputation through these steps, as arduous as they are, would greatly help procuring potential projects through more straight-forward processes later such as direct commissions.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Architects rely on disciplinary and technical conventions (e.g. drawings and documentations) in professional collaborations. However, overreliance on such conventions could backfire in the lack of robust industrial support, which is unfortunately a reality to cope with in the third world.

After working in the US for years, I came to pay extreme attention to drawing rigor, good practices, etc. as in a well-developed construction industry, these are naturally associated with higher construction qualities. Practicing in China brutally disrupted these conceptions. When I was working on the architectural installation in RAM Assembles, the installation was to be fitted along historical buildings in contextually sensitive ways. I pulled a lot of overtime instructing the contractor to survey the site to minute details and rigorously drafting the construction documents, trying to make sure that every modulation and alignment was delicately done. Due to the inherently unmeasurable nature of the historical site (century-old buildings with crooks and tilts and off angles), I came up with a documenting method where the dimensions were not directly given but determined by work points measured on-site, as shown in instructions. I was actually quite proud of this little invention. However, the local workers could barely read construction drawings and struggled to understand my instructions. They misread drawing symbols and made all kinds of mistakes. I freaked out and sent tons of correction drawings, only to beget more mistakes. Two weeks into construction I gave up and sent the contractor a screenshot of my 3d model. He instantly grasped the design intent. Afterwards I almost stopped making correction drawings altogether and simply went to the site multiple times a week to “talk things out” with the workers. These moves saved the installation (barely).

While building based on a model screenshot instead of actual drawings is obviously an act of blasphemy for any professional and would probably get you fired on my previous job, it worked better with that specific contractor. This experience rewrote my understanding of “good practice”. Beautiful drawings don’t mean anything if the specific context doesn’t allow them to work the way intended. As an architect, the job is to ensure project qualities, instead of obsessing with formalities.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: minquan92
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minquanwang

Image Credits

1. Chongqing International Land-Sea Center: Atchain
2. Thamrin Nine: Mario Wibowo
3. Jinqiao Art Center proposal: SAN
4. Minquan presenting at DCA-Tongji Studio final review: Fundación RIA
5. China Academy of Art Mengyuan Campus proposal: SIZE Arch
6. RAM Assembles: Fangfang Tian
7. Minquan at RAM Assembles opening: ROCKBUND
8. RAM Assembles installations: Fangfang Tian