The School of Architecture, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Alphawood Foundation Chicago present “Building Intervening Connecting: Recent work of Gong Dong,” a rare public presentation by award-winning architect and Plym Distinguished Professor Gong Dong at the Seventeenth Church of Christ Scientist, 55 E. Wacker Drive, on Monday, November 18th. The multimedia program will examine current projects by Vector Architects, the Beijing-based architecture practice founded by Gong in 2008 and will include video clips emphasizing the craft of the construction process.

The November 18 event, free and open to the public, begins at 5:30 pm with registration and a reception, followed by the 6:30 pm presentation and Q&A.  Seating is general admission; advance reservations are required by visiting https://www.eventbrite.com/e/building-intervening-connecting-recent-work-of-gong-dong-vector-architects-tickets-66587032607. All guests will receive a limited-edition publication documenting Dong’s architecture and his work as a Plym Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Gong will sign copies following the speaking program.

“One of the most prominent representatives of a new generation of Chinese architects, Gong Dong successfully integrates the best traits of modern architecture with the centuries-old archetypes of Chinese building. His site-sensitive, spatially imaginative, and convincingly authentic architecture is as much experientially evocative and quietly powerful as it is patently in tune with China’s current construction capability and social conditions,” said Botond Bognar,pProfessor and Edgar A. Tafel Endowed Chair in Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

This program is presented in connection with the Chicago Architecture Biennial.