Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu: Architecture as Cultural Inquiry
For Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, architecture is a form of research into cultural memory, social relationships and the life of a city. Their Shanghai-based Neri&Hu Design and Research Office works at many scales, but the question is consistent: what stories are embedded in the site, and how can a contemporary intervention make them newly visible?
Cover portrait source: Photograph by Jiaxi Yang and Zhu Zhe, via ICFF. https://icff.com/stories/designer-profile-rossana-hu-lyndon-neri/.
A multidisciplinary practice rooted in Shanghai
Founded in 2006, Neri&Hu brings together architects and designers working across architecture, interiors, installations, products and branding. Its Shanghai location is a deliberate point of departure: the city's layered history, rapid development and cultural contradictions form a productive context for the practice's research.
The role of the existing city
Across adaptive reuse and new construction, the studio frequently works with traces of prior buildings, urban conditions and local craft. Materials and construction are treated as part of the cultural argument of a design, inviting visitors to recognize continuities between past and present.
New Shanghai Theater: sculpting the spatial experience
The New Shanghai Theater is a compelling example of the office's approach to cultural architecture. Carefully modulated surfaces and sequences of rooms transform circulation into a spatial experience. Photographs reveal how light, texture and scale create drama without relying on superficial decoration.
Sticks'n'Sushi Victoria: identity in a public interior
The Sticks'n'Sushi Victoria restaurant in London demonstrates the practice's versatility. Here the team uses crafted surfaces, lighting and furniture to create a distinctive hospitality environment, balancing recognizable restaurant functions with an architectural sense of depth.
Beyond the building
Neri&Hu has received wide international recognition, including the 2021 Dezeen Awards Architecture Studio of the Year. Its body of work suggests that the richest design solutions emerge when program, history, cultural inquiry and material intelligence are developed together, rather than in isolation.
Selected references
https://www.neriandhu.com/en/about | https://neriandhu.com/en/works/index
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