The exhibition Chinese Voices on Palladio. From Classical Architecture to Contemporary Experiment, which opened on 10 July 2026 at the Tsinghua University Art Museum in Beijing and has now been extended until December 6 – rather than closing on 11 October as originally planned – has attracted over 40,000 visitors since it opened.
The exhibition, organised by the Italian Embassy in Beijing and the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, and curated by Michele Bonino, Giorgia Cestaro, Pierre-Alain Croset, Edoardo Piccoli, Qing Feng and Li Luke, with the support of Lidia Preti and Deng Huishu, is the result of over two years of research and academic collaboration between the Department of Architecture and Design at the Polytechnic University of Turin and the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University. The project involves fourteen Chinese architects and scholars, who have been invited to reinterpret Andrea Palladio’s legacy through contemporary perspectives, addressing themes such as the relationship between architecture and landscape, tradition and innovation, proportion and construction.
PoliTo Studio created the exhibition and graphic design for the exhibition. Born out of an agreement between Ordine Architetti di Torino and Politecnico di Torino, the project promotes internationalisation and offers professionals opportunities to exchange ideas and participate in initiatives of an international scope. The design team comprises architects Alessandro Cacioppo, Francesco Carota, Gabriele Gatti, Francesca La Malva, Alessandro Servalli and Luca Zanon, with support from China Room, represented by Edoardo Bruno and Lidia Preti.
The exhibition concept is centred around a central route, along which installations dedicated to the reflections of the fourteen participants are arranged, flanked by structures for viewing video interviews. A soundscape accompanies visitors along the route, linking the exhibition space with the voices and perspectives of the architects involved.
The visual direction was entrusted to Francesco Carota and Margherita Iperique, whilst the Turin-based studio Calibro Zero was responsible for the detailed design and supervision of the exhibition fit-out, with contributions from Beatrice Armano, Margarita Avanesian, Francesco Carota, Vittorio Cravino, Margherita Iperique and Ilenia Marchitelli. Among the elements designed specifically for the exhibition are rotating structures incorporating screens and audio equipment, allowing visitors to engage with the audiovisual content during their visit.
The exhibition also includes a previously unseen photographic section by the American artist Lois Conner, which draws parallels between Palladian architecture and landscapes and images taken in China over the course of nearly forty years of her career, as well as a section dedicated to contemporary Italian art, Palladio: Echoes in Contemporary Italian Art, featuring works by Matteo Basilé, Davide Bramante, Luca Pozzi, Pietro Ruffo and Davide Sebastian.
The extension until December 6th will enable an even wider audience to visit the exhibition and allow the educational and training activities linked to the exhibition to continue.
