The GRID (2017)
#Site Specific Installation#soldering #urbanoberservation #Khrushchevka #communist architecture in the 80s #ModernChina #socialhousing
I returned to the residential compound of my childhood and superimposed a new, tangible metal grid onto the existing landscape. By physically constructing this "cage" through the repetitive, laborious act of soldering, I attempted to visualize the invisible forces that permeate our social fabric. It serves as a meditation on how we are placed—and displaced—within the grids we build for ourselves.
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Mycelium Running (2018)
#papermaking #artandscience #bacteriagrowing #artistsbook #craft # Venice Architecture Biennale 2018
#ecological exploration
Inspired by the biological resilience of fungi, I cultivated an artist's book made entirely of mycelium—an underground network that thrives by ignoring boundaries. The process of forging mushrooms into paper was not just craft; it was a critical inquiry. The resulting object is not dead matter but a paused life form.
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Travelogue (2019)
#3D Printing, #DigitalModeling #ArcGIS #papermaking #screenprinting #artistbook#rhinos
Travelogue is a meditation on scale and control. I used 3D printing to capture a fleeting memory of a landscape, reducing a mountain range to the size of a bacteria culture. Sealed within a petri dish, the land becomes a specimen—something to be studied rather than inhabited. It exposes the coldness of the scientific gaze, yet the screen-printed text embedded inside insists on a personal, human presence. It’s an experiment in using hard tech to hold soft memories.
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Making the invisible visible, and the fragile permanent (2019)
#papermaking #molding&casting #materialsensibility #materialexperiment #MaterialInnovation #CompositeStudy #ConcreteCasting #Prototyping
An experiment in contrasting materialities.
I juxtaposed the warmth and texture of handmade paper with the cold permanence of cast concrete. By embedding the formed paper into the aggregate, I created a hybrid object that is simultaneously structural and delicate. It challenges the binary of "construction material" vs. "art material," seeking a synthesis where the structure protects the fragility within.
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Neri&Hu: Works in Permanent Evolution (2021)
#Curation #SpatialNarrative #ProjectManagement #ArchitecturalResearch #AdaptiveReuse#AcademicPartnership
A 15-year retrospective exhibition for the leading interdisciplinary practice Neri&Hu.
As the co-curator, I structured the firm’s vast body of work into six conceptual categories (e.g., Reflective Nostalgia, Inhabitable Strata), translating abstract architectural inquiries into a tangible spatial narrative. The exhibition served as a critical interface between professional practice and academic discourse, attracting over 2,000 visitors and fostering public engagement with the built environment.
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Chinese Overseas Finance and Investment
What Have We Learned? (2022)
# International Conference #insitutional work #GlobalSouth #Human Rights #Facilitation # Sustainability #Social Justice#SystemDesign #Geopolitics #Strategy
A three-day international conference convened by the Ford Foundation. Amidst rising US-China tensions, I co-designed and facilitated this strategic intervention to examine the impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on the Global South. The program moved beyond binary political rhetoric, creating a safe platform for stakeholders to discuss sustainability, equity, and the agency of indigenous communities. This project represents my shift to designing systems of collaboration, demonstrating that creating the conditions for dialogue is a critical act of design.
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Book of Caring: To be heard is to be loved (2025)
#SocialPractice #Facilitation #ZineMaking #CoCreation #CollectiveWisdom#ParticipatoryArt #ToolForDialogue
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Junxi LU
junecilu@outlook.com
Instagram: juicyisnotjuicy
With a background in sculpture and critical theory from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and experience navigating geopolitical strategy at the Ford Foundation, Junxi bridges material craft and systemic intervention within the civic sector.
She believes that the most vital design emerges when creative expression meets resilient social infrastructure—a realization that has guided her evolution into a systems builder. Currently based in Beijing, she continues to drive impact in the non-profit field.
Off-duty, she is a dedicated practitioner of Iyengar yoga, an avid zine-maker, and an observer of the unintentional design interventions of everyday city life, often accompanied by her one-year-old cat.
at postpost Beijing, Winter 2025
Curatorial Project, Neri&Hu: Works in Permanent Evolution,
College of Architecture & Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai
2019
Group Show, The Plant Show, Groundlevel Platform, Chicago
Group Show, Shelter for Soul, Seoul Hall Of Urbanism & Architecture, Seoul
Group Show, Visual Arts Exhibition, Luminarts Culture Foundation, Chicago
2018
Group Show, Living Architecture, 6018 North, Chicago
Group Show, Designer Artist Citizen Site: Exploring Belonging, Università Ca’Foscari, Venice
*Partner program of the United State Pavillon in 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale
Group Show, Undergraduate Exhibition, Sullivan Gallery, Chicago
2017
Curatorial Project and Research Project, Flipping the Garden, Joan Flasch Artists Book Collections, Chicago
2016
Group Show, Sabina Ott--Who Cares for the Sky, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago
Research & Analysis: Research (Contemporary Design & Architecture, Gender Studies), Writing & Editing, Data Synthesis, Visual Analysis.
Project & Program Management: Cross-functional Collaboration, Grant Management & Compliance, Stakeholder Engagement, Event Coordination.
Communication: Bilingual Communication, Cross-Cultural & Interpersonal Communication, Narrative Development.
Fabrication: Architectural Model Making, Woodworking, Papermaking, Screenprinting, Etching, Soldering (Basic), 3D Printing, Laser Cutting.
Software: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe InDesign (Basic), Adobe Photoshop (Basic), Adobe Bridge (Basic), SketchUp (Basic), Google Workspace (Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive).
AI related: Gemini (certificated via coursea)
Languages: Chinese (Native), English (Fluent - Oral & Written
Michelle Hyun, New York University Shanghai
Kamau Patton, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Iker Gil, MAS Context
Ann Lui, Future Firm
Matt Ferchen, Ford Foundation
Carol Yinghua Lu, Inside Out Art Museum
Sarah Herda, Graham Foundation
"rapid progress always comes from slow work."
Last Updated 24.10.31