OPEN has won the "Architect of the Year" in Dezeen Awards China 2023.

Judges comments: “OPEN Architecture has consistently produced architecture that is radical and poetic but also functional. Its daring work strikes a rare balance between the man-made and the natural, with often spectacular results.”

Dezeen Awards China is a new regional edition of Dezeen Awards to celebrate the best architecture, interiors and design projects from studios based in China. 

Organised by Dezeen, the world's most influential architecture and design website, it will act as the ultimate accolade for architects and designers working in China and provide international recognition from around the globe.

AIA International Design Awards ceremony was held in Mexico City November 2, 2023. Shanfeng Academy designed by OPEN won the Honor Award for Architecture. 

AIA International is the broadest geographical component of the American Institute of Architects. The AIA International Design Awards recognize best practices, innovative thinking, and design excellence of AIA members’ projects worldwide. 

The AIA International Design Awards Program was established in 2014. It aims to share the importance of architecture and of the role of architects to design for people and planet, towards a future of health, inclusivity and stewardship.

OPEN's founding partners Li Hu and Huang Wenjing were appointed as the Kenzo Tange Design Critics in Architecture at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. They are co-teaching a design studio at the GSD this fall semester.

The Kenzo Tange Visiting Professorship was established in 1984 at Harvard, which brings luminaries to campus each year to teach and lecture, including Alvaro Siza, Peter Zumthor, Kazuyo Sejima, Zaha Hadid, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Yung Ho Chang, and Wang Shu.

OPEN unveils the design of two oceanfront cultural buildings in Yantai, China. The Space Crystals is a digital space museum and experience center—an extraterrestrial-looking object landed mysteriously in the clearing of a seaside park. The Sea Square is a humble square-quad-shaped library and community service building, floating on a restored square dock by the sea. The dock and the adjacent area were once used as both a dock and a repair facility for fishing boats but were long abandoned, as the fishing villages vanished into history.

The two buildings form a dialogue in space and time, one pointing to the sky and the other to the sea, connecting current, past, and future.

OPEN’s Sun Tower topped out on June 21, 2023—the summer solstice day. The 50-meter-tall structure is located by the sea of Yantai, China, and is expected to be open to the public in 2024. This is a building "sculpted" according to the sunlight, facing the majestic sea with a sliced-open structure, paying tribute to time and nature.

The trajectory of the sun throughout the year becomes the precise geometric logic behind this seemingly formless building; the inner and outer white concrete shells are connected by horizontal slabs and ramps, supporting the delicate and complex structure. The round holes on the outer concrete shell are connected to various light tubes, which introduce natural light into the inner space during the day. At night, the round windows reveal warm light from the interior like shining stars. The structure stands quietly by the sea under the vast sky—a lighthouse for time.

On the other hand, this is an iconic structure with mixed cultural programs, including exhibition, library, meditation spaces, outdoor theater and etc., which are entirely open to the city and to everyone. For a fast-developing industrial district, the Sun Tower will provide much-needed cultural life and places for social encounters which are important in building stronger and sustainable communities.

OPEN's latest project Shanfeng Academy in Suzhou, China has been completed. Situated in a new district of Suzhou, Shanfeng Academy is the cultural and sports center for a K-12 school, while serving the local community as an active cultural hub. The design features five buildings connected by flat-roofed walkways, creating voids in the form of four gardens. The voids provide breathable spaces for the high-density campus and act as un-inked areas in traditional Chinese landscape drawings. Serving nearly 2000 students, Shanfeng Academy provides a diverse mix of cultural and sports programs, including theater, gallery, library, sports center, dance and fitness rooms, swimming pool, and café.

OPEN has won the bid to design Yichang Grand Theater in 2022. The project is located on the tip of the Pinghu Peninsula where the Yangtze River and its tributary Huangbai River meet. The total building area is around 70,000 square meters. 

Housed within the fluid and partially floating building is a lively performing arts center including a 1600-seat grand theater, a 1200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat black box, and two outdoor theaters — one on the rooftop and one by the water. In addition to the performance spaces, the building also includes educational facilities, event and exhibition spaces, rehearsal rooms, coffee shops, restaurants, and observation decks. The mixed program reflects efforts in making the grand theater an open and vibrant public place at all times.

The American Institute of Architects Shanghai Chapter announced the 2022 China Design Excellence Awards (CDEA) winners, and the Chapel of Sound designed by OPEN Architecture won the Honor Award, the highest recognition of achievement.

The AlA CDEA is one of the most respected programs in the architectural profession. The purpose of the CDEA program is to encourage and recognize the distinguished architectural achievements of architects, clients, and consultants. Collectively they work to improve the built environment by shaping the quality of life through design excellence.

OPEN participated in the "Blueprint Beijing" section of the "2022 Beijing Art Biennale", with two urban research projects about Beijing spanning 12 years, “OPEN Metropolis” and “2nd Ring 2049”, responding to the exhibition theme "Blueprint" and imaging a better urban future.

In "OPEN Metropolis", OPEN presents eight representative proposals in the context of "Voids for Needs", filling the city's "voids" (inactive and inefficient public space resources) with the city's "needs" (public services, cultural and sports facilities needed for a better life).  

In "2nd Ring 2049", against the backdrop of today's worldwide environmental crisis and China's emergence as a world leader, OPEN envisions the 2nd Ring Road in Beijing transforming from an inefficient and highly polluted area into a clean, green, and vibrant urban public space. 

The exhibition opens from January 14, 2023 - March 12, 2023.

The Pingshan Performing Arts Center designed by OPEN was selected as the only project from China and Asia for the UK 2023 Civic Trust Awards Regional Finalist. 

As a representative work of OPEN's six cultural projects, the building is included in "Reinventing Cultural Architecture: A Radical Vision by OPEN", published by Rizzoli.

The Civic Trust Awards scheme was established in 1959 to recognize outstanding architecture, planning, and design in the built environment. Besides rewarding architecture or design excellence, the awards believe that successful projects should also exhibit strong sustainability credentials, a high level of accessible and universal design, and a positive civic contribution.