ZAO/Zhang Ke Architecture Office. Founded by Zhang Ke in 2001, it is a new-generation architecture studio, a leader in the fields of urbanism, architecture, landscape, and product design. ZAO/standardarchitecture, which has projected a wide range of buildings and landscapes completed over the last decade, defines itself as the most critical and realistic studio among the younger generation of Chinese architects and designers.
Aware that it distances itself from other “typical” young architects of its generation who are swallowed by a tendency to make noise, it keeps the studio isolated in a moment of media frenzy, in such a way that its approach constantly focuses on the realization of urban visions and ideas. Although the built works of ZAO/standardarchitecture are often exceptionally visually provocative, its buildings and landscapes are always rooted in historical and cultural settings and possess a certain degree of intellectual debate.
