Atelier TeamMinus

Zhang Li (a.k.a. Li Brian Zhang / Brian Chang) [1970-] (D. Eng., M. Arch.) is a Professor of Architecture / Associate Dean of the Architecture Department in the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, China. He leads the design practice Atelier TeamMinus in Beijing. He is currently a standing board member of the Architectural Society of China and the Editor-in-Chief of the leading Chinese magazine World Architecture.

Zhang Li’s research focuses on pre-industrial oriental philosophy and its contemporary reinterpretation. He is an advocator of 'Soft Sustainability' and 'Spaces for Active Health', and has been focusing his design and research on the relationship between space and the human body.

Besides his teaching in China, he has been the Visit Professor (2017) in Polytechnic University of Turin; Professor of Practice (2012) in Syracuse University and the Visiting Critic (2010) in National University of Singapore. He has also taught joint-studio projects in a number of institutions, including: GSD, Harvard; Barcelona School of Architecture, UPC; Berlage Institute.

In recent years, Zhang Li and TeamMinus have completed a variety of buildings and urban renewal projects in China, and have been published internationally. Some of the buildings and projects are: Aranya Youth Camp (2017); Nanluoguxiang Visitor Centre (2015), Janamani Visitor Centre (2013), Ningbo Hefeng Industrial Design Complex (2012), Provincial Pavilion and Roof Park of China Pavilion in Shanghai Expo (2010), National Flower Show and Logistics Complex (2009), Jinchang Culture Centre (2007) .

Zhang Li and his team have won multiple awards, including: Zomtobel Group Award (2017), ArchMarathon Best Art and Culture Building (2014), AR+D Highly Commended (2013), National Grand Award for Architecture (2009), ASC Gold Award for Design Excellence (2014, 2008), ASC Award for Emerging Architects (2008), etc.

Zhang Li has been a keynote speaker or guest panellist at different international events, including: ArchiLab 2002 (Orleans, France); Sensual City 2009 (Paris, France); Datum KL 2011 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia); ISAIA 2012 (Gwangju, Korea). He moderated the Tsinghua Session in the 2012 Pritzker Beijing Architecture Forum. From 2014 to 2015, he has been the director of Venue Planning and Sustainability in Beijing's bid for Winter Games 2022. He is now leading venue design works in the Zhangjiakou Zone of Beijing 2022.

Zhang Li got all his degrees from School of Architecture, Tsinghua University and has been a Tsao Fellow in the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University.