Nine-tiered Pagoda: Spatial and Visual Magic, an event co-initiated by curator Cui Cancan and architect Liu Xiao in 2020, is an experimental project infused with thoughts, methods and tools. It is an “extra-curriculum session” for cross-disciplinary practice and a task force to expand the horizons through leveraging the strengths of each other.

The event is a cross-over in terms of its format and style, and this has never been seen in China. Nine artists/art groups were commissioned to provide artworks as the basic assets of the exhibition, and nine architects and nine designers were convened into nine ad hoc teams. The flat, collaborative structure among the artist, architect and designer with no central authority or hierarchy has eventually led to nine novel exhibitions. Such cross-over approach advocated by the Nine-tiered Pagoda provides a juncture to connect art, architecture and design and has given birth to

a brand-new inter-discipline in a way that enables instructive collaboration to accommodate the actual needs of these sectors while keeping their respective strengths.