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Yixuan Yang
About me
I’m a PhD candidate at Newcastle University. I hold an M.Arch from University College London, as well as a B.Eng and a B.Management from Jilin Jianzhu University.
I previously interned at the Studio of Wang Xiaodong (Fellow of Chinese Academy of Engineering), Xinjiang Architectural Design Institute CO. LTD, and at Shanghai Zhangming Architectural Design Firm. My work focused on local architecture, architectural history research, and the conservation and restoration of historical buildings.
My current research interests include modern Chinese architectural history (especially the influence of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe), architectural culture and socio-politics during the Cold War, architectural media, and architectural heritage of (former) socialist countries.
In my spare time, I’m passionate about photography, particularly focused on architectural and cultural themes.
Project Title
Media, Ideology and Design Thinking in a Geopolitical Alliance: A Study of Architectural Journals in China and Soviet Union (1950s-60s)
Project Description
In the 1950s and 1960s, architecture and its printed media became important tools of ideological expression and nation-building in China. During this historical period, marked by Cold War tensions and a series of political movements, China attempted to establish an architectural culture with socialist characteristics through the path of “learning from the Soviet Union,” a process that continued until the Sino-Soviet split in the early 1960s. This process involved not only the absorption of Soviet architectural theory but also its transformation and reconstruction under the influence of China’s specific political demands and socio-political environment, while being deeply constrained by changes in Sino-Soviet relations.
This study mainly focuses on the exchanges and discussions of design theory concerning China, the Soviet Union, and other socialist countries in the official architectural journals of the two countries in the 1950s and 1960s—Jianzhu Xuebao and Arkhitektura SSSR. It analyzes their roles as media for the circulation of knowledge and the dissemination of ideas, examines how China and the Soviet Union understood the communist world through this interaction, and explores the “media geography” constructed within a broader geopolitical context. Furthermore, the study discusses how China used this media geography to introduce architectural knowledge and gradually formed its own design theory while responding to domestic realities.
Supervisors
Qualifications
- Master of Architecture in Architectural Design, University College London, UK, 2023
- Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture, Jilin Jianzhu University, China, 2022
- Bachelor of Management in Engineering Management, Jilin Jianzhu University, China, 2022
Conference Papers and Publications
(until 1 March, 2026)
- Articles and Conference Proceedings
Yang, Yixuan, and Bo Hu. “Two Buildings, Two Futures: Hyper-Consciousness and Marginal Socialist Heritage.” UIA World Congress of Architects 2026, Barcelona, 2026. (Accepted for publication)
Yang, Yixuan. “The Heritage of War.” In Classics and Frontiers: A Guide to Overseas Heritage Studies, edited by Kai Yin and Laishun An. 2026. (Accepted for publication, in Chinese)
Yang, Yixuan. “Opacity, Mediation, and the Socialist Periphery: Architectural Knowledge between the USSR and China.” Columbia University GSAPP PhD Symposium, New York, 2026. (Accepted for presentation and publication)
Yang, Yixuan, and Shu Li. “In the Fissure of Digital and Historical: Semantic Change of Socialist Realist in Soviet Architecture.” In Proceedings of Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand PhD Colloquium 2025, edited by Huichao Luo,14. SAHANZ, 2026. [*This paper was presented at the colloquium (online)]
Yang, Yixuan. “Chambers of Silence: On Architecture, Control, and the Grammar of Memory.” In Proceedings of Architectural Humanities Research Association 22nd Annual International Conference, 90. AHRA, 2025. [*This paper was presented in person at the conference held at University of Liverpool.]
Yang, Yixuan. “Ideological Machine and Institutional Discourse: Knowledge Production and Dissemination in Arkhitektura SSSR (1930s-1950s).” In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Teaching and Research in World Architectural History 2025, 189–196. Beijing: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, 2025. (In Chinese) [*This paper was presented in person at the Symposium held at Tsinghua University, and the Fourth Vorobyovy Gory International Forum of Young Students and Scholars held at Lomonosov Moscow State University (online).]
Yang, Yixuan. “Symbiotic Ideology in Historical Layering: Sustainable Development of Linhai City in Urbanisation.” Malaysia Architectural Journal 7, no. 6 (2025): 102–116. [*This paper was presented in person at the UIA International Architecture Forum 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, and the 2025 European Chinese Students and Scholars Seminar (online).]
Ding, Lijia, and Yixuan Yang. “An Analysis of the Modern Craft Heritage and Innovation of Vernacular Architecture: A Case Study of Brick Making and Bricklaying Techniques.” In Building Beautiful Villages and Continuing the Charm of Traditional Dwellings: Proceedings of the 29th Annual Academic Conference on Chinese Folk Housing, edited by Honggang Tang, Yong Huang, and Lei Gong, 122–124. Beijing: China Architecture & Building Press, 2024. (In Chinese)
Jia, Sihao, and Yixuan Yang. “Infrastructure in Johannesburg from a Sustainable Development Perspective.” In Proceedings of the WABER SuDBE Conference 2024, edited by Samuel Laryea, Baizhan Li, Emmanuel Adu Essah, Sarfo Mensah, Hong Liu, and Runming Yao, 11. Johannesburg: WABER SuDBE Conference 2024 and University of the Witwatersrand, 2024. [*This paper was presented at the conference held at University of the Witwatersrand (online).]
Yang, Yixuan. “Analysis of Ecological Sustainable in Linhai under the Theory of Symbiosis.” In Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Conference of the Urban Ecology Planning Committee of the Urban Planning Society of China, 136–146. Changchun: Jilin Jianzhu University. (In Chinese)
- Exhibitions
Wang, Yue, Yixuan Yang, Zhiyue Wang, and Wei Zhang. The Bartlett B-Pro Show 2023. Exhibition. London: Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, 2023.
Yang, Yixuan. Exhibition of Excellent Graduation Design Projects 2022. Exhibition. Changchun: Jilin Jianzhu University, 2022.
Yang, Yixuan. Welcome Exhibition 2020 of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Exhibition. Changchun: Jilin Jianzhu University, 2020.
- Thesis
Yang, Yixuan. “Destruction and Creation.” Master’s thesis, University College London, 2023.