O-OFFICE ARCHITECTS

He Jianxiang received M. Arch. and M. S. in Arch in K. U. Leuven, Belgium in 2009 and 2010. He joined VK Group, Belgium, as a project architect till 2003. After 5 years of study and practice in Europe, He Jianxiang returned to Guangzhou, and established O-office in 2004. He collaborated with ADI-CITIC (South China) from 2005 to 2008 and worked as the chief design architect in a series of important local public projects, including Guangzhou International Conference Centre, the largest public project even in Guangzhou, which was awarded later the best Civic Project in World Architecture Festival in Barcelona 2008. In 2007, He Jianxiang co-founded O-office Architects with Jiang Ying and started their independent practice. As the outstanding representative of Guangzhou’s independent architects, He Jianxiang received many design awards and invitations for exhibition and cultural exchanging events. These include “Young Design Entrepreneur China 2007” by British Council, Sino-Norway Architectural Exchange in 2008, 2013 Shenzhen-Hong Kong Architecture Biennale and 2014 Venice Biennale.

Jiang Ying graduated from École d’Architecture de Versailles and become Architect D.P.L.G (Diplôme par le Gouvernement) in 2004. She was granted the President Chirac Scholarship and selected to the French Exchange program “100 Architectes Chinois en France” in 2001. In 2004, Jiang Ying joined AREP in Paris as a project architect working in a wide range of large-scale international projects, including Gare de Schuman in Brussels, Xizhimen Station in Beijing and Shanghai South Station. She became part of Buro2 since 2005 in the position of Design Representative for the project of Guangzhou International Conference Centre. In 2007, to seek for more autonomy in architecture design career, Jiang Ying and He Jianxiang co-founded O-office Architects and started their independent practice in Guangzhou, the dynamic southern Chinese central city. She was invited to “Snowball” Sino-Finland Architectural Exchange Conference in 2010. In 2011, she was invited by NAi and Vanke for their Housing with a Mission project in China. Her collaboration with Vanke continued after the project. She is recently still working with Vanke for their Housing Standardization research programme.