PhD Candidate Zhijian Honoured with Third Prize in Lingnan Culture Paper Competition

PhD candidate Zhijian Sun has achieved third place at The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) prestigious “Lingnan Culture Studies Paper Competition 2024 Award“. This recognition marks a significant milestone in his academic journey and contributions to the field of architectural history.

Incorporated within his doctoral thesis, the paper offers a novel perspective on mid-20th-century global tropical modern architectural history. It presents a fresh techno-political narrative, examining how Lingnan’s building tradition evolved within transnational geopolitical and techno-scientific frameworks. Zhijian’s work diverges from traditional architect-centric analyses by highlighting the roles of diverse players, including architects, planners, meteorologists, physicians, and technocratic Party cadres, within state-run institutions.

The paper, a product of six months of dedicated research, draws from an extensive archival collection located in state-run design institutes, university departments, and building research centres across major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xi’an. These efforts took place during the latter part of 2023 and early 2024, underscoring his commitment to uncovering intricate historical narratives.

Zhijian shared, “The theme of CUHK’s Lingnan Culture Studies Paper Competition resonates deeply with my doctoral thesis at NUS, which explores China’s tropical architectures in Maoist Lingnan and socialist Tanzania during the Cold War. The awarded paper forms Chapter 3 of my thesis. This topic has long fascinated me, given the current scarcity of literature on the transnational interplay between China’s internal and external tropics concerning architectural climatic control technologies.”

Expressing his gratitude for the support throughout his research endeavour, Zhijian acknowledged the invaluable guidance of his thesis advisor, Prof. Jiat Hwee Chang from the Department of Architecture, as well as his thesis committee members, including Prof. Dorothy Tang from the Department of Architecture, Prof. James Sidaway from the Department of Geography, and Prof. Allen Hai Xiao from the Department of Geography.

He also extended his appreciation to Prof. Widodo from the Department of Architecture, Prof. Lee Seung-Joon from the Department of History and Dr. Will Davis for their invaluable assistance during the initial stages of his paper, which helped lay the groundwork for his subsequent research.

Zhijian’s accomplishment reflects a deepening understanding of architectural history and cross-cultural exchanges, contributing significantly to academic discourse in the area of Lingnan cultural studies. In 2024, he was awarded the prestigious 2023 Best Graduate Student Paper Prize by the Editorial Board of the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography (SJTG) for his scholarly article, ‘Framing China’s Tropics: Thermal Techno-Politics of Socialist Tropical Architecture in Africa (1960s−1980s)’.