Zhenghua Li

Li Zhenghua is a candidate for a Master of Architecture (Class of '26) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's School of Architecture and Planning. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (China). Following that, he spent six years working as a Project Architect at the People's Architecture Office (PAO), where he played a crucial role in projects such as People's Station, Lakeside Plugin Tower, Fuqiang Primary School, Wuzhou Primary School, and more. His work experience encompasses the entire project lifecycle, from conceptualization to on-site construction management. During his time at PAO, Li Zhenghua strongly focused on the social responsibility of architectural firms, social equity, and how decision-making processes impact design and management, as well as how architects can swiftly address complex social issues.

Currently, Li Zhenghua's primary focus lies in cheapness, and he believes that cheapness is the driving force for architecture's impact on social equity. Cheapness is intricately linked to modernization, encompassing topics such as production costs, resource allocation, societal structural differentiation, and process optimization. Furthermore, Cheapness in China is associated with an aesthetic linked to its unfinished modernization, representing a prosthetic before China's completion of modernization. Li Zhenghua's interest in cheapness has led him to explore redesigning architectural components, modularization, algorithm optimization, material enhancement, and the development and utilization of a cheapness aesthetic.

In addition to his architectural pursuits, Li Zhenghua also delved into visual art. His visual works aim to express the characteristics of affordability and digital art—such as replicability, layering, abstraction, and disruption—through a series of simulated algorithmic steps.

In 2021, Li Zhenghua, in collaboration with Chen Zixin, founded the brand "Re-Ex-De-Of-," dedicated to researching sustainable and eco-friendly clothing. Their exploration covers various aspects of recycled clothing, including clothing made from recycled plastic bags, recycled yarn and fabric, reassembled used cloth, and modular clothing.

Furthermore, in 2022, Li Zhenghua established the QU@$! Studio as a practical platform for his research on cheapness.