Dr Yinrui XiePhD · M.Arch · B.Arch · FHEA

Assistant Professor of ArchitectureThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Architectural historian · Educator · Author

Writing architectural histories of China in the world.

I study Chinese architecture in global context—how buildings carry ideas across borders, construct identity, negotiate power and materialise transnational exchange.

Explore publications Research profile

Current positionAssistant Professor of ArchitectureThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University

QualificationsPhD · M.Arch · B.Arch · FHEAArchitectural history, design and pedagogy

Research geographyChina in global contextAsia-Pacific · Europe · International exhibitions

Research identityORCID 0000-0003-4688-7682 Transnational urbanism · National image · Diaspora

Research

A connected programme

Rewriting modern Chinese architectural history beyond the nation.

My work replaces the familiar binary of coloniser and colonised with a more mobile account of institutions, migrants, objects and expertise. It asks not simply what architecture represents, but how representation is produced, circulated and contested.

Migration, religion & urban space

Diaspora and place-making

How Chinese migrant communities built temples, associations and civic spaces—and how those places reshaped cities across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Medan · Java · Britain · Europe

Historic photograph of Guandi Temple in Medan — Guandi Temple, 1885, Medan.

Exhibitions, representation & power

Architecture and national image

How pavilions and exhibitions turned architecture into a medium through which competing images of China were produced, circulated and contested.

St Louis · New York · Osaka · Hong Kong

Historic photograph of the Chinese Pavilion at the 1982 Knoxville International Energy Exposition — Chinese Pavilion at the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, 1982.

Visual analysis, cultural translation & digital methods

AI in Architectural History

How can AI-assisted visual analysis deepen our understanding of architectural form and cultural exchange? Building on my British Academy-funded study of Chinese temples in Britain, I bring visual comparison into dialogue with archival research, fieldwork and interviews to examine how buildings adapt across cultural contexts.

Chinese temples · Britain · Comparative architectural history

Four annotated views of Chinese temples in Britain identifying Chinese, Western and hybrid architectural features — AI-assisted visual analysis of Chinese temples in Britain.

The monograph · 2025

Design as
Communication

An Architectural History of Christian Universities in China

A new account of how architecture communicated institutional identities across profound cultural distance. Rather than treating “Chinese style” as a stable visual language, the book follows the negotiations among missionaries, architects, patrons, students and audiences that made it meaningful.

View at Routledge

Selected work

Articles · Chapters · Proceedings

Selected publications

Modern China read through campuses, hotels, temples, cities and international exhibitions.

Published across

Architectural history, planning history and architectural humanities.

Cover of Architectural History — **Architectural History**Volume 68 · 2025

Cover of arq — **arq**Architectural Research Quarterly

Cover of The Journal of Architecture — **The Journal of Architecture**RIBA · Routledge

Cover of Planning Perspectives — **Planning Perspectives**Routledge

Cover of Architectural Journal — **Architectural Journal**建筑学报

Cover of The Architect — **The Architect**建筑师

012026Journal articleDisplaying the People’s RepublicThe Architecture of the Chinese Pavilion at the Knoxville International Energy Exposition, 1982Yinrui Xiearq: Architectural Research Quarterly 29National image 022025Journal articleBeyond ChinatownChinese Diaspora, the Transition of Power, and the Planning of Medan in the Dutch East IndiesWith Amanda AchmadiPlanning Perspectives 40Diaspora 032024Journal articleTowards a Chinese Christian UniversityThe University of Nanking, 1912–31Yinrui XieArchitectural History 67Institutions 042024Journal articleMaterialised Power and Transitioning ModernityThe Architecture of Beijing Hotel, 1917–1974Yinrui XieThe Journal of Architecture 29Modernity 052022Journal articleChina on DisplayThe Architecture of the Chinese Pavilion at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase ExpositionYinrui Xiearq: Architectural Research Quarterly 26Exhibitions 062022Journal articlePlanning a Christian Campus in Quasi-Colonial ChinaLingnan University, Guangzhou, 1904–1931With Paul WalkerPlanning Perspectives 37Campus 072021Journal articleChinese and Christian?The Architecture of West China Union UniversityWith Paul WalkerThe Journal of Architecture 26Institutions 082024Book chapterA ‘Spiritual Home’ Far away from HomeThe Chinese Temples in Colonial Medan, Dutch East IndiesWith Amanda AchmadiArchitectural Encounters in Asia PacificDiaspora 092025ProceedingsA Study on the Architecture of Chinese Temples in the UKAn AI-assisted visual analysisYinrui XieInternational Symposium on World Architectural HistoryMethod

Current directions

The next questions

Three linked projects extend the same enquiry: how architecture makes identities work across institutions, territories and publics.

01Funded research

Funded by

Chinese temples in Britain

Mapping how ethnic Chinese communities convert, share and remake buildings to sustain religious life—and how these spaces become cultural nodes within British cities.

British Academy / Leverhulme Small Research GrantPrincipal Investigator · 2024–26

02Book project

Representing China on the world stage

A history of how successive Chinese states used international exhibitions to make national image an operable architectural project.

1904—1982Pavilions · Objects · Expertise

03Research programme

China beyond borders

Tracing the spatial networks of Chinese diaspora place-making across Asia-Pacific and Europe through archives, fieldwork and visual analysis.

Transnational urbanismTemples · Commerce · Cities

Teaching

Architecture as enquiry

“I teach students to read architecture as evidence—and to turn historical and cultural understanding into more critical, inclusive design.”

Leadership & supervision

Building an inclusive studio culture

PhD and M.Arch supervision; final-year BArch teaching lead; programme leadership for the Lincoln–Hong Kong Design Institute partnership; undergraduate dissertation coordination.

Teaching across fields

History, research and design

Courses span global and modern architectural history, research methods, architectural humanities and design studios from first year through postgraduate level.

Previously taught atUniversity of LincolnSenior Lecturer in Architecture · 2023—2026

Previously taught atThe University of MelbourneAcademic Teaching Staff · 2019—2021

Fellow of the Higher Education AcademyFHEA · 2024“Full Score Class” Teaching AwardBJUT · 2022

Profile · Across continents

Scholar, teacher
and designer
across boundaries.

From Beijing and Melbourne to Lincoln and Hong Kong, my work combines the close reading of buildings with archival research, fieldwork and cross-cultural theory.

01 / 03Beijing2010—16 · 2021—23

02Melbourne2017—21

04Lincoln2023—2026

05Hong Kong2026—present

01BeijingArchitecture · Tsinghua
02MelbournePhD · Teaching
03BeijingLecturer · BJUT
04LincolnSenior Lecturer
05Hong KongAssistant Professor · PolyU

Base map: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Academic appointments

2026—presentAssistant Professor of Architecture

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong

2023—2026Senior Lecturer in Architecture

University of Lincoln, United Kingdom

2021—2023Lecturer in Architecture

Beijing University of Technology, China

2019—2021Academic Teaching Staff

The University of Melbourne, Australia

Education

2017—21PhD in Architectural History

University of Melbourne

2010—16B.Arch & M.Arch (Distinction)

Tsinghua University

Contact

Let’s continue
the conversation.

[email protected] ORCID University profile