PIN–UP is proud to collaborate with the Canadian Centre for Architecture to publicly stream Into the Island, the first installment of a three-part film and exhibition series showcasing the conceptual development and fieldwork of contemporary architects. This segment focuses on the work of Chinese architect Xu Tiantian and aligns with its public premiere at The World Around conference in Beijing on December 7, 2024.

Architect Xu Tiantian, founder and principal of Beijing-based studio Design and Architecture (DnA), describes her approach as “architectural acupuncture,” small-scale interventions into rural communities that seek to revitalize local culture, attuned to specific economic, social, and ecological patterns and constraints. Into the Island, directed by Joshua Frank and the first in the Groundwork film series by Montreal’s Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), was also the focus of a CCA exhibition this past spring. The film centers on Xu’s practice on Meizhou, a small landmass off the coast of the Fujian Province, a place where fishing and mass tourism maintain an uneasy balance. PIN–UP now presents the online début of the full video, which documents the early stages of Xu’s early architectural process in the field.

Groundwork aims to “to document the early phase of architectural work — the very rich thinking process in reaction to the site and the brief,” as Francesco Garutti, CCA’s associate director of programs, explains, and Into the Island depicts Xu as she explores the island diagnosing the issues at hand, following fisherman on their daily routine, resulting in a small intervention in the landscape — a small hill that peeks out at low tide — where she’s repurposed abandoned oyster pillars, assembling them in a circle within a diameter of 100 meters. Xu found five other locations for potential interventions, including a mangrove research base and a seaweed farm. “With the Groundwork film series, we hope to open up fresh discussions that will help redefine what the architect actually does in a context where the profession is losing authority and influence,” explains Francesco Garutti, entering into “constant dialogue with practitioners during the elaboration of the project.” The conversation starts with Xu here, and will continue with films featuring b+ from Berlin (currently led by Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert, Jonas Janke, Roberta Jurčić), and Carla Juaçaba from Rio de Janeiro.