On March 21, 2024, the 9th Urbanism/Architecture Bi-City Biennale (UABB) Won the United States MUSE Design Awards Platinum Award, the highest Award in the Exhibition & Events Category. The MUSE Design Awards is an international competition aimed at recognizing outstanding creativity in the design field, enhancing the standards of the design industry, and encouraging and stimulating designers' creativity. Andong Lu, Zigeng Wang, and Aric Chen were appointed as chief curators, and PILLS Studio was the business entity of the curation team. Against the background of the global climate crisis and the ecological shift in urban development models, the 9th UABB focuses on “Urban Cosmologies” as the theme, responding to the important role of urban and architectural design in this systemic change, reflecting on the relationship between humans and nature, and showcasing a complete urban ecosystem.

On February 8, 2024, the 9th Urbanism/Architecture Bi-City Biennale (UABB) won the Best Building & Story of China Award for the annual events sector. Andong Lu, Zigeng Wang, and Aric Chen were appointed as chief curators, and PILLS Studio was the business entity of the curation team. Against the background of the global climate crisis and the ecological shift in urban development models, the 9th UABB focuses on “Urban Cosmologies” as the theme, responding to the important role of urban and architectural design in this systemic change, reflecting on the relationship between humans and nature, and showcasing a complete urban ecosystem. In the “List of Creativity 2023-2024” released at the Best Building & Story of China Award, 50 noteworthy “creators” were listed in four dimensions: space, brand, event, and character/institution. This list is not only an award recognition but also an observation and co-creation of the current phenomenon of diverse and symbiotic creators and the trend of creativity.

The selection results of the IDA International Design Awards in the United States have been officially announced. PILLS Project “Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base City Showroom Design" won the “2023 IDA International Design Awards - Silver Award". The IDA (International Design Award) is one of the most authoritative international design awards in the United States, aimed at recognizing and promoting visionary design works and uncovering emerging talents in the five major fields of architecture, interior, product, graphic, and fashion design. The Super Headquarters Base is located in the core area of Qianhai, Shenzhen, and is of great exemplary significance for building a future urban super core. The design of the Super Headquarters Base City Showroom combines technology and circulation to create a spatial narrative, utilizing interactive models and multimedia devices to create an immersive experience with multiple senses. It guides emotional rhythms with light, space, and materials to accommodate diverse exhibitions. The plan flexibly utilizes cutting-edge visual language to express urban concepts and values, create an atmosphere, construct narratives, and depict the blueprint of Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters as the urban gateway in the construction process of the Greater Bay Area, showcasing the achievements of Shenzhen's urban construction.

The London Design Awards, an internationally renowned design award, recently announced winner list. In 2023, the competition attracted over 2800 entries from 45 countries. The PILLS space design for the Wu Jian'an Large Solo Exhibition: “The Huge Sand Dunes are the Bed of the Sea" stood out and won the highest honor in the Interior Design category - the Platinum Award.  This solo exhibition is a largescale personal exhibition organized by artist Wu Jian'an at the Silk Road International Art Exchange Center in September 2021. PILLS was invited to be the spatial designer for this exhibition. The plan created a surreal field in a more than 1000 square meter exhibition hall, with a five-meter high sand dune, black ocean, endless mirror, rising and setting sun. Together with the artist's works, they completed a dream, the eternal cycle of reincarnation.

In October 2023, PILLS won the second prize in the solicitation of design proposals for the “Tencent Dachan Bay Public Art Project" (the first prize vacant). The Tencent Dachan Bay project is located in the urban core area of Qianhai Bay, Shenzhen, and is positioned as an “Internet Plus" future science and technology city. In this context, PILLS was invited to complete a public art project design proposal for Dachan Bay, including exhibition planning, artwork recommendation, cost estimation, and post-operation planning. PILLS proposes to construct a Tencent art-sharing platform through multiple organizational methods, connecting Tencent's internal technical strength with external art resources and empowering Tencent's technology incubation and product innovation. The design intends to upgrade the strategy of art intervention in cities through multiple modes of digital and real integration, bringing a fully connected future to Dachan Bay. Technology becomes tangible through art planning and design based on the concept of “Cosmologic Symbiosis, Connected Together." Public art fields are used as carriers to show Tencent's scientific and technological image and social responsibility as an Internet enterprise to the public, creating a dynamic area with scientific, technological, artistic, and humanistic feelings.

The installation “Living Together,” designed by PILLS Studio for the 9th UABB Opening Ceremony, has been longlisted for the 2023 Dezeen Awards Installation Design Category. The Dezeen Design Award is one of the world's largest and most authoritative annual design competitions, aiming to recognize the world's best architecture, interior, and design projects, along with outstanding creative organizations and individuals. It has become an essential benchmark for measuring excellent design internationally. This year's award received over 4800 entries from 94 countries. Sixteen projects have been shortlisted for the installation design category. “Living Together” is a spherical structure with nine large lantern installations. The design of each group of lanterns is based on the cone at the bottom of the fermentation tank in the brewery, and the surface is covered with nine patterns, including land, vegetation, and animals. This device is coordinated with the opening ceremony dance performance, where dancers gather and combine the scattered “petals” in various corners of the venue in different ways, becoming the main form of the performance. The immersive performance format introduces the relationships between various exhibition areas and integrates the audience's viewing experience with the interaction between actors and exhibits. The performance echoes the theme of this year's UABB by aggregating it into a complete form, which is the harmonious coexistence of people and all things. We gather strength within the city and embrace diverse values throughout the city. The gathering of nine themes implies the journey of the ninth UABB and expresses the collaboration and friendship between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Recently, the “9th Urbanism/Architecture Bi-City Biennale (UABB) of Shenzhen and Hong Kong", curated by Zigeng Wang, founder and host architect of PILLS, has been shortlisted for the “Urban Innovation Award" at the 2nd Sanlian City for Humanity Awards in 2023. This Award includes five sub-awards: Public Space Award, Architectural Contribution Award, Community Development Award, Eco-Friendly Award, and Urban Innovation Award. The “Urban Innovation Award" aims to recognize projects that actively explore the social significance and humanistic care in cities with experimental and innovative qualities, including space design, public art, and urban events. Against the background of the global climate crisis and the ecological transition of urban development patterns, the 9th UABB, with the theme of “Urban Cosmologies," responds to the important role of cities and architectural design in this systemic change, rethinking the relationship between humans and nature, and presenting the whole living city. The 9th UABB invited 318 exhibitors from 15 countries to participate, presenting 239 works. These works explore the close relationship between life and the environment, diverse ecological perspectives, interdisciplinary dialogues and experiments, as well as the continuous innovation and action of urban and architectural practitioners under environmental protection concepts. It focuses on global issues such as urban climate and ecological changes while addressing everyday topics such as current lifestyles and stray animals, collectively exploring new prospects for future cities.

On June 7th, the final review and award ceremony of the “New Life | Canal Spirit" Sanwan Park International Construction Architecture Design Competition was successfully held in Yangzhou. PILLS and NODE Architecture & Urbanism jointly won the second prize in the competition. The design takes inspiration from the book “Yangzhou Cruising Poetry." It combines the water installation“Floating Lantern Pavilion" with different buildings on the waterfront, including “The Forest Library," “The Leaf House," and "Dancing Symphony". These elements interpret various functions and scenes, triggering diverse activities and collectively illuminating the spiritual memory of the canal. Just like in ancient times, when visitors took a boat trip on the lake to admire the scenery on both shores, this design allows people to experience Yangzhou's famous gardens, local custom, and landscape during the journey.

The PILLS project “Nine-Tiered Pagoda PSFO Exhibition" received a special mention in the category of Cultural Exhibition Space at the Architizer A+Awards. The Architizer A+Awards is one of the most significant awards in the world, dedicated to promoting and recognizing the best architecture and product designs each year. This year's competition received over 5,000 entries from 96 countries, with a winning rate of less than 4%. The “Nine-Tiered Pagoda PSFO Exhibition" design concept is based on the works of the art group  PSFO. The design takes inspiration from the digital composite portrait “Mr. Zheng" by  PSFO. “Mr. Zheng" is a combination of facial features from five artists, creating a non-existent “individual" via the collage of “collective" facial features. Correspondingly, PILLS combines five typical collectivist spaces (bathroom, canteen, screening room, barber shop, bathhouse) and symbols related to “objects," nesting them in a blue corridor space of a tube-shaped building. This design connects the exhibition needs of different media works by PSFO. The parallel mirrors at both ends of the corridor create an illusion of infinite extension within the limited space, creating a playful space that abstracts the content.

On the afternoon of March 26th, the closing ceremony of the 9th UABB was held at the main venue, Yuehai City·Jinpi Brewery Conference Hall. Min Huang, member of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of the Municipal Government, and Youpeng Wang, Vice Chairman of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Director of the Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau, attended the closing ceremony. The “Cosmologic Dialogue" section won the “Organizing Committee Award" of this year's UABB. The “Cosmologic Dialogue" combines artistic exhibition design with professional topics to establish a multi-perspective approach to exploring urban development. The section features rich exhibition content, with clever and comprehensive utilization of industrial heritage spaces. Through a dialogue mechanism, it seeks a new balance between humans and nature in the development of cities through interdisciplinary discussions.

On December 27th, PILLS's work “Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base City Showroom Renovation Design" was Selected as One of the “24 Most Popular Interior Works in the Interior Category” by Gooood in 2022. The project concept is derived from the predecessor of museums - the Cabinet of Curiosity, which organizes the exhibition logic around the display of “objects” and gives form to the urban concept and values, serving as a dynamic background for urban development. Through cutting-edge visual language, immersive presentation methods, and interactive spatial experiences, the urban concept and values of the Super Headquarters Base are shaped and staged. Sound and dynamic images seamlessly integrate into the scene, providing supplementary explanations of the exhibits and their historical background. They also break away from the conventional narrative and create a sense of timing and drama. The exhibition depicts the blueprint of the Super Headquarters Base as a city gateway in the construction process of the Greater Bay Area, showcasing the achievements of urban construction. With an international perspective, forward-thinking mindset, and innovative design, exhibition space has been created to meet the requirements of the super headquarters base with high-level planning and high-standard construction. Together, they bear witness to Shenzhen, a vibrant metropolis full of opportunities, becoming a globally influential benchmark city in the near future.

Recently, Zigeng Wang, an associate professor of the Department of Architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, also the host architect of PILLS, was awarded the third “Jin Shangyi Young Teacher Creation Award" at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. On November 18th, the exhibition of award-winning teachers' works opened at the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Hong Gao, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; Dean Dian Fan, and other award-winning teachers Jiawei Ma, Zigeng Wang, Yunyuan Shi, and Jun He jointly attended the opening ceremony. The “Jin Shangyi Young Teacher Creation Award" was established in 2019, sponsored by Mr. Shangyi Jin, a professor and former dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. This award was jointly funded and supported by the China Arts and Culture Foundation. This award encourages young teachers to participate in art creations regarding major national themes actively. The current “Jin Shangyi Young Teacher Creation Award" consists of a review committee composed of experts from relevant disciplines, such as Dian Fan, Xinping Su, Pinjing Lv, Shuangxi Yin, Qinghe Liu, Lujiang Zhang, Wei Sun, Hui Tang, Xiewei Song, and others. Taking into account the originality, academic value, creativity, and social impact of the work, four award-winning representatives were selected from more than 40 eligible young teachers.

As the last bid for Shenzhen's “Top Ten Cultural Facilities in the New Era", the International Competition for Architectural Design of Shenzhen Institute of Design and Innovation recently announced its results. The project was conducted through an “invite + open (pre-qualification)” method. Xinggang Li Studio of CADG and PILLS were the only Chinese team, with their work “Design Network / Eco Mound" winning the second prize in this competition. The design of this project is based on the relationship between the site and nature, creating a composite service-oriented public space that connects the architectural clusters and the natural ecological layers. The three-dimensional spatial network meets the needs of education, communication, dissemination, health, and life, providing various services for students' campus life and public visits. The design also incorporates ecological design methods to create a sustainable self-circulating site with a healthy and comfortable microclimate, forming an intelligent operating life system - a breathing hill. Campuses, cities, and forests form a complex and intertwined ecosystem where humans and nature coexist.

Recently, the exhibition “Unity is Strength" designed by PILLS, was selected for the 2021 ArchDaily Building of the Year Awards (Small Scale & Installation Art category). “Unity is Strength" was curated by independent curator Cancan Cui. It was the inaugural exhibition of “Nine-Tiered Pagoda: Spatial and Visual Magic" series, along with the solo exhibition of the art group Polit-Sheer-Form Office (PSFO), showcasing the collaborative efforts of PSFO artist, designer Zhizhi Liu and architect Zigeng Wang. Zigeng Wang's exhibition design is inspired by his interpretation of PSFO's portrait work “Mr. Zheng," which features a digital synthesis of the facial features of five PSFO members. The exhibition design abstractly extracts and juxtaposes five typical collective spaces (water room, cafeteria, screening room, barbershop, bathhouse), creating incidental connections between different buildings and objects. It constructs a blue corridor space of residential buildings to link PSFO's works in various media. The different combinations and sectioning relationships between symbols create a quasi-experience, immersing viewers in a familiar past and an unfamiliar dream.

Recently, the consortium of PILLS and Xinggang Li Studio of CADG have been successfully shortlisted for the “International Competition for Architectural Design of Shenzhen Institute of Design and Innovation”. This is the first time PILLS has participated in a major international architectural bidding as a consortium and has successfully been shortlisted. As the final bid for Shenzhen's “Top Ten Cultural Facilities in the New Era", the competition has attracted interest from numerous international architectural firms such as Sou Fujimoto and Snøhetta. The panel of experts in the judging committee conducted a transparent evaluation of the qualification pre-application documents submitted by 37 applicants, using a voting process with named ballots. After five rounds of voting, five non-ranked shortlisted applicants and two ranked alternate shortlisted applicants were selected. PILLS will proceed to the next phase of the design proposal along with the five shortlisted participants and three invited participants.

Recently, the 2019 Xiongan City Furniture Design Competition announced the winning list. “Discovering Xiongan - Data Interaction and Ecological City Experience” stood out from the 455 entries in the public group and won the second prize in the public group. This competition is hosted by the Management Committee of Hebei Xiong An New Area. It is organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Hebei Xiongan New Area Planning and Construction Bureau, Hebei Xiongan New Area Digital City Construction Leading Group Office, Hebei Xiongan New Area Planning and Research Center, and Xiongan Urban Planning and Design Research Institute. The competition aims to enrich research, plan in advance, and design urban furniture solutions for the large-scale construction of the Xiongan New Area. The planning scheme “Discovering Xiongan - Data Interaction and Ecological City Experience” is an urban service system that guides users to nearby service units through urban facilities such as manhole covers through the “Discovering Xiongan” mobile app, providing waiting, bicycle rental, device charging, jogging services, automatic sales, urban interactive maps, garbage collection, and other urban public services. The plan aims to enhance citizens' understanding and experience of ecological cities through data exchange and to build an emotional connection with the public environment through education and entertainment.

On April 19th, the 8th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture “Urban Interaction” was officially completed. The PILLS exhibited artwork “Manufacturing Human: Eve's Choice” stands out from over 140 works from 24 countries and has become one of the four groups of works that have won the Academic Committee Award. The co-awarded works include Feng Yuan's “You Mu (Mu),” Yonghe Zhang and his perspective installation “Looking for Brunelleschi” in architectural design, and Zhiyang Zhang's “City of Symbiosis.” “Manufacturing Human: Eve's Choice” presents a brand new human made up of precise computer segmentation and splicing. She was wrapped in a transparent plastic film in a curled-up posture. The pipeline winding around the doll not only conveys her life and energy but also restricts her actions. The bitten-off apple in the doll's hand - the forbidden fruit in the Bible - is a technological totem of the Cyber era. The concept of “Manufacturing Human” implies that humans have chosen the fate of cybernetics, and electronic media has become the “prosthetic" of humans. People and external technology are interdependent.

Recently, PILLS's design proposal “Living as Art” won the “Hills of the Arts” Gold Mentions award in the 2020 Young Architects Competition (YAC) International Architectural Design Competition. This competition is located in the eastern foothills of Turin, Italy, overlooking the city. The original historical buildings are transformed into generators that combine living, art, creation, and exhibition, with the intention of redefining new possibilities between living and art. PILLS is the only Asian architect team that won awards in this competition. The inspiration for the plan comes from Brasilica, with a multi-purpose sunken theater as the core space, hiding the main additional parts underground and connecting the two existing historical buildings in the basement. The artistic settlement has become an important hub for connecting transportation, landscape, and lighting, making the vision of living as art a reality.

On December 20, 2019, the “Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Foundation of the People's Republic of China - The Thirteenth National Exhibition of Fine Arts", sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Federation of Literary and Art, and the Chinese Artists Association, was grandly opened at the National Art Museum of China. The work “Steel Home Still," co-curated and spatially designed by PILLS host architect Zigeng Wang was selected for this exhibition. The exhibition “Steel Home Still: Exhibition of Urban Regeneration Achievements of Shougang Industrial Heritage Park & No.3 Blast Furnace Museum" is organized by Shougang Group, Beijing Shougang Construction Investment Co., CCTN Design, and Beijing Shougang International Engineering Technology Co. It was initiated and planned by CCTN Design host architect Hongtao Bo and co-curated by PILLS founder and host architect Zigeng Wang. The exhibition takes the transformation of industrial heritage in the northern area of Shougang Industrial Park as a clue, expressing the history, present, and future of Shougang Industrial Park through immersive space and individual narrative levels and exploring the path of China's modernization transformation represented by Shougang through micro abstraction.

On April 9, 2015, Zigeng Wang's architectural design project, “Microsoft Science and Technology Building," won the Silver Award at the first Shenzhen Architecture Creation Award. The Microsoft Science and Technology Building is located in the core area of the South Campus of Shenzhen High Tech Park, adjacent to the South Campus of Shenzhen University. Regarding building volume design, the plan starts from the logo of Microsoft Corporation, dividing the form into four units on the plane and twisting vertically to create an elegant and slender architectural shape under the unfavorable conditions of a large standard floor area and height limit of the tower. A podium is set up on the north side and extends to the south tower. The podium and tower are interlocked, and multiple ramps are set up around the podium to facilitate people's flow into the podium's roof. This truly returns the roof space of the podium to the public, adding a leisure space in this urban space with a single function and tight layout, thereby enhancing the value of the surrounding land.

On March 17, 2015, Zigeng Wang's work “EMPTY” won the first place in the 2015 Fairy Tales International Architecture Competition held by Blank Space. The competition attracted over 1200 entries from 65 countries worldwide, and EMPTY won the top spot. This work fictionalizes the story of a ship. This ship is an OEM factory drifting on the high sea, a global spatial carrier, a satirical economic solution template, and a new form of enterprise. The story's male protagonist is the son of this economic model inventor. He reads his deceased father's diary and thus understands the order of the old and new worlds between them. This story describes an ecosystem in the context of globalization that cannot self-supply and relies on massive infrastructure for survival rights trading.

On March 17, 2015, Zigeng Wang's work “Dukkha Tower" was nominated for Honorable Mention at the 2015 FAIRY TALES International Architecture Competition held by Blank Space. The competition attracted over 1200 entries from 65 countries worldwide, with 11 entries standing out and receiving honorary nominations. This project attempts to elucidate the contradictions and tensions hidden in today's globalized capital activities' geographical landscape by resetting the global industrial chain of Apple products. The narrative is led by a fictional eyewitness testimony recorded by a security guard working at the Apple store on the ground floor of the Empire State Building in New York. After experiencing a long period of auditory torture, the security guard discovers another world hidden inside the building. The “Dukkha Tower" is a cross-sectional map drawn based on his eyewitness records.