Professor
XU Subin has received Ph.D. degrees from both Tianjin University in 1992 and the University of Tokyo in 2005, specializing in the field of Architectural History and Preservation. She has worked in the past in numerous institutions, namely: as Lecturer at Tianjin University; Postdoctoral Fellow at Tsinghua University; Research Fellow at the Institute of Industrial Science and the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia of the University of Tokyo; Adjunct Lecturer of Tokyo Zokei University and Meiji University in Japan; Visiting Associate Professor of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Kyoto); Visiting professor at the Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne); and Adjunct Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is currently Professor at the School of Architecture of Tianjin University, China.
Prof. Xu’s areas of research and interest mainly include the following:
(1) The history of exchanges of knowledge between China and Japan in the fields of modern industry, urban, technics and architecture. Her previous publications include Influence and Agency: A History of Chinese Urbanism and Architecture in the Context of Modern Sino-Japanese Relations (University of Tokyo Press, 2009; Japanese language), which won the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize as well as the Society of Architectural Historians of Japan Prize and 1st Prize at the 6th Awards Event for Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research in Colleges and Universities of China. One of her earliest works, Japanese Studies on Chinese Cities and Architecture (China Water Power Press, Beijing, 1999), became the first Chinese-written book to introduce Japanese research studies on Chinese cities and architecture.
(2) Chinese modern architectural history. Prof. Xu's publications on this topic include The Beginning of Chinese Modern Architecture (Tianjin University Press, Tianjin, 2010), which analyses the origins of the major in Chinese architecture, and the complex cultural relationships between Japan and Europe. She is one of the three chief editors of the monograph series Chinese Modern Architectural History (five vols., China Architecture & Building Press, 2016). It is the first comprehensive history of Chinese modern architecture, and was developed as a Key Publishing Project within the Chinese 12th Five-Year Plan. This book won the China Publishing Government Award, which is the highest award in the Chinese publishing field.
(3) Sustainable development of historical cultural heritage. Prof. Xu regularly contributes to the promotion and representation of research results concerning historical heritage among the general public, and strives to serve society through cultural heritage conservation research and practice efforts. She is a chief expert of a Major Program of the National Social Science Foundation of China, and currently leads one of the highest-level national projects in social science, namely “Conservation System Research for Modern Industrial Heritage in China”. In addition, she is spearheading other projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, which are: “Examining the Historiography of Non-verbal Cultural Heritage: Studies Concerning Historical Photographs of Investigations on Chinese Architecture by European Scholars in the Early 20th Century”; “Examining the Historiography of Non-verbal Cultural Heritage: Studies Concerning Historical Photographs of Investigations on Chinese Architecture by Japanese Scholars in the Early 20th Century”; the Major project of Tianjin Municipal Education Commission titled “Study of Industrial Heritage Conservation and Revitalization of Tianjin”; a project of the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin known as “Basic Research on Modern Cultural Heritage and Construction Technology of Tianjin City, the Economic Center of Northern China”, and others.
Prof. Xu has received a number of international awards, including the Architectural Institute of Japan Prize (independent award, Japan, 2011), the Society of Architectural Historians of Japan Prize (independent award, Japan, 2011), and the Japan Urban Planning Society Encouragement Prize (independent award, Japan, 2006). In terms of national awards, she has been distinguished with: the 1st Prize of the 6th Awards Event for Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research in Colleges and Universities (Independent award, 2013), issued by the ministry of education of China, “the China Publishing Government Award”(shared award, 2017); the Outstanding Paper Award of the Architectural Society of China (shared award, 2012); and the 2nd prize of Distinguished Planning Design by the Ministry of Education (shared project, 2009). Other noteworthy awards and honors include: “Excellent Talent of the New Century” (2007); “5th Overseas Chinese Contribution & Innovation Achievement Award” (2014); and “National Ten Thousand Plan Talents” (2016).
As for her various engagements with domestic and international institutions devoted to the issue of cultural heritage preservation, Prof. Xu is a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS); member of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Shared Built Heritage (ISC SBH); member of the International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement, China (Docomomo China); member of the scientific and Technical Committee of the Ministry of Housing and urban-rural development, China; director of the Committee of Urban Sociology at the Chinese Sociological Association; vice-chairwoman and member of the Industrial Heritage Committee, the Architectural Society of China; member of the Committee for 20th Century Architectural Heritage at the Cultural Relics Academy of China.
