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July 15, 2025

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City-born architect lists inspiration behind his designs in a new book

By Wan Lixin | 00:01 UTC+8 July 15, 2025 | Print Edition

WHEN Chinese-Canadian architect Peter Guohua Fu’s book, “The Stories Behind 100 Designs,” is introduced at the Shanghai Book Fair in August, readers can expect to learn many interesting stories about numerous landmark structures, many of which are located in Shanghai.

Peter Fu, a professor from The Peter Guohua Fu School of Architecture, McGill University, Canada, and his son, Fu Jiawen, co-authored the book.

After graduating from Tongji University, Peter Fu studied architecture and urban planning at McGill University in Canada and earned a doctorate.

He has worked as an architect at several well-known Canadian architectural firms before founding the KF Stone Design International, which has designed approximately 5 million square meters of Shanghai’s urban landscape, including the highrise buildings of Da’an Garden in Jing’an District and Yuyuan Road renovation in Changning District.

The company is also behind several innovative initiatives, such as a multi-stage outdoor theater made from discarded shipping containers.

In 2021, he was awarded the Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award, which recognizes outstanding individuals who have contributed significantly to Shanghai’s economic and social growth.

“‘The Stories Behind 100 Designs’ is born of the architectural works, and their derivatives, that I have been responsible for over the past 25 years, which essentially amount to a sum-up of different genres in my architectural series, ranging from architect-themed musicals to stage operas, sculptures and paintings,” the architect said.

Fu added that he hoped the city would become more human-centric, with stories behind buildings that would capture the attention of more residents, who would care for and talk casually about these architectural narratives as part of the effort to transition from grand architectural art to grand visual expression.

Shanghai accounts for roughly half of the approximately 100 buildings in the book. As Fu noted, as a Shanghai-born architect, coming to structures that he designed is a source of immense pleasure and satisfaction.

The book also includes about 20 projects in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, including the “Music on the TM River” project, which cost 5 billion yuan (US$700 million) and took 15 years to plan. Since its completion at the end of last year, the project has earned Fu rave reviews.

Fu was nostalgic about the building’s design, emphasizing that, while the concept came to him by chance, there was also a sense of inevitability to the structure.

The design resembles half of a dulcimer lying on its side. When viewed from a distance, its reflection in the Tianmu River forms the image of a complete dulcimer, which is truly inspiring.

It is also strictly functional. With the upper part smaller than the lower part, the structure is both mechanically sound and cost-effective.

The entire project appears to be destined for Hengqin, an islet in Zhuhai that is strategically located in the Greater Bay region. It might have seemed out of place in New York, Beijing or Shanghai.

With 100 drawings created by Fu himself, the book recounts the vicissitudes the architect has witnessed over the last 25 years, serving as a truthful monument to his profound, bittersweet experience.

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