“Decoding Eisenman: Beyond Form” opened this fall at the China Design Museum, marking a major international exhibition dedicated to the work of pioneering architect, theorist, and educator Peter Eisenman, one of the world’s most enduring and influential figures in contemporary architecture.

The exhibition is the result of a cross-border collaboration among the China Design Museum at the China Academy of Art, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) and Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, offering a multidimensional exploration of Eisenman’s intellectual legacy.

Curated by Fei Wang, associate teaching professor in the School of Architecture, “Decoding Eisenman” brings together nearly 150 works—including sketches, research models, personal correspondence, publications and video interviews from the Peter Eisenman Archive at the CCA—to construct a “living archive of architectural thought.” Through these works, Wang invites audiences to trace Eisenman’s evolving ideas on form, theory and architectural meaning across more than five decades of practice.

Organized into three layered sections, the exhibition traces the arc of Eisenman’s revolutionary career—from the conceptual syntax of his early “cardboard architecture,” through radical experiments in deconstruction and reassembly, to interdisciplinary and digital research, and finally to his later engagements with cultural memory and local context. Throughout, Eisenman’s work is presented not as a linear progression but as a series of epistemic leaps that continually challenge and redefine architecture itself.

“Peter Eisenman stands as one of architecture’s most pivotal and distinctive figures—a theorist, educator and practitioner of profound global impact,” says Fei Wang. “After years of development, it has been a great privilege to curate this exhibition.”

“Decoding Eisenman” not only celebrates Eisenman’s transformative impact on architecture but also reinforces Syracuse University’s role as a leader in architectural education and cross-cultural collaboration. Alongside Fei Wang’s role as chief curator, Nan Wang, visiting critic at Syracuse Architecture, led the graphic identity and exhibition design, while Dean Michael Speaks delivered a keynote address during the opening symposium.

“This project represented a rare and intellectually rewarding experience for me,” says Nan Wang. “I had the opportunity to engage critically with the theory of Peter Eisenman through the exhibition’s graphic design and wall visual arrangement and found boundless inspiration during the exhibition design process.”

A talented team of Syracuse faculty, students and alumni also played vital roles in exhibition production—from filming and editing to documentation and media coordination. Special thanks go to Professor Jean-François Bédard, Zeyu Yao ’25, Tony Dai ’25, Jiaqi Wang ’26, Zizhuo Mao ’25, Enming Cao ’27, Shuoxuan Li ’27, Stephanie Feng ’27, Tianhai Zhang ’26, Yulin Chen ’28, Shihan Zhang ’28, Yichong Ma ’27, Runkai Huang ’29 and Qiyuan Gong ’27.

“I want to congratulate Professor Fei Wang on this historical achievement,” says Speaks. “This is the only major exhibition of Peter Eisenman’s work in China, and it will have a significant impact on Asia’s future architects and scholars.”

“Decoding Eisenman: Beyond Form” is on view at the China Design Museum in Hangzhou, China, through December. For more information about the exhibition and related programming, visit the official exhibition announcement.