Xu Jinglei on slow design, sustainability, and rural China

Crafting luxury abodes tucked away in the mountains, with nature as the protagonist, Hangzhou-based talent Xu Jinglei was recently named winner of the prestigious Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year Award 2025. Recognized for his site-sensitive, sustainable approach, Xu’s agency Slow Coral Design curates architectural design that engages communities, nature, and culture. Think lightweight, low-cost materials that protect the beauty of natural landscapes, and the development of underused rural sites to enhance cultural tourism in China. Xu’s award-winning Yandangshan Scenic Area Renewal – Cliff Series exemplifies his philosophy of “light-touch” intervention. By consistently adhering to environmental stewardship, cultural storytelling, and audience engagement, Xu demonstrates how design can shape meaningful experiences that resonate with younger generations and international visitors alike. The Andrew Martin accolade not only recognizes Xu’s creative vision but also highlights the growing role of design in shaping China’s rural revitalization and cultural tourism — a sector increasingly influential for brands and institutions looking to connect with local communities, and Gen Z audiences. Jing Daily: Your work focuses on reviving underused rural spaces. How do you see rural revitalization shaping the future of China’s cultural and creative industries? Xu Jinglei: Rural revitalization is becoming one of the most promising foundations for the future of China’s cultural and creative industries. As urban-rural relationships are restructured, many once-overlooked places are re-entering the public consciousness, especially among younger generations. From Yandang Mountain to Huangshan, and even the vast black soil region of Daqing, I see rural areas evolving far beyond the idea of “scenic sites.” They are becoming laboratories for cultural expression, new lifestyles, and emerging creative economies. They allow Chinese design to grow beyond the urban core and reconnect with a much broader, deeper landscape. What makes the countryside valuable is its authenticity, slower rhythm, and strong sense of locality — qualities that the cultural and creative industries in China both lack and long for. In our practice, we are not simply renewing places; we are rebuilding the relationship between people and the land. To me, rural revitalization is not a passing trend, but an essential part of rewriting the future narrative of China’s cultural and creative industries. JD: What aspects of your hometown most influence your design philosophy? XJ: I grew up in Qiandao Lake, a place surrounded by mountains and water, where life flows slowly but vibrantly. Moving constantly between the lake and the hills shaped my early understanding of natural scale and rhythm. The landscape taught me about quiet order, about restraint, and about the profound calmness embedded in nature — these have become cornerstones of my design philosophy. This is why I insist on “light intervention,” letting architecture step back and become a humble connector rather than a distraction within the landscape. Qiandao Lake gave me not only an aesthetic sensibility but also a value system: respect the land, follow its logic, and reconcile with time. The foundational logic of every Slow Coral Design project originates from this embodied memory of where I come from. JD: What do you believe sustainable design in China needs most right now? Technology, mindset, or policy shifts? XJ: What China needs most is a shift in mindset. We already possess the materials, technologies, and policy direction to support sustainable design. What we lack is a long-term way of thinking — moving away from “build fast, show results fast” toward sustained observation, precise intervention, and operation-oriented planning from day one. Sustainability isn’t a technical layer added onto a project; it begins with putting operation, circularity, community relationships, and the environment at the core of design. Only when early research is thorough, interventions are restrained, and operational pathways are clearly defined can a project truly grow on its own and achieve long-term sustainability. This systemic mindset shift is far more critical than any single technology JD: Your Yandangshan project aims to attract younger visitors. What do you think today’s Chinese Gen Z travelers are looking for in cultural tourism experiences? XJ: Gen Z travelers are no longer looking for checklist sightseeing; they seek emotional value, immersive experiences, and a sense of local authenticity. They want to feel the scale of nature, the warmth of culture, and genuine interaction with a place. The popularity of the Yandangshan “Cliff Café” comes not from visual drama, but from giving people a chance to get close to the mountain itself and to experience its rhythm at an intimate scale. JD: You’ve spoken about design stepping back to let nature speak. What emotional response do you hope visitors experience when moving through your spaces? XJ: I hope they experience the power of slowing down. In our projects — whether a cliffside café or a mountain trail — the presence of design should never overshadow nature. Ideally, when people walk through space, what they notice most is not the architecture but the wind, the light, the rock formations, the plants — the most fundamental elements of the landscape. This emotional resonance comes from quietness, immersion, and a renewed connection with nature and with oneself. Design is merely a doorway; nature is the room itself. I hope visitors leave remembering not what we created, but how they felt in that moment. JD: Winning the Andrew Martin Interior Designer of the Year Award gives your work further prominence. How do you want international audiences to understand China’s design innovation through your projects? XJ: I hope international audiences can see a form of Chinese design that is rooted in time, land, and cultural depth. China is a place with profound historical memory, where every landscape has its own natural texture, history, and way of life. These are not expressed through surface form — they grow slowly and are revealed through time. True Chinese design innovation lies in rebuilding our relationship with the land and crafting new narratives grounded in long-termism and naturalism. Projects like the “Cliff Café” do not rely on grand budgets. They rely on deep respect for the site, precise attention to experience, and the activation of local community value. I believe the future of Chinese design will unfold through more nuanced and diverse approaches — inviting people to step into the soul of a place and experience stories and emotions that could only exist there. This is a gentle but powerful form of innovation, one that arises naturally from the land itself. JD: What are your plans for 2026? XJ: In the coming year, we will continue to work deep within China’s natural and rural regions, exploring replicable strategies for site activation. From mountain-based tourism to rural revitalization, community building to new models of cultural tourism operation, we aim to apply “acupuncture-style renewal” in diverse geographical and cultural contexts — small, precise, and long-termin value. We will also expand our interdisciplinary collaborations, integrating environmental studies, operational strategy, material research, and cultural studies into our design process to build a more complete system of “empowering design.” I believe that meaningful design requires time, and we will continue to take root slowly — allowing more projects to grow like coral, organically and quietly, within the land.

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Xu Jinglei on slow design, sustainability, and rural China