Tracing 40 Years of Practice

Following the launch of SAOTA’s 40th anniversary at Milan Design Week in April, our international programme of cultural engagement continues with a major exhibition series across China, developed in partnership with YARDCOM. 

Opening at The Nest Art Centre in Shenzhen before travelling to Chengdu, the exhibition explores the past four decades of practice through a curated experience of the projects, ideas, and cultural exchange that have shaped our firm. As part of our year-long SAOTA40 anniversary programme, the events in China accompany a series of exhibitions, publications, talks, and cultural engagements taking place throughout 2026. 

Presented in collaboration with YARDCOM, “Global Vision, Future Living” reflects a shared commitment to strengthening connections between South Africa and China through architecture, design, and culture. More than a retrospective, it positions architecture as an ongoing dialogue between people, place, and context. Models, drawings, photography, and multimedia installations trace the development of SAOTA from a South African studio into a practice working across diverse global contexts. 

The exhibition’s opening at The Nest Art Centre is particularly significant. As a platform for creative exchange and an architectural marvel itself, the venue provides an appropriate setting for work shaped by engagement with diverse places, cultures, and ways of living. The exhibition explores architecture’s ability to respond to different contexts while remaining rooted in a clear set of principles around climate, landscape, and human experience. 

Over years of engagement with China and its rich architectural and cultural legacy, SAOTA has developed a deeper understanding of privacy, sequence, landscape, ceremony, and the relationship between individual spaces and the larger whole. “The Chinese context has continually challenged and enriched our thinking as architects,” says Greg Truen, founding Principal of SAOTA. “There is a growing interest in quality of life, wellbeing, landscape, cultural identity, and more considered forms of living. These shifts create opportunities for architecture that is highly contemporary, but also more humane, more environmentally responsive, and more connected to place. This exhibition provides an opportunity to reflect on these shifts and the ways in which they shape our work today.” 

As this exhibition travels from Shenzhen to Chengdu, it creates a space for dialogue between architects, designers, developers, academics, and the wider public, encouraging discussion around architecture’s role in shaping contemporary life across different cultures and contexts. 

Exhibition Schedule 

Shenzhen
Venue: The Nest Art Centre at Shenzhen Bay No.1
Dates: 8 – 28 July 2026 

Chengdu
Venue: Chengdu Art Gallery – Art Life Space
Dates: 5 August 2026