On February 25th, the historical document exhibition Look at a Leopard through a Pipe: Visualizing Sigfried Giedion's Modernism in Chinese Book Culture 1952-1982, curated by CAUP’s PhD student team Wang Yulin, Lu Di, Zhang Tian (postdoc), and Yang Jun, opened in the exhibition space of the foyer of the Institute of the History and Theory of Architecture (gta) at the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). This exhibition marks the first time that gta exhibitions has held an exhibition themed on China, and it is also the first exhibition curated by Chinese scholars. Wang Yulin, the lead curator and a PhD candidate, was invited to Switzerland to participate in the exhibition setup and host special events. On the evening of February 25th, this exhibition opened simultaneously with another gta exhibition, Build from Dust: Earth, Soil and the Modern Afropolis, jointly presenting the history of modern architecture in a non-Western context.

The exhibition and events have opened a window for ETH faculty and students to understand China, and have been well-received by many xperts, teachers, and students. They believe that the exhibition skillfully combines humorous and engaging art forms with rigorous and meticulous academic research, which is rare at gta.

The exhibition preparation took two years, with joint curation by CAUP's PhD student team and gta exhibitions. Professor Lu Yongyi and Associate Professor Qian Feng from CAUP's A2 Foreign Architectural History and Theory team, along with gta's chair professor of architectural theory Laurent Stalder, served as academic advisors. Thanks to the long-term efforts of Professors Lu Yongyi and Qian Feng, and the ongoing assistance of SCAA and Wang Tai, the A2 team has engaged in various collaborations with ETH gta. This exhibition is a special outcome of the cooperation between the two universities, which not only fosters the growth of young talents but also opens a new window for Sino-Swiss architectural cultural exchanges.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Switzerland. The Look at a Leopard through a Pipe exhibition embodies the open, communicative, and inclusive spirit of Tongji University's Architecture Department in its continuous exploration and expresses the vision of maintaining exchanges and mutual learning with other countries under the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind in the new era. Continuing to open up to the outside world and strengthening mutual learning among people of all countries in the world is beneficial for seeking wisdom and drawing nourishment from different civilizations, thereby promoting creative development in human civilization. Although this exhibition is just a glimpse, it aims to use Giedion and Tongji architectural textbooks as a bridge to showcase a period of history in which China absorbed and borrowed from the outstanding achievements of human civilization on its path towards modernization with Chinese characteristics, and to actively participate in promoting Sino-Swiss cultural exchanges and mutual learning.