© 2025 Daisy Ziyan Zhang
Observing. Crafting. In perpetual attempts to understand; in permanent doubt.
Daisy Ziyan Zhang works through design and film to examine the intimate entanglements of labor and materials. Her practice is grounded in the body as a site—physical, sensual, and adaptive; in action, in relation, and in resistance. By listening closely to lives in-between, she traces quiet gestures of kinship and proposes alternative imaginaries of the everyday.
Her work has been shown internationally at venues such as the Venice Architecture Biennale and the Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, and is part of MIT Museum's permanent collection. She is a two-time MacDowell Fellow (Architecture, 2024; Film/Video, 2026), and her debut film, She Crossed, was awarded the ZONTA Prize at the 71st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. Daisy holds a Master of Architecture from MIT, previously practiced as an architect with Neeson Murcutt Neille in Sydney and a researcher at ETH Zürich. Searching itinerantly, she is curious how migration and communication reconfigure our sense of togetherness in a world of constant flux.
Filmography
She Crossed (2025)
ZONTA Prize, 71st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, 2025
Official Selection, Bangkok International Film Festival, Thailand, 2025
Official Selection, Filmfest Aachen, Germany, 2025
Award for Excellence, Image Forum Festival, Japan, 2024
Wrinkles (2023)
Screening and Lecture, Architecture + Urbanism Public Lecture Series, MIT Department of Architecture, USA, 2025
Screening, “Forms of Care”, Salt Beyoğlu, Türkiye, 2025
Screening, XXII Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Chile, Chile, 2025
Official Selection, Arquitectura Film Festival Santiago, Chile, 2024
Official Selection, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2023
Official Selection, ArchFilmLund Film Festival, Sweden, 2023
Finalist, Venice Architecture Film Festival, Italy, 2023
Finalist, 17th Istanbul International Architecture and Urban Films Festival, Türkiye, 2023
Official Selection, Vienna Architektur. Film. Sommer 2023, Austria, 2023
(excerpt “Caretaking”) Shortlisted, Copenhagen Architecture Festival Film Mosaic Competition, Denmark, 2023
Winner, “Transmedial Media Architecture” at Media Architecture Biennale, Canada, 2023
No Leftovers No Left Out (2023)
Official Selection, ArchFilmLund Film Festival, Sweden, 2024
Official Selection, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2023
Finalist, Venice Architecture Film Festival, Italy, 2023
Shortlisted, Copenhagen Architecture Festival Film Mosaic Competition, Denmark, 2023
Honourable Mention, ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada, 2023
One Beam, Shaped (2023)
Official Selection, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2024
Break (2023)
Best International Film Award, ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada, 2024
Finalist, 48H Open House Barcelona Música x Arquitectura, Spain, 2024
Days and Nights (2023)
Winner, ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada, 2023
Winner&Jury Vote, MIT in 3:00 Film Competition, USA, 2023
Exhibition
“Spring, Along Beijing Central Axis”, Venice Architecture Biennale, Italy, 2025; Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, China, 2025
“Intimate Immensity: Consumed, Depleted and Worn Down at Home”, UCCA Edge, China, 2024
“Wrinkles”, acquired by MIT Museum as permanent collection, USA, 2023
“Melt | Remelt”, Media Architecture Biennale (Top3 nomination for Future Trends and Prototypes), Canada, 2023
“Frozen Forces”, Cambridge Science Festival, MIT Museum, USA, 2022
“Spines”, acquired by MIT Museum as permanent collection, USA, 2022
“Desktop”, Keller Gallery, USA, 2021
“Play Room”, Keller Gallery, USA, 2020
“Ohlen Freswind: patterns for a community school”, Tin Sheds Gallery, Australia, 2018
She Crossed (2025)
ZONTA Prize, 71st International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, 2025
Official Selection, Bangkok International Film Festival, Thailand, 2025
Official Selection, Filmfest Aachen, Germany, 2025
Award for Excellence, Image Forum Festival, Japan, 2024
Wrinkles (2023)
Screening and Lecture, Architecture + Urbanism Public Lecture Series, MIT Department of Architecture, USA, 2025
Screening, “Forms of Care”, Salt Beyoğlu, Türkiye, 2025
Screening, XXII Bienal de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de Chile, Chile, 2025
Official Selection, Arquitectura Film Festival Santiago, Chile, 2024
Official Selection, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2023
Official Selection, ArchFilmLund Film Festival, Sweden, 2023
Finalist, Venice Architecture Film Festival, Italy, 2023
Finalist, 17th Istanbul International Architecture and Urban Films Festival, Türkiye, 2023
Official Selection, Vienna Architektur. Film. Sommer 2023, Austria, 2023
(excerpt “Caretaking”) Shortlisted, Copenhagen Architecture Festival Film Mosaic Competition, Denmark, 2023
Winner, “Transmedial Media Architecture” at Media Architecture Biennale, Canada, 2023
No Leftovers No Left Out (2023)
Official Selection, ArchFilmLund Film Festival, Sweden, 2024
Official Selection, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2023
Finalist, Venice Architecture Film Festival, Italy, 2023
Shortlisted, Copenhagen Architecture Festival Film Mosaic Competition, Denmark, 2023
Honourable Mention, ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada, 2023
One Beam, Shaped (2023)
Official Selection, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2024
Break (2023)
Best International Film Award, ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada, 2024
Finalist, 48H Open House Barcelona Música x Arquitectura, Spain, 2024
Days and Nights (2023)
Winner, ArchiShorts | Architecture+Design Film Festival Winnipeg, Canada, 2023
Winner&Jury Vote, MIT in 3:00 Film Competition, USA, 2023
Exhibition
“Spring, Along Beijing Central Axis”, Venice Architecture Biennale, Italy, 2025; Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, China, 2025
“Intimate Immensity: Consumed, Depleted and Worn Down at Home”, UCCA Edge, China, 2024
“Wrinkles”, acquired by MIT Museum as permanent collection, USA, 2023
“Melt | Remelt”, Media Architecture Biennale (Top3 nomination for Future Trends and Prototypes), Canada, 2023
“Frozen Forces”, Cambridge Science Festival, MIT Museum, USA, 2022
“Spines”, acquired by MIT Museum as permanent collection, USA, 2022
“Desktop”, Keller Gallery, USA, 2021
“Play Room”, Keller Gallery, USA, 2020
“Ohlen Freswind: patterns for a community school”, Tin Sheds Gallery, Australia, 2018