Meizhu Xu

Meizhu Xu is a student in the Master of Science in Design: Advanced Architectural Design (AAD) program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about the intersection of architecture and ecological systems. Her work explores how built environments can critically respond to environmental concerns while engaging with larger social and infrastructural dynamics. In a retrofit of a Manhattan office tower, she combined a sports betting arena with the city’s flood drainage system to examine the spatial entanglement of capital and infrastructure. In Australia, she proposed a Coral Museum near the Great Barrier Reef designed to control ocean salinity and mitigate coral bleaching. Another project, set in the wetlands of Lake Iseo, Italy, focused on preserving diverse habitats by minimizing human impact through lightweight structures and interactive, bio-receptive envelopes that support micro-ecological cycles. Across her projects, Meizhu aims to reimagine architecture as an adaptive and ethical agent within the environment.