Profile: Yilan Zeng 曾亦兰 | Designer

Location Berlin
© Yilan Zeng

Yilan Zeng first established a strong connection with the CITYMAKERS platform through the Virtual Walks Project 2020 . It was the first time for Yilan producing a video, in which she explored special places for urban green/sharing land in Berlin.

Yilan has a bachelor’s degree in architecture at CAFA China. She has a unique interest in people’s survival/living environment in the post-modern context, and worked in art and design for many years. Born in Hunan Province, she studied and lived in Beijing for 11 years and later moved to Berlin in 2017.

In addition to the concern for people’s living, Yilan has a special preference for bamboo, a natural material. In the past ten years of work, most of the works involved are related to the long-standing human traditional handicrafts such as bamboo curving/weaving.

A true green life—a life bringing peacefulness has always been a topic of concern to Yilan.

How do you define city making? What does city making mean to you?

Zeng Yilan: “Cities are an important phenomenon in human history. I regard cities, as a material result, as well as manifestations of human history. Therefore, city making can be regarded as the present or extension of this history, the ongoing part. This is a very interesting, huge and rich narrative.”

What do you value in being part of the CITYMAKERS network?

Zeng Yilan: “Different from the large-scale Internet-based virtual platforms, the CITYMAKERS platform provides the possibility of in-depth communication. The time, place, crowd, and activities in reality at C*SPACE  brings me fresh air that can be immersed in it. By the positive atmosphere, people are willing to share and get in touch with the new views and feelings from different backgrounds.”