Steven Smit, Director of MVRDV Asia, has been invited to join the jury panel of Ancient Tree Civilization and Residence Future International Architectural Design Competition. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has launched this competition.

Steven Smit oversees all MVRDV Asian projects. Based in the Shanghai office, he maintains a clear and direct line of contact between MVRDV’s local Shanghai design teams, and clients. Having joined MVRDV in early 2020, Smit brings a wide range of international experience and education, having studied in both his native Netherlands, and Australia. He has worked in China and Hong Kong since 2002 at the director level, with numerous international architecture and engineering studios, including OMA.

Thousand Year Ancient Trees Garden 

The design site is located at Kaisen Thousand Year Ancient Trees Garden in Huizhou of Guangdong Province, China. The total area is around 26.27ha. It is on the northwestern hillside of Guangdong Xiangtoushan National Nature Reserve and is embraced by numerous hills and mountains as well as ancient trees. How to establish a symbiotic relationship between human and nature, architecture and ancient trees is the key challenge of this competition.

• More information of the design competition can be found here.

Below you can find the members of the jury: