An architectural bridge between two worlds

It is a role he has come to understand through his own experience.

Sandi first came to China in 1978. In the decades since, he has witnessed the country's rapid transformation and has participated in its development himself, including through a building he designed in Suzhou Industrial Park.

What interests him is not simply how much China has changed, but how the direction of cultural exchange has changed with it.

He recalls a time when Western architecture was an important reference point for China. Today, in his view, the relationship is more reciprocal. He points to the increasingly integrated way Chinese cities bring together transportation, workplaces, shopping, residential areas and cultural functions, seeing in this approach a form of urban vitality that can itself become part of an international conversation.

For Sandi, such exchange is precisely what a bridge is meant to enable.

Architecture and art, he argues, can create channels of communication that reach beyond language and political disputes. They can bring people into contact through shared spaces and experiences, even when the broader relationship between countries is complicated.

When asked whether art and culture can bridge differences, he says, "Not only do I think it can. I think it must."