Jia Weng

Jia Weng is an architectural designer, curator, and researcher. She is a Ph.D. candidate in architectural history and theory at Yale School of Architecture, who holds a certificate in Film and Media Studies. She also served as a research affiliate at the Research Network of Philosophy and Technology between 2021 and 2022 and a sectional curator for Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture 2022. She graduated with a BArch from Tsinghua University in China and earned a master’s degree in Urban Design from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, which allowed her to practice architecture at KPF New York Office for three years, where she gained first-hand experience of designing joint-venture architecture. Situated at the intersection between architectural history and media studies, her dissertation examines the transformation between information and material forces through the control valve, a fluid-regulating device in architecture. Her dissertation won the Carter Manny Research Award by the Graham Foundation. It is also supported by Franke Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship and MacMillan International Dissertation Research Fellowship. In her theoretical practice, Jia has partaken in many competitions and exhibitions, including the Jacques Rougerie Competition (First Prize), the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Infrastructural Territory Exhibition at OCAT Shanghai Gallery.

Project Summary

My dissertation, tentatively titled “Environmental Conduits,” examines environmental control systems against the backdrop of globalization. It delves into the belly of air-conditioning machines by foregrounding the control valve. Control valves, integral to both machinery and organic systems, convert environmental data into mechanical forces that regulate the intensity and direction of internal flows, thereby forestalling deterioration through negative feedback loops and anti-entropic processes. By emphasizing valves and valving mechanisms, this study reveals the environmental dimensions of globalization, challenging the notion of smooth, unobstructed global flows and exposing their underlying striations. My analysis spans engineering trade literatures, scientific papers, and architectural discourses, tracing the historical development of control valves from the inception of the first air-conditioned globe in the 1930s to the establishment of Special Economic Zones in China post-1979. This study illustrates how valves create dynamic territories by generating and regulating material flows, detaching architectural interiors from their immediate surroundings while linking them to distant networks of extraction. This oscillation between local and planetary scales introduces a new dimension to architecture, where spaces are defined not just by walls but through the modulation of pipe technologies. Moreover, my dissertation explores the thingness of conduits by foregrounding ordinary users. It explores how such often overlooked actors offer perspectives into the intellectual history of pipe politics and fluid management.

Research Area Keywords

Control Valves, Conduits, Air-Conditioning, Globalization, Environmental Media, Zones, Thresholds, Vectors