274 news
What the academy is doing, where it has been and what it is reading.
Highlights from the 2024 Climate Risk Landscape Report
Gonzalo Raineri · 12 Sep 2026
Gonzalo shares UNEP FI's 2024 Climate Risk Landscape Report, a guide helping banks, insurers, and investors evaluate physical and transition climate risks.
More Scenes Where Past Meets Future at Henan Drama Fantasy City
Gonzalo Raineri · 13 Jun 2026
The Academy shares more scenes from Only Henan · Drama Fantasy City, the immersive theatrical park blending ancient history with modern stagecraft.
Exploring Ancient Bronze and Stone Artifacts at Henan Museum
Gonzalo Raineri · 13 Jun 2026
The Academy toured Zhengzhou's Henan Museum, where Shang and Zhou bronzes sit beside stone carvings defaced in past upheavals — proof that culture lives in people, not stone.
Exploring History and Art in Beijing's 798 Art District
Gonzalo Raineri · 13 Jun 2026
The Academy's founder wandered Beijing's 798 Art District, its Cold War-era factories now galleries, and found a quiet restaurant scene straight out of Edward Hopper.
Four Weeks Teaching the Design Framework at Henan University
Gonzalo Raineri · 13 Jun 2026
Gonzalo spent four weeks teaching the Symbiotic Design Framework to first-year architecture students at Henan University, leaning on translation apps to bridge the language gap.
Meeting Tsinghua Professor Sai Ma to Discuss Design, AI and Ethics
Gonzalo Raineri · 13 Jun 2026
The Academy's founder capped a China trip by meeting Tsinghua's Prof. Sai Ma to discuss design, AI, and ethics, and delivering copies of his book to the faculty.
Why Flea Markets Reveal a More Honest History
Gonzalo Raineri · 13 Jun 2026
Symbiotic Design Academy explores why Beijing's Panjiayuan flea market reveals a messier, truer history than museums, home to the raw 'Proto-Design' objects from Symbiotic Design Framework.
Meeting Zhang Jinhuan and Her Ink Shop in Zhengzhou
Gonzalo Raineri · 31 May 2026
Gonzalo visited Madam Zhang Jinhuan's ink studio in Zhengzhou, where she hand-grinds pigments to paint devotional Buddhist scrolls and talismans.
Discovering Vintage Chinese Ink Paintings at a Market Stall
Gonzalo Raineri · 31 May 2026
Gonzalo found two vintage Chinese ink paintings at a market stall, and a note tucked inside revealed the artist: Hao Shilin, trained at Hangzhou's elite art academy.
Visiting the Shaolin Temple in China's Songshan Mountains
Gonzalo Raineri · 25 May 2026
Gonzalo visits the Shaolin Temple in Henan's Songshan Mountains, founded in the 5th century as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu, struck by its calm, hierarchical architecture.
Exploring the Longmen Grottoes as a Lesson in Proto-Design
Gonzalo Raineri · 24 May 2026
While teaching the Symbiotic Design Framework in China, Gonzalo toured Luoyang's Longmen Grottoes, where thousands of Buddhist statues are carved into cliffs above the Yi River.
Only Henan Drama Fantasy City Amazes During China Trip
Gonzalo Raineri · 23 May 2026
Gonzalo was awed by Only Henan · Drama Fantasy City, the immersive theatrical complex blending ancient Chinese history with modern staging, during his China trip.