Supervisor: Dr Felipe Hernández
Research overview:
Lingchen’s research examines Mongolian placemaking in urban environments within Hohhot, the capital city of Inner Mongolia, focusing on how “Mongolness” is reasserted, lived and articulated through spatial and architectural practices. While state policies, an increasingly marketised economy, and dominant ethnic ideologies shape the built environment,everyday resistance among Mongolian communities often takes non-confrontational, subtle yet significant forms. By analysing the material expressions in urban settings—ranging from the strategic use of signage and architectural motifs to the spatial organisation of gathering places—this study explores how Mongolian identity has been continuously negotiated and redefined, charting their ethno-social “infrastructure of care” in architecture and public spaces. This research contributes to broader discussions on ethnic identity, placemaking, and the role of architecture in shaping sociopolitical belonging, offering insights into spatial modernity of Mongolian communities and escalating ethnic tensions in contemporary China.
Biography:
Lingchen Kong is an urban designer and researcher, currently a PhD student at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Dr. Felipe Hernández. His research explores the spatial modernity of Mongolian communities and their embodied, everyday political dissent against state policies that seek to assimilate them and redefine what it means to be Mongolian. Lingchen holds an MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies from University of Cambridge, an MArch in Urban Design from University College London, and a BEng from Hebei University of Technology. His academic interests lie at the intersection of architectural history, Indigenous architecture, and the spatial manifestations of cultural identity.