Anna Liu

Anna is a qualified architect with experience in architecture, art, and landscape, encompassing work in the UK, China, Japan, the US where she grew up, and Taiwan where she was born. She holds an MA Arch from Columbia University, and a BA from Smith College. In her early career, Anna worked in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and for Rocco Design, Arup Associates in Hong Kong, London, and Manchester.

She set up Tonkin Liu with Mike Tonkin in 2002. Together they taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture for four years, exploring studies of patterns in nature and in human nature, an area they further explored years later with their students at the University of Westminster and at universities in Japan and Taiwan.

Anna uses nature as the ultimate design tool, to amplify each project’s sensory potential, connect to deep-rooted community identities, and innovate with principles derived from invaluable structural and environmental lessons.

Open City chief executive Phineas Harper said, ‘I am thrilled that Anna and Dav have joined the Open City board. Open City works with hundreds of architects and architecture practices every year as mentors on our life-changing education programmes, as contributors to the annual Open House Festival and as partners across multiple programmes and publications. Our mission is to make architecture and the urban landscape more open, accessible and equitable – we can only achieve that goal in collaboration with brilliant, thoughtful and socially-engaged practitioners like Anna and Dav. I look forward to working with them on the many bold and impactful projects Open City is developing.