Yiqiu Liu (刘奕秋)
is an urbanist, architect, and principal investigator for the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) project The Production of Cloud: Territorial and Architectural Strategies for AI’s Socio-Environmental Footprint. Emerging from her doctoral research, the Production of Cloud (2017–) is a long-term research, teaching and design programme initiated and led by Dr. Yiqiu Liu at ETH Zurich and TU Munich, building frameworks for the theorisation, design, and governance of data centres across the United States, China, and Europe.
Yiqiu’s research traces peripheral urbanization beyond the city, developing vocabularies and methods that transcend Western-centric models. She received her doctorate from the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich, in 2023, with her dissertation nominated for the ETH Medal, and holds a BA and MA in Architecture from Southeast University, Nanjing, both with distinction. She is an associated researcher at the ETH AI Center and a fellow of the European Talent Academy 2026.
She is also a practicing architect and urban designer with experience across continents. She has led several award-winning projects with Christian Kerez, received two 2024 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, and frequently consults public and private stakeholders on spatial development in Asia and Europe.