HUAWEI 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale China Pavilion – “Vault of Heaven” by Zigeng Wang Collaborative Watch Face

In September 2025, the HUAWEI WATCH GT 6 series launched an exclusive digital watch face in collaboration with Vault of Heaven, the installation created by Zigeng Wang for the China Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (Biennale Architettura 2025). The original work employs recycled green protective netting sourced from construction sites as its primary material and incorporates Intangible Cultural Heritage bamboo weaving craft to construct a contemporary reinterpretation of the "zaojing" (caisson ceiling), echoing the Eastern philosophy of "tian ren he yi" (harmony between heaven and humanity) and the coexistence of humans and nature. This collaboration translates the rotating, flowing, and cyclical spatial narrative of Vault of Heaven into a perception of time on the wrist, extending it from the exhibition venue into daily life and further demonstrating the open‑ended vitality of Zigeng Wang’s work in cross‑media transformation.

— The 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is held in Venice from 10 May to 23 November 2025. Themed “Intelligens, Natural, Artificial, Collective,” this year’s Biennale focuses on how natural intelligence, artificial intelligence, and collective wisdom can collectively address the environmental, technological, and social challenges facing contemporary architecture. The China Pavilion, curated by Ma Yansong under the concept “CO‑EXIST” (Rong • Zhihui), emphasises the Eastern worldview of tian ren xiang rong (harmony and integration between heaven and humanity), advocating an open and inclusive wisdom to re‑examine the relationships between humans and nature, tradition and the future. Zigeng Wang was invited to create the installation Vault of Heaven for the China Pavilion. Set against the backdrop of China’s urbanisation process, the work selects recycled green protective netting from Chinese construction sites as its main material and combines it with Intangible Cultural Heritage bamboo weaving craft to build a contemporary "zaojing" (caisson ceiling). Through the dynamic rotation of layered circular rings, hand‑carved symbols produce a phenakistoscope‑like persistence of vision effect in motion. This not only continues the traditional significance of the "zaojing" as an architectural motif that “connects to heaven,” but also constructs a dynamic spatial narrative that responds narratively to the Eastern wisdom of "tian ren he yi" and further articulates a philosophy of symbiosis between humans and nature.

— As the “Chief Intelligence and Technology Partner” of the China Pavilion during this Biennale, Huawei deeply integrated its smart devices—including the HUAWEI Mate X6, MatePad Pro 12.2 PaperMatte Edition, and MatePad Pro 13.2 PaperMatte Edition—into the artistic design of the China Pavilion, employing intelligent technology to present traditional Chinese architectural aesthetics. In this context, the HUAWEI WATCH GT 6 series, launched in September 2025, specially introduced three exclusive watch faces inspired by the artworks exhibited in the China Pavilion, bringing the aesthetic experience of architecture and art into daily wear. Among them, Zigeng Wang’s work Vault of Heaven collaborated with the HUAWEI WATCH GT 6 series to produce a namesake exclusive digital watch face, transforming the contemporary “caisson ceiling” originally suspended in the exhibition space into a wrist‑worn landscape that can be worn and perceived in everyday life—moving the viewer from gazing up at “beneath the Vault of Heaven” to experiencing time “within a square inch on the wrist.” As a significant work in the China Pavilion, Vault of Heaven presents the fluid relationships among time, nature, and human civilisation through its layered rotating ring structures. A watch, as a device that records time, perceives bodily rhythms, and connects to daily life, naturally resonates with the visual language of “rotation,” “flow,” and “circulation” inherent in the installation, creating a sympathetic resonance between spatial narrative and temporal perception. It is precisely this affinity that extends the scale and contextual possibilities of Vault of Heaven. What was originally an art installation to be looked up to within the pavilion is now translated into a digital dynamic interface that can be worn, used, and perceptually experienced in everyday life, entering the human body’s scale and living rhythms. This transformation also responds to the thematic concepts of both the Biennale and the China Pavilion: how architecture and art, through technological media, can enter more daily and open life scenarios.

— From an installation created for the China Pavilion at the Venice Biennale to an aesthetic extension in technology products, Zigeng Wang’s Vault of Heaven has not only become an important vehicle for both Chinese and international audiences to understand Chinese architectural aesthetics and natural philosophy, but also attests to the vitality of his work in crossing media and bridging tradition and contemporaneity. Through the collaboration with the HUAWEI WATCH GT 6 series, Zigeng Wang translates his artistic concepts rooted in traditional Chinese philosophy into a product experience that can be worn and perceived in daily life, allowing the reflections on tian ren xiang rong, natural symbiosis, and the flow of civilisation embedded in Vault of Heaven to extend from the pavilion space into a broader public life. This is not merely an extension of visual symbols, but also a new practice of his creative methodology at the intersection of international cultural contexts, technological media, and everyday existence. — The “Vault of Heaven” watch face is available for download in the “Watch Faces” section of the Huawei Health app —

Project Information Project Title: HUAWEI 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale China Pavilion – “Vault of Heaven” by Zigeng Wang Collaborative Watch Face Project Category: Watch Face Design, Artwork Partner Brand: HUAWEI Design Year: July 2025 Lead Designer: Zigeng Wang Design Team: PILLS / Zigeng Wang, Manying Wang, Chenyao Liu