The following text is from the exhibitor.

On the afternoon of July 25, 2026, the Half Stage exhibition series Investigate Things Anew: The Use and Being of Industrial Object, hosted by Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, opened at the Xicheng campus. This exhibition was curated by Mo Wanli, tenure-track associate professor at Tongji University, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, with People's Architecture Office and Atelier XÜK jointly participating. The exhibition takes the industrial production system of contemporary architecture as the starting point, and examines the “use” and “being” of industrial objects, with the symbiotic relationship between objects, people, and space.

Investigate Things Anew presents the spatial compression under the vast industrial production system of the modern architecture movement. It is also a re-consideration of “objects” amid this age of virtual realities. The exhibition space is jointly defined by Atelier XÜK’s "Industrial Gazetteer" and PAO’s "Plugin Stories." Atelier XÜK focuses on ordinary industrial objects from the construction market and everyday use, uncovering the aesthetic potential obscured by their daily use. PAO takes the “plugin” as their perspective and method, inserts temporary, compact, and lightweight objects into original systems, acting as both local interventions as well as subverting entire said systems.