Press Release
Osmosis Tourists Center by Cen Shen and Changsong Li Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Cen Shen and Changsong Li honored for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Osmosis Tourists Center by Cen Shen and Changsong Li, designed for Changsong Li & Cen Shen, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Osmosis Tourists Center
Osmosis is a tourism and education center located in El Paso, Texas. The design is inspired by the geometry of a dry pond in the arid regional landscape. Organic surfaces are translated into ruled conical geometries, so the undulating roof can be built with straight steel beams and modular panels. Concealed gutters within the roof edges collect rainwater. Heavy rammed earth walls are combined with full height glass walls. The porous layout is arranged around a central courtyard, connecting visitors with the surrounding terrain.
About Cen Shen and Changsong Li
CSLab is an architecture, engineering, and construction technology practice operating in the New York metropolitan area. The firm specializes in applying computational workflows and structural rationalization within the built environment. By combining formal architectural design principles with advanced programming, CSLab utilizes parametric modeling and building information systems to translate complex spatial concepts into buildable, highly efficient frameworks.
Award Record
With this recognition, Cen Shen and Changsong Li is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/182593
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182593
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182593
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/380532
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Osmosis Tourists Center
- Function
- Tourists Center
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Wheat, Tan, Lavender, Peach Puff and Burly Wood
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Changsong Li & Cen Shen
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Cen Shen and Changsong Li
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182593
Credits
- Team
- Changsong Li, Cen Shen
- Image Credits
- Creators Changsong Li and Cen Shen, Osmosis: Dissolving The Borderline, 2023.
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Reflecting the concept of osmosis, the center's non-centric layout allows tourists to feel like an integral part of the landscape. By contrasting heavy rammed earth with transparent all-glass walls, the architecture dissolves physical barriers, fully absorbing visitors into the terrain. Additionally, the undulating roof responds directly to El Paso’s arid climate, utilizing concealed gutters for a vital water collection system that ensures long-term ecological resilience.
- Inspiration
- The primary inspiration for this project stems from the severe environmental crises of water depletion and soil salinization in the arid landscapes of El Paso. Observing the profound disconnect between human infrastructure—specifically the forceful industrial separation of water and salt through desalination—and the fragile ecosystems it occupies, the design emerged as an architectural counter-narrative. Operating as an ecological tourism and education center, the project is motivated by the need to attract visitors while actively educating the public about these pressing environmental urgencies.
- Research
- This applied research designed a cost-efficient, climate-responsive sanctuary. Using structural, solar, and sightline simulations alongside climate data, various roof geometries were tested. Simulated tourist viewpoints, water-saving calculations, and material metrics determined the optimal shape. Results proved this form maximizes daylight control, water harvesting, and nature views while significantly reducing structural costs. This offers an economical, ecological hub that deeply absorbs visitors.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was translating fluid ecological concepts into buildable architecture. Socially, the design shifts historical paradigms of environmental exploitation toward ecological education. Externally, harsh regional climates dictated strict parameters. Production limits were overcome using advanced parametric technology, rationalizing complex undulating curvatures into modular conical geometries to enable cost-efficient construction using strictly straight steel members.
- Realization and Technology
- Osmosis uses geometric rationalization to translate organic surfaces into ruled conical geometries. Mapping a structural grid along the cones' straight-line generators allows efficient construction of complex curvature using straight members and modular roof panels. Concealed gutters within the roof's edges preserve the undulating canopy's seamless purity, while full-height glass walls dissolve visual boundaries to maintain an uninterrupted connection with the landscape.
- Operation and Interaction
- This undulating canopy transforms flat surfaces into a flowing wave. It isn't "operated" by machines, but by nature: visitors interact by walking beneath its shifting heights, moving between airy, sunlit peaks and shaded, intimate dips. It performs significantly better than a standard flat roof because these precise curves naturally channel rare rainwater into concealed edges and optimize cooling airflow, creating a highly efficient, climate-responsive desert oasis.
- Project Duration and Location
- Developed as an architectural project in 2023 , Osmosis is situated at El Paso, Texas.
- Specifications
- Osmosis is a large-scale civic infrastructure organized around a central radial courtyard. The technical envelope combines high thermal mass rammed earth walls and expansive structural glazing, optimized for arid climates. The conical roof spans are constructed using straight steel beams mapped to conical generators, supporting modular panels and concealed stormwater gutters. The facility houses tourism and education centre function spaces.
- Keywords
- Parametric Architecture, Migrant Service Center, Geometric Rationalization, Conical Geometry, Porous Space, Rammed Earth Construction, Sustainable Infrastructure, Border Architecture
