Tongji University
Liu was born in 1969 in Haiyang, Shandong Province, China. After graduating from Tongji University, Shanghai, attracted by the rapid urban development in Guangzhou, he worked as an architect for Architectural Design Institute, Guangzhou. Encouraged by his mentor in the design institute, he later decided to continue his architectural education and accomplished his master's degree in Architecture in Tongji University in 1997. At that time, led by the Shanghai new development set up by the Central Government, more opportunities were opened for young architects, which made Liu decide to stay in Shanghai. Serving as the Chief Architect of the Architectural Design Institute of Tongji University from 1997 to 2000, he realized he gradually neglected his creativity and independent thinking on too many commercial projects, which finally led him to found his own office, the Atelier Deshaus, in 2001.