After graduating from Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) Naihan returned to Beijing where she first collaborated with Ai Weiwei as coordinator for the Jinhua Architectural Park development. She later worked as an independent architect and designer for architectural and graphic design projects of different scales. Her finished constructions include Keruo Space, a space for practices in Caochangdi, and the Royal Kitchen restaurant and shop inside the Forbidden City.

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Nailhan founded her design studio Nailanli & Co in 2010. Her works have been exhibited in Milan Design Triannale, Venice Architecture Biennale, Guangzhou Design Biennale and other important international exhibitions, as well as acquired by important private and public collection include M+ Museum for Visual Culture, West Kowloon Cultural District.