In addition, Chen currently serves as guest curator for M+, the new museum for visual culture under construction in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District, where from 2012-2018 he was that institution's first Lead Curator for Design and Architecture. 

Prior to M+, Chen was the first Creative Director of Beijing Design Week. Over the years, he has organized dozens of projects and exhibitions internationally, in addition to serving on numerous juries, and as a curatorial advisor to the UABB Shenzhen Biennale of Architecture\Urbanism, the Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennale (New York), and the Gwangju Design Biennale. Chen is the author of Brazil Modern (Monacelli, 2016), and has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times, Wallpaper*, Architectural Record, and other publications.