ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
WEST PIER, BRIGHTON, 2017, CUICHENG ZHANG
CUICHENG ZHANG RIBA PART 2 ACHITECTURE
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DIPLOMA EXHIBITION
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ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE FILM: PRODUCTION DESIGNER
C O N T E N T BIENNALE FOLLIES CATALYZE DISSENT
MARBLE INSTI TUTE URBAN MARBLE ARCH AEOLOGICAL FIELD
COMPOSITE CIRCUS CAGE AND STAGE
DONG SI MOSQUE BEIJING MOSQUE RENOVATION
U R 8B
PRACTICAL PROJECTS HOUSE, CAFE, HIGHT SCHOOL
URBAN INSERT INFRUSTRUCTURE PAVILION
EXHIBITION : HUMANISTIC NATURE AND SOCIETY AN INSIGHT INTO THE FUTURE
EXHIBITION : ROADS IDE PICNIC THE TRADE OF RECLAIMED MATERIALS IN UK
PRODUCTION DESIGNER FOR ART FILMS SELECTIVE WORKS
YEAR: 2020 - NOW (IN PROGRESS) I LOCATION: VENICE, ITALY I BUILDING: FOLLIES I TYPE: ACADEMIC
BIENNALE CATALYZE
FOLLIES
01
DISSENT
WITH STRICT SELECTION CRITERIA, MANY ARTISTS AND ARTWORKS HAVE NO CHANCE TO GET INVOLVED IN VENICE BIENNALE. ONLY LIMITED FORMS AND NUMBERS OF ARTWORKS AND ARTISTS CAN BE SHOWN IN VENICE BIENNALE. AFTER STUDYING TOPICS, ARTISTS AND EXHIBITS IN LAST 20 YEARS, BIENNALE IS FOUND TALKING ABOUT SIMILAR THINGS EVERY TWO YEARS. IT IS VERY DEVOTED TO A SMALL, SAFE EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT. EVERY TWO YEARS, THE BIENNALE MOVES A LITTLE BIT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE MOVES TOGETHER. EVERYONE IS IN AGREEMENT AS WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN AND WHAT TO SAY ABOUT IT. IN THIS SENSE, THE BIENNALE BECOMES A SYMBOLIC GESTURE, MACHINE OF AGREEMENT, A MACHINE OF SYNCHRONIZATION. GIARDINI IS AN OBJECT FIELD, A SYSTEM WORKS TOTALLY AROUND PAVILIONS. PAVILIONS SHAPE THE PATH AND VEGETATIONS. THEY SET DISTINCT BOUNDARIES BETWEEN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR. IN THIS SENSE, THIS SITE COMPOSITION CONTRIBUTES TO THE SYNCHRONIZATION.
THE MONOTONE OF OPERATION AND PRESENTATION LEAD TO SYNCHRONIZATION OF BIENNALE. THE PROJECT IS PROPOSED AS A SOCIAL CONDENSER TO CHALLENGE THE SYNCHRONIZATION BY CATALYZING DIALOGUE AND DISSENT. PAVILIONS HAVE CLEAR FUNCTION THAT SERVE EXHIBITIONS AND ISOLATED THEMSELVES. OPPOSITE TO THIS, FOLLIES REFER TO STRUCTURES IN GARDENS WHICH SERVE NO PRACTICAL FUNCTIONS. THE FOLLY IS A FORM - A THING THAT STRUCTURES NEW MEANING THROUGH PUBLIC CONTACT. IT INTERACTS WITH ELEMENTS OF SITE TO CREATE SOMETHING ELSE. THE SYSTEM OF FOLLIES WOULD REPLACE THE SYSTEM OF PAVILIONS. IT WORKS IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS UNEXPECTED TOURS AND A PERSONALIZED AND INDIVIDUAL EXPLORATION OF THE EXHIBITION. WONDERMENT REPLACES MERELY VIEWING WHEN A SERIES OF FOLLIES ARE ENJOYED. INSTEAD OF LINEAR ROUTES, BROKEN AND MULTIPLE ROUTES ARE PROPOSED IN ORDER TO ALLOW PEOPLE FLÂNER. THE IDENTITY OF BIENNALE BECOMES UNSTABLE, IN FLUX.
VENICE BIENNALE AND AVANT-GARDE Starting from the 19th century, Venice Biennale was the first biennale in the world. During 125 years, Biennale has been placing a spotlight on many avantgarde movements, creating a bridge between the public and contemporary art. For example, by awarding the top prize to Robert R a u s c h e n b e rg ( R u s s i a n burg) in 1964, it helped
introduce Pop Art into the canon of art history. Now, with around 320 biennials, 280 art fairs and more than 1,000 major art museums worldwide, Venice Biennale is still wielded such power. However, is Venice Biennale still stands at the forefront of research and promotion of new contemporary art trends as it indicated on their website?
exhibits of Hungarian Pavilion, Finnish Pavilion and Israeli pavilion over last 20 years
categorize keywords of exhibits and themes of Biennale
SYNCHRONIZATION Art Biennale now is wellmanaged by Biennale Organization. It has a-yearlong specific process of curators and artists selection. With strict selection criteria, many artists and artworks have no chance to get involved in Biennale. Only limited forms and numbers of artworks and artists can be shown in Venice Biennale. As a consequence, it leads to the synchronization. These
are artworks of Hungarian Pavilion, Finnish Pavilion and Israeli pavilion over last 20 years. and Israeli pavilion over last 20 years. It is hard to tell which one is from 20 years ago and which one is the latest. This diagram coming from extracting the information of these exhibits, themes of Biennale and their keywords. Grey ones are themes and words on black are exhibits. On the left are
their keywords. Biennale talked about similar things every two years. It is very devoted to a small, safe extension of the current. Every two years, the Biennale moves a little bit to make sure everyone moves together. Everyone is in agreement as what should happen and what to say about it. In this sense, the Biennale becomes a machine of agreement, a machine of synchronization.
SITE COMPOSITION
Beside the operation, the presentation of artworks on site also leads to the synchronization of discourse. This is my quadrant, it is in the middle of Giardini consists of Hungarian Pavilion, Israeli Pavilion, Finnish Pavilion and a part of Central Italian Pavilion. The way of visiting Biennale make pavilions isolated from each other. With all the exhibition happened in pavilions, people just go from one pavilion to another
GIARDINI
AS
Giardini is an object field, a system works totally around pavilions. Pavilions shape the path and vegetations. They set distinct boundaries between interior and exterior. People’s views are blocked by solid walls of pavilions and trees. Pavilion stands there, isolating from each other. With all the exhibition happened in pavilions, people just go from one
OBJECT
FIELD
pavilion to another without a short stop to discuss or rethink the art they just saw. In this sense, this site composition contributes to the synchronization. pavilion to another without a short stop to discuss or rethink the art they just saw. In this sense, this site composition contributes to the synchronization.
GARDEN OF FOLLY the existing site composition is a system works around pavilions. Follies are introduced to confront pavilions. Pavilions have clear function that serve exhibitions and isolated themselves from the context, Opposite to this, FOLLIES refer to structures in gardens which serve no practical functions. The folly is a form - a thing that structures new meaning through public contact. It interacts with elements of site to create something else.
BIENNALE
FOLLY
Follies will liberate site from pre-established context by juxtaposing a set of new actions, such as overlapping, penetrating, colliding, passing, decentralizing, tilting. architecture interventions become generated devise that creates new sets of interactions between their viewers and themselves. Follies act as curatorial devices provide new
condition that would catalyses interaction within Biennale. It works in a way that allows unexpected tours and a personalized and individual exploration of the exhibition. Wonderment replaces merely viewing when a series of follies are enjoyed. Instead of linear routes, broken and multiple routes are proposed in order to allow people flâner
BIENNALE
FOLLY
The interactions are created among follies and viewers. Pavilions are converted to follies as well. The space will not be explicitly compartmentalized and People will stop reading individual pavilions. The plastic entrance acts as a filter. It is a curtain goes freely around the quadrant. People would have to lift the curtain in order to enter
the quadrant. The ruin goes through Hungarian pavilion, Israeli Pavilion and a secret garden which is locked from the public now. The Outbuilding brings Ambiguity between exterior and interior to the Hungarian Pavilion. It also visualizes the air movement. The pyramid has underground part (green). And the Little Deck and Obelisk.
BIENNALE
FOLLY
All of these follies are designed according to specific site composition. By re-composing the existing site elements, the system of pavilions are replaced by the system of follies in order to create new sets of interactions between their viewers and themselves. As a result, the discourse even dissent will be catalyzed in order to challenge the synchronization. The identity of Biennale becomes unstable, in flux. It could happen beyond the quadrant even beyond Giardini.
YEAR: 2019 DON, UK
-
NOW I
(IN BUILDING:
MARBLE
PROGRESS) MARBLE ARCHIVE
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LOCATION: LONTYPE: ACADEMIC
INSTITUTE
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URBAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD “SURPLUS VALUE” OF ORNAMENTS PUSHED ADOLF LOOS TO CLAIM ORNAMENT AS A CRIME. MARBLE, AS A MATERIAL WITH BOTH AESTHETIC QUALITIES AND HIGH SURPLUS VALUE, IS IN DILEMMA IN THE CONTEMPORARY MARKET. THE PROJECT EXPLORES THE CULTURAL MEANING OF MARBLE AS A HERITAGE AND REHABILITATE IT WITH VALUE AS BUILDING MATERIAL.MARBLE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COMMIDITIES EVER TRADED BY HUMANS. HISTORICALLY, ITS DIFFICULT EXTRACTION, COSTLY TRANSPORTATION AND LIMITED AVAILABILITY MADE IT BECOME A SIGN OF WEALTH AND POWER. MARBLE WAS EVEN EMDOWED WITH RELIGIOUS MEANING. SINCE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT HAS WASHED OUT CULTURAL MEANINGS OF MARBLE. PEOPLE NO LONGER CARE ABOUT THE HISTORY OR SOURCE OF IT. INSTEAD, IT IS ONLY USED TO SHOW OFF THE WEALTH.
IN UK, HISTORICALLY, THERE WERE 36 VERNACULAR MARBLES EXTRACTED, BUT NOW THERE ARE ONLY 4 STILL IN PRODUCTION. INSTEAD OF EXTRACTING NATIVE MARBLE WITH HIGHER PRICE OF LABOR, THE VAST MAJORITY OF MARBLE USED IN UK IS IMPORTED FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. CITY IS AN URBAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD FULL OF RECLAIMABLE MARBLE. THE PROPOSAL IS CONVERTING AN EXISTING PARKING LOT TO AN URBAN MARBLE INSTITUTE WHICH WOULD REVIVE AND PROTECT MARBLE AS A HERITAGE AND PROVIDE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT MARBLE SALVAGE AT A CITY SCALE. THE SOURCE AND DESTINATION WILL BE MONITORED. MARBLE SLABS WILL BE RECLAIMED, PROCESSED, SORTED AND STORED. THEY WOULD BE SENT TO REUSE AFTER CAREFUL EVALUATION.
Vermont Marble Company, 1925 The company was converted to a marble museum nowadays.
Basilica of San Paolo Fuori le Mura,380s The columns were reused from Ancient Rome
MARBLE HERITAGE
AS
The cultural meanings distinguish marble from other stones. Ancient Rome treated marble as heritage. There were laws on reusing marble for public buildings because they treated marble as the inalienable components of the city’s image, which has to be preserved. Preservation often required adaptation to new public purposes and contexts: in short, reuse.
INDUSTRY WASHED OUT CULTURAL M E A N I N G However, since the twentieth century, concrete, steel, and glass came to play an increasingly important role as building materials, while marble became far less popular. The quantities of stone quarried nowadays are far less than before. Meanwhile, the industrial development has washed out cultural meanings of marble.
UK
NATIVE
MARBLE
In UK, historically there were 36 marble extracted. But now there are only 4 of them still in production while 32 of them are no longer quarried.
MARBLE
CATALOGUE
The catalogue of marble used in UK is shown. Merely in London, there are more than 60 types of marble used in London Buildings. They came from more than 10 different countries.
YEAR: 2018 I LOCATION: LONDON, UK I BUILDING: ANIMAL RESEARCH CENTER I TYPE: ACADEMIC
COMPOSITE CAGE
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CIRCUS
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STAGE
COMPOSITE CIRCUS. IT IS THE REDEFINITION OF THE CIRCUS TYPOLOGY BY CONSIDERING TODAY’S RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS AND ANIMALS. TODAY, CIRCUSES AND ZOOS ARE BEING SHUT DOWN DRAMATICALLY DUE TO A SHIFT ON SENSIBILITY AND MORALITY. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES THE REDEFINITION OF THE CIRCUS TYPOLOGY BY CONSIDERING TODAY’S RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANS AND ANIMALS. CHISINAU CIRCUS IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANIMAL RESEARCH CENTRE FOR LOCAL AND ENDANGERED SPECIES WHERE THESE ANIMALS INHABIT LUXURY ENVIRONMENTAL CAGES WHILE HUMANS ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF THEIR ORDINARY ROUTINE FROM THEIR LUXURY MATERIAL CAGES.
The project is located in Moldova, on the site of Chisinau Circus. The circus is located in the city center of Chisinau, which is the capital of Moldova. It was built in 1981 and abandoned in 2004. The project is based on reversing this process and bringing back the animal into an artificial environment that resembles the original land out of which it was removed. It reuses and transforms the abandoned circus into Research Centers with rescued endangered species. The proposal will be realized by redesigning two primary elements of the circus: the stage and the cage. The design is based on these gestures with consideration for the original building.
1. First, the original cage and offices are demolished. The animals are moved from the small cages and placed into artificial biomes around the building. 2. Second, the stage is no longer used as a space of performance, but as a space for education. In the space, there is a digital archive where projections of wild animals are shown. 3. Third, the audience is placed in balconies that face towards the biomes and not anymore inside. People are only viewers, visitors without physical interaction with animals. The spectacle is now the animals’ ordinary life.
CIRCUS RESEARCH Here is a research on the history of the circus. What you can see in this timeline is the evolution of four aspects I have detected: domestication of animals from wild life to pets; nomad circus or settled circus; perform for fight or amusement and physical or digital spectacle. However, today, circuses and zoos are being shut down dramatically. This fact reflects a shift on sensibility and morality: now we consider it cruel to have wild animals in the city and in cages.
RESEARCH CENTRE While circuses and zoos disappear, animal research centers pop up in Europe. There are three types research centers differing based on focus and purpose. After analyzing five case studies, I ended up with what a research center should consist of today: a combination of rescuing local and endangered species with an education center.
ADAPTION TO A R T I F I C I A L ENVIRONMENT Then the space that an animal (pig is taken as scenario)occupies is studied when it has been transferred from its natural environment, to a domestic space, productive environments, and research cages. As you can see at the very end stage of this process the pig ends up being caged into only 2 sq meters of space.
ORIGINAL CHISINAU CIRCUS It is a brutalist concrete building surrounded by a small area of forest. When I studied the plan I realized that although animals are the main dwellers of the building, they only got 10% of the space.
CAGE
STAGE
SECTION
Animals would no longer be kept in cages. Alternatively they would be raised in artificial biomes.
Instead of seeing animals perform, the audience would be gathered and enjoy seeing the ordinary life of animals.
A biome is a defined space or territory that shares the same climate, flora, and fauna. Here I have collected 12 Moldovans native endangered animals that will dwell in my research center. For example from grass land, to cliffs, foothills, the series of forests.
PLAN In this plan you can see how the biomes are distributed around the central stage of the circus. The insertion of the balconies into the audience space and the education center in the middle of the stage.
RETRACTABLE ARMS Biomes are covered by retractable arms. They could move for different species and biomes with different spatial requirements or different amount of animals. The original roof structural ribs are kept and reinforced and tails are added behind them to magnify the space. I further developed these arms in Techinical Study Course. There is the ‘skin’ cover between arms. It consists of ‘network’ for structure and ‘ETFE air cushion’ for controlling environmental elements.
There is the ‘skin’ cover between arms. It consists of ‘network’ for structure and ‘ETFE air cushion’ for controlling environmental elements. Among cables, ETFE air cushions would be added. It could control the temperature meanwhile allows daylight comes in. The audience structure inside is an insertion. It is an independent structure.
SECTION In this section you can see the three gestures in relation to each other; the expansion of the building with the biomes.
RETRACTABLE MECHANISM Biomes are covered by retractable arms. They could move for different species and biomes with different spatial requirements or different amount of animals. The original roof structural ribs are kept and reinforced and tails are added behind them to magnify the space. The experiments and prototype models were done to help design the mechanism system.
JOURNEY Now I’m taking you on a journey through Chisinau Research Center. Here, we approach the building. The visitors are here only for seeing the ordinary life of animals. Thus, for some animals like the Sugar Glider, you may have to come at night. Here we are in one of the balconies enjoying the spectacle of biomes from our ‘cage’. Seeing the Animals and being seen by them from their luxury environmental cages, or stages.
YEAR: 2018 I LOCATION: BEIJING, CHINA I BUILDING: MOSQUE I TYPE: WORKSHOP
DONG
SI
MOSQUE
BEIJING
MOSQUE
RENOVATION
THE TWO-WEEK WORKSHOP AIMS TO RENOVATE THE RELIGIOUS BUILDING - MOSQUE. THE ORIGINAL MOSQUE’S TYPOLOGY IS CHINESE TEMPLE, WHICH MAKES THE MOSQUE NOT RECOGNISABLE. EVEN MOST OF RESIDENTS AROUND DO NOT REALIZE IT IS A MOSQUE. HOWEVER, THE MOSQUE IS THE HEADQUATER OF CHINESE ISLAMIC ASSOCIATION - IT IS THE ONLY MOSQUE WITH THREE COURTYARDS IN CHINA. THE RENOVATION INTEGRATES THE MOSQUE WITH SURROUNDING CONTEXT WITH INTRODUCING ISLAMIC PATTERNS IN ORDER TO DISTINGUISH THE MOSQUE FROM OTHER TEMPLES. EXHIBITION ARCADE IS ADDED AND THE FIRST COURTYARD IS OPENED TO THE PUBLIC. INSTEAD ISOLATING, ISLAMIC CULTURE IS INTRODUCED TO THE PUBLIC IN A GENTLE WAY.
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YEAR: I
2016-2019 BUILDING: VILLA,
I SCHOOL
WORKING
LOCATION: I TYPE:
CHINA , SPAIN WORKING PROJECT
PROJECT
DP ARCHITECTUS: LAWYER’S HOUSE LOCATED IN BEIJING, LAWYER’S HOUSE WAS FINISHED IN 2018. I ENGAGED FOR ALL STAGES OF THE PROJECT.
EMBT: QINGDAO HIGH SCHOOL AFFILIATED TO FUDAN UNIVERSITY IN PROGRESS. I ENGAGED FROM CONCEPT DESIGN TO DEVELOPED DESIGN STAGE. ‘DRAFT RENDER AND CONCEPTUAL COLLAGES’
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DP ANTI-DOMINO
ARCHITECTS: NO. 02
LOCATED IN CHONGQING, ANTI-DOMINO NO. 02 WAS FINISHED IN 2017. I ENGAGED IN STRATEGIC DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION STAGE.
YEAR: 2016 ION I
I LOCATION: TYPE: WORKSHOP
BEIJING, CHINA I BUILDING: PAVILI COLLABORATOR: RONGFENG ZHANG
URBAN INFRUSTRUCTURE
PLUG-IN PAVILION
THIS PAVILION COMPLEX IS GENERATED BY PROCESSING, WHICH IS A PRACTICE OF COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN. IT CONTAINS FIVE COMPONENTS: STAGE, SPIRITUAL SPACE, PUBLIC SPACE, PATHWAY AND COMMERCIAL STREET. EACH OF THEM ARE RESEARCHED SEPARATELY WITH DIFFERENT INFLUENCE CURVES AND INFLUENCE VALUES. THIS PAVILION IS A COMPLEX WHICH CAN INSERT INTO ANY SITE IN THE CITY.
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SEPARATED ELEMENTS ANALYSIS Original Plan and abstract
Infulence Value: 0
Infulence Value: 10
Infulence Value: 20
Infulence Value: 30
Stage
Spiritual Space
Public Space
Pathway
Commercial Street
Infulence Value: 10
Infulence Value: 20
Infulence Value: 30
Infulence Value: 40
YEAR: NA I
2016 I BUILDING: SHELTER
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LOCATION: TYPE: EXHIBITION
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SHANGHAI, CHICOLLABORATOR: PU DAI
EXHIBITION : HUMANISTIC NATURE AND SOCIETY
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AN INSIGHT INTO THE FUTURE UTOPIAN WORLD WAS MENTIONED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN IN THE BIBLE, THE INFERNO IN THE DIVINE COMEDY, AND EVEN THE REPUBLIC BY PLATO. PEOPLE CONSTRUCT OUT OF THE PURSUIT FOR PERFECT WORLD, THE EXPECTATION OF THE BLUEPRINT AND FUTURE, AND THE CRITICISM AND SATIRE FOR REALITY. IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA, THE AMBITIONS TOWARDS FUTURE CITIES AND ARCHITECTURE IN THE LAST CENTURY HAVE GONE AND UTOPIAN THOUGHTS HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO A PAGE OF HISTORY BOOKS. THOUSANDS OF CITIES PRESENT THE SAME LOOK. IN THE PROCESS OF STRONG MATERIAL CIVILIZATION, UTOPIAN WORLD IS THE SAFE HAVEN TO HIDE FROM BRUTAL REALITY. UTOPIA IS EXACTLY THE BASIS OF REALISTIC WORLD WHICH BECOME LESS AND LESS GROUNDED. THIS EXHIBITION TRIES TO REFLECT ON THE ERA AND TO RECONSTRUCT A NEW UTOPIA.
CULTURE - HUTONG In Beijing, hutong is the most important place for generating traditional culture. People lived there for dozens of generations. However, hutong is left by the time during the rapid development. Because of the incomplete facilities, increasingly number of young people move out with only a few of old people remain there. Also the agrarian problem is serious-- the economy asks for towers while culture asks for hutong. Hutong is now meeting a dilemma.
The exhibit tries to tackle these problems by introduing the vertical street. It can maintain the context of hutong. Some public facilities such as hospital, school, theaters and even runway for exercise are added to the community. PROPAGANDA The exhibit represents broadcast channels - radio station, newspaper even CCTV. As known, in China, all broadcasted information has to be checked by government even on the Internet.
So propaganda is the speaker of government and meanwhile people have to accept the information what the governor want them to accept. The exhibit is composed of two pyramids. The outside one represents the stable society which people live in. The inside pyramid is made by mirror, which represents propaganda system. People outside of it can only see the fancy, smooth appearance which is broadcasted by the governor. The inside structure is invisible to the public.
Five parts of the exhibits represents for politics, propaganda, culture, history and economy. The background of it is set in Beijing, the capital of China. All models are put in a pyramid shape frame which represents a stable state of society. Five pyramids separate in a big Beijing map. However it can be found that they have subtle connections on the top. This subtle network represents the fact that the elites of each domains will connect
with each other in some degrees. This network cannot be even sensed apparently. So, this great picture is not only a stable structure, but also becomes a prediction for the growth of each domain in contemporary China. This time, we attempt to explore some possibility for the future city structure from the inside of existing things. We would like to do a kind of forecast and deduction, neither optimistic nor pessimistic.
CBD In any city of China, CBD is the center. It is the product of market economy with high efficiency. Towers become the sign of it. Although it has high efficiency, some lands still are wasted. For that reason the exhibit is designed to release the public space on the ground floor. Buildings are lifted and connected by public space in the air. It is more like a hanging city. The space on the ground is released to the public. People can use it for garden, amusement park...
HISTORY In history part, ‘Hai’ is used as a representative. In Beijing dialect, ‘Hai’ represents lake. Some of these ‘Hai’ naturally occurred thousands years ago, and some of them are digged by emperor hundreds years ago. The lakes are extracted from Beijing map and lifted. Each of them becomes an island which has whole ecological system on it. They compose a realistic utopian garden world. It is an manifesto of human that history will be respected all the time regardless of changes of environment.
YEAR: 2019
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LOCATION:
LONDON,UK
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TYPE: EXHIBITION
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COLLABORATOR: AA DIPLOMA 18
EXHIBITION : ROADSIDE PICNIC THE TRADE MATERIALS
OF
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RECLAIMED IN UK
THE EXHIBITION WAS HELD IN AA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE BY DIPLOMA 18. IT IS ABOUT THE RESEARCH AND RETHINKING ABOUT RECLAIM INDUSTRY IN UK. IN NORTHWEST EUROPE LESS THAN 1% OF BUILDING MATERIALS ARE SALVAGED AFTER DEMOLITION. THE DISREGARDED MATERIALS ARE INSTEAD EITHER LANDFILLED OR DOWNCYCLED. THE WEBSITE OUR UNIT CREATED OPALIS.CO.UK IS PART OF AN ATTEMPT TO REVERSE THE TREND. BUILDING MATERIALS ARE ENERGY INTENSIVE TO PRODUCE AND SHIP. THEY CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO INCREASE GREENHOUSE GAS LEVELS IN THE ATMOSPHERE. REUSE OF THESE BUILDING COMPONENTS EXTENDS THEIR USEFUL LIFE, REDUCES THE NEED FOR NEW MATERIALS, WHILE CREATING VERY REAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS IN THE FORM OF JOBS. IT IS A VALUABLE AND OFTEN OVERLOOKED STRATEGY FOR ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION. OPALIS.CO.UK CURRENTLY CONTAINS ABOUT 60 COMPANIES THAT ARE ACTIVE IN THE SALVAGE TRADE. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THESE COMPANIES ARE PIONEERS IN A PRACTICE THAT SHOULD BECOME THE NORM. THROUGH RESEARCH TRIPS ACROSS THE UNITED KINGDOM, OUR UNIT MEMBERS HAVE VISITED THESE RESELLERS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW THEY OPERATE WITHIN THE DESIGN, DEMOLITION, CONSTRUCTION AND RECYCLING INDUSTRY. WHERE TRADITIONAL AND ANTIQUE MATERIALS ARE THE MOST FREQUENTLY TRADED, WE ENVISION A SALVAGE INDUSTRY THAT HAS A BROADER SCOPE AND ALSO DEALS IN MORE CONTEMPORARY MATERIALS.THE OPALIS UK PROJECT IS AN INITIATIVE OF ROTOR, A NONPROFIT BASED IN BRUSSELS.
“THERE ARE OBJECTS FOR WHICH WE HAVE FOUND USES. WE USE THEM, BUT ALMOST CERTAINLY NOT THE WAY THE VISITORS USE THEM. I AM POSITIVE THAT IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF CASES WE ARE HAMMERING NAILS WITH MICROSCOPES.” BORIS AND ARKADY STRUGATSKY, ROADSIDE PICNIC, 1972
REUSE VS. RECYCLING The energy needed for recycling is much greater than the energy needed for simply retrieving and displacing the material locally, keeping it in its original form. Moreover, recycling processes usually greatly reduce the technical qualities of the materials involved
which has lead critics to refer to the practice as ‘downcycling’. Recycling creates very little added value. It typically is little more than a waste management strategy, creating very low grade materials. In the building trade, reuse practices have always been very
common. The ancient Greeks, for instance, would reuse fragments of old ruins as a resource in order to build castles or forts. In 17th century England, it was very common to reuse construction materials such as bricks, as it made sound economic sense. In the period after WWII, in
Europe, the practice was gradually marginalized. From the 1980 onwards, confronted with ever increasing quantities of building wastes and with filled up landfills, governments turned to recycling schemes as a way to divert part of the wastestreams. Reuse is
less promising as a waste diversion technique than ecycling, because it requires a certain quality in materials for it to be economically and practically viable. However, when it is feasible, the advantages over conventional recycling are tremendous. Reuse creates local jobs and significant added value.
SELECTIVE PAGES OF RECLAIMED MATERIAL CATALOGUE
1:10 Exhibition Model
YEAR: 2014 - NOW
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PRODUCTION DESIGNER FOR ART FILM
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TYPE: FILM POSTER
PRODUCTION DESIGNER FOR ART FILMS SELECTIVE WORKS “I PREFER THE FILMS THAT PUT THEIR AUDIENCE TO SLEEP IN THE THEATER. SOME FILMS HAVE MADE ME DOZE OFF IN THE THEATER, BUT THE SAME FILMS HAVE MADE ME STAY UP AT NIGHT, WAKE UP THINKING ABOUT THEM IN THE MORNING, AND KEEP ON THINKING ABOUT THEM FOR WEEKS.” — ABBAS KIAROSTAMI AS A PARTTIME PRODUCTION DESIGNER, I WORKED ON MORE THAN 5 MOVIES. FOLLOWED ARE SOME SELECTIVE WORKS. • “EXTREMELY HATEFUL ONE” WAS SCREENED AT 69TH FESTIVAL DE CANNES • “ZHOUZHUANG” HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED IN USA. • “INTIMACY” IS IN PROGESS OF DESTRIBUTION IN USA.
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