Chinese Contemporary Architecture Research

WORLD ARCHITECTURE + MODERN TRADITION Professor Kenneth Frampton

CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE 1980-2011 Zhang Xiaochun & Luo Ren

INDEX Chapter 1. Preface

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Chapter 2. Pre-history

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Chapter 3. Catagory Topography Narration Material/ Technology Expression Density/ Complex Ideology

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P24 - 40 P41 - 47 P48 - 54

Chapter 4. Bibliography

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Cover: Luyeyuan Sculpture Museum, designed by Liu Jiakun

Chapter 1: Preface China has been the wonder of the last three decades: not only regarding to the booming economy and grow-

ing global influence, but also in terms of landscape transformation and flying rocket urbanization. In 1990s, the average annual constructed total floors area in mainland China was 16.3 percent. Since the year 2000, around US$375 billion have been spent on construction annually. In the year of 2004 alone, China consumed 54.7 percent of world’s concrete production, 36.1 percent of steel and 30.4 percent of coal.[1] Under such circumstance, architects around the globe have been attracted into China for practice opportunities. Some of the most astonishing design projects for the last decade were built in China, and became controversial topics in as well as outside this country. China seems surely is one of the world’s contemporary architectural centers.

Despite the fact that the booming has already lasted for thirty years, however, Chinese architects, on the other hand, just start to gain global attention in the very last few years. Since early 20th century, Chinese architects have been searching for ‘proper’ language to link modern architecture to Chinese tradition. The very first generation Chinese architects, who mostly accepted their education abroad, struggled to combine Chinese visual elements with western techniques. Since that, this almost Eclecticism approach effected Chinese architectural practice for more than half century. After the founding of Communist nation since 1949, Chinese architects stopped to adopt Western architectural ideas, turning to learn from Soviet Russian style. However, thirty years after the reopening of China, architects there have already became active part of the world’s architecture conversations, pushing Chinese contemporary architectural design to a whole new level.

This essay will reveal the vista of Chinese contemporary architecture from 1980 to 2010s, exposing them under globalized context. The reason to start the essay from 1980s is that, China started its economic reform in the year of 1979. The reform has radically transformed Chinese natural as well as cultural landscape, both of which are major elements which influent contemporary architectural designs. Mean while, the essay will not constrain itself within such chronological boundary-- the research for it stretched into late 19th century, when China’s modernization began. It is vital to discuss Chinese contemporary architectural achievements in the light of its modern history, and eventually link it back to the very core of Chinese tradition.

Pic 1. Climate conditions in China Pic 2. Two images show Shanghai in 1990 and 2009

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[1]Page viii, Modernism in China: Architectural Visions and Revolutions Edward Denison, Guang Yu Ren Sons Ltd., United Kingdoms 02

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2008, John Wiley &

Chapter 2: Pre-history In the year of 1840, a fleet of the British Empire attacked the port city of Guangzhou, in southern China. Within

two months, this military act quickly turned into a war with the fact that British had already control most coastal cities of eastern China. By then, China had been ruled by Qing Empire for two centuries as a closed and selfefficient country. By using its unequivalent military power, the British Empire forced Chinese to open at least five coastal cities and permit British merchants to trade in these areas. In the rest days of Qing Empire until its fall in 1912, China became a giant piece of cake, laid to be torn into parts. The Opium War which is mentioned abovealso been called as Anglo-Chinese War[2]- became the start point of Chinese Modern history. As China started to become a link of the world chain, Chinese architecture was facing new challenge ever since.

Unlike ancient Greek, who started with wooden structures yet ended with stone ones, ancient Chinese had focused on the development of wooden architecture since the beginning. Wooden building techniques had been used to build not only ordinary houses, but also large indoor space like the hall in the Hall of Supreme Harmony[3], and high rise structures like Yingxian Wooden Pagoda[4]. One character of Chinese ancient wooden architecture is that: the structures also play a part as visual elements. One most significant symbol of ancient Chinese architecture is the extended roof. The roof, as a functional structure, is supposed to provide shelter and create indoor space. Yet most roofs in Chinese tradition buildings own certain desire to expand their territories way beyond its wall systems. This makes roof become an unmistakable visual identity of Chinese architecture.

That is the reason why early modern architects of 20th century, who were practicing in China, had been making constant efforts to adapt these huge roofs onto modern structured buildings. Henry K Murphy, who was the chief architect of New York based company Murphy & Dana Architects, applied this method on his design for Jingling Women’s College, 1923[5]. The building owned a pure Western plan and even Western elevation proportion, yet it is covered by a typical Chinese roof. Henry K Murphy also added fake wooden columns and beans to hint that this building is actually wooden, despite the fact that its structure is composed by bricks. Henry called this kind of building as ‘Adaptive Architecture’, giving away the truth that those Chinese elements were merely

[2]The first Opium War broke out in 1839, which mainly caused by China-British trade friction by then. Qing Empire, Chinese government then, refused British’s ask for open market, and was irritated by British’s introduction for opium trading. Mean while, in order to erase its huge trading imbalance, British government need to force Chinese open more cities and markets. The war ended up with series treaties between two countries, and Chinese had to allow foreigners build concessions inside Chinese cities.

[3]The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the largest and most important building in Forbidden City, Beijing. It was first built in Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), and rebuilt in Qing Dynasty( 1644-1912). It was used for royal ceremonies like emperor’s crowning and wedding.

[4]Yingxian Wooden Pagoda in Shanxi Province, also being called Pagoda of Fogong Temple, was built in Liao Dynasty( 916-1125). It has been one of the tallest wooden structures in China since its built.

[5]Henry Kilam Murphy (1877-1954)was from New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Yale from 1895 to 1899. Later he became partner with Richard Henry Dana. He used the term “adaptive Chinese Renaissance” to describe his works. This concept was stemmed from earlier “Euroasian” styles.

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Pic 3. Hall od Supereme Harmony Qing Dynasty

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Pic 4. Section of Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, Liao Dynasty Pic 5 Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

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Pic 6. Jinglin College, designed by Henry K Murphy, 1923

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Nevertheless, this Eclecticism approach dominated Chinese modern architecture style for more than half century long since then. The Republic of China government( also known as Guomingdang Government[6]), which was founded in 1912, was urging for a new ‘National Style’ in one way to separate its ideology from the fallen Empire, while in another way gift China a clear visual identity in the world. ‘Adaptive Architecture’ hence started to gain great favor from officials, and became popular especially in memorial projects like Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, designed by Lv Yanzhi in 1931[7]. Foreign architects also learned to adopt this style into proposals to indulge their Chinese clients. British founded Palmer & Turner Architects and Surveyors designed a high rise office tower for the Bank of China in Shanghai[8]. In their early design, the building was a 30-floor Art-deco tower with very few Chinese style decorations. Yet it’s final design owned a typical Chinese roof as well as windows with Chinese style carves.

Pic 7. Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing, designed by Lv Yanzhi, 1931 Pic 8. Park Hotel in Shanghai, designed by Hungarian architect L E Hudec, 1934. One example of Western architecture practise at the time.

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Pic 9. Bank of China in Shanghai, designed by Palmer & Turner Architects and Surveyors, 1934

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[6]Republic of China( 1912- ) was the international recognized government Chinese government before the People’s Republic of China.

After the Civil War between 1945-1949, its government retreated to Taiwan and is still there today.

[7]Lv Yanzhi( 1894-1929), born in Shandong Province, studied architecture at Connell University. He then worked for Henry K Murphy at Shanghai [8]Palmer & Turner Group( 1868- ) is a British-founded design group. It’s early works in Far East include Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank(Shanghai 1923), Bank of China(Shanghai 1935) and Sassoon House(Shanghai 1929), etc.

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After the Civil War from 1945-1949, Communist Party finally drove Guomingdang Government into the island of Taiwan, and unified China for the first time since the fall of the Qing Empire. Again, the new nation called for new ‘National style’ as illustrations for Chairman Mao’s utopian vision of New China. Replacing ‘Capitalism Western style’ from United States, Soviet Russian architecture became the best new model due to obvious ideological reason. Joseph Starlin’s Soviet Imperial buildings breed their offsprings in cities like Beijing( Beijing Exhibition Center) and Shanghai( Shanghai Exhibition Center). Even so, the new symbols of this nation had to be discerned from Moscow’s taste. The People’s Conference Hall, for instance, is for somehow a modern yet Eclecticism building. The building, as the political center of this nation, is a gigantic complex which was expected to meet various kinds of programs. The tectonic details of this building are simple enough to avoid any visual hint to those neo-classic or neo-Gothic congress buildings in Europe as well as United States. Adding glazed yellow tiles’ eaves on the elevation, architects hoped to link this building back to its neighborhood- the Forbidden City- and establish visual conversation. Despite these symbolic approaches, the congress hall building is actually considerably modern compared to some earlier national projects in Guomingdang’s era

Pic 10 & 11. People’s Conference Hall, Beijing, built in 1959

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The construction boom in 1950s soon reached to an end. Since 1960s to late 1970s, China fell into ideologic as well as economic chaos. During this period, the ‘big roof style’ was heavily under attack in political campaigns.

Any attempt to combine Chinese visual elements into contemporary architecture then would be criticized as ‘restoration of Imperial style’. The myth of ‘National Style’ started to fall into parts. Mao’s death in 1976 put Cultural Revolution to its end, yet did not bring Henry K Murphy’s Adaptive Architecture back to its glories. Although some architects, like Dai Nianci, who designed Queli Hotel in 1985[9], still try to develop the vocabularies of National Style, yet Chinese architects quickly started to celebrate latest imported Postmodernism. Project like John Portman’s Shanghai Center in 1990 gained major attentions among local architects. Portman introduced not only his tagged designs of luxury indoor atrium spaces, but also showed his postmodern parody for Chinese architecture. In this project, Portman designed a ‘capital’ for each column of lower levels. They will soon evoke the memories of ancient Chinese architectural component called ‘Dou Gong’[10], which pass the weight of roof to the column below. Yet Portman’s Dou Gong does not looks like what National Style did, while sharing more similarities with the capital design in Robert Venturi’s Allen Art Museum. Chinese visual symbols on architecture here transform themselves from sacred cultural identities into commercial entertainments.

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Pic 12 Queli Hotel, Shangdong province, designed Dai Nianci, 1985 Pic 13 Shanghai Center, designed by John Portman, 1990

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[9]Dai Nianci(1920-1991), received his architectural education in China. Former chief architect of China Academy Of Building Research Architectural Design Institute [10]Dou Gong , unique structural elements in traditional Chinese architectures. It ‘was of huge size both before and during the Tang Dynasty, but was progressively reduced inside during each of the dynasties following Tang. It gradually ceased to function as a structural element, and finally became a purely decorative element in Qing Dynasty’ (page 30, ‘Chinese Architecture’, Laurence G. Liu) 07

I M Pei came back to China in 1980 for the first time after his immigration to United States at seventeen years old. The gravity drove his back was not only Nostalgia, but also a chance to ‘pick up that lost thread’ of Chinese architectural tradition and establish a new aesthetic in contemporary era.[11] Pei had been well known for his geometrical spaces and volumes, yet this time he decided to start from real tradition of China: Chinese Gardening Chinese Landscape. As a matter of fact, the architect himself spent his first seventeen years in Suzhou, southern China, where his family lived in a well-designed Chinese garden. Shizilin Garden( ‘Lion’s Forest’) was first built in Ming Dynasty, when garden building at its height. It owns almost all those typical characters of Chinese garden space: water system, twist trees, lake rocks,bridges, pavilions and buildings. Pei wished to recreate those scenes in Fragrant Hill Hotel, which is located in outskirt of Beijing. Despite the relatively large scale, Pei dispersed the volume into different directions. Hotel rooms are organized along those long and zigzagged corridors, negotiating with the changing environments around. This attitude regarding the relationship between building and environment stems from traditional Chinese philosophy ‘Tian Ren He Yi’(Reaching the state of harmony between men and nature) Although Pei still applied his labeled geometric components in his design- circular hole on the wall( like in Eastern Wing of National Gallery), diamond shape windows( also appear in his design for the expansion of Louvre) etc- yet the spaces are the real essences to define the building’s ‘Chinalism’. While speaking of building techniques in this building, however, is not so successful. Not to mention the fact that the complex is totally reinforced concrete structure, the steel-framed glass roof suspended above the courtyard might be the biggest failure. The structure, which is purely industrial style, brutally grows out from Pei’s pure and oriental taste walls, as if it is added up by another architect.

Pic 14 & 15 Fragrant Hill Hotel, designed by I M Pei, 1982

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[11]I M Pei: a profile in American Architecture, Page 185, chapter 9. Carter Wiseman 08

Pic 16 Plan of Fragrant Hill Hotel, designed by I M Pei, 1982

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Pic 17 Court of Fragrant Hill Hotel, designed by I M Pei, 1982

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In 1993, Zhang Yonghe, who received his senior architectural education and practice in United States for years, returned to open his design studio[12]. Since only after 1984, independent architectural studio became legal, Zhang Yonghe is actually one of the first generation independent architects after 1949. This generation, including some other architects who will be mentioned in following essay- like Wang Shu and Liu Jiankun- all received formal Modernism architectural education. Their visions of Chinese contemporary architecture are hence different from those ones before them. In Zhang Yonghe’s design of Split House, he applied local earth in wall making as a strategy to redefine the relationship between the building and local culture. By erecting these mud-walls and exposing them to the users, the architect made a claim indicating that, this building could only be built and used on this very location. Its regional identity does not come from any visual symbols like Adaptive Architectures, or even spatial organizations like in Fragrant Hill Hotel( the building’s interior spaces are quite non-Chinese), but from its building technique, its materials, and its reaction to local geographic conditions. What make ‘Chinese architecture’ as ‘Chinese architecture’ are not those constantly visual repeatings of historic memories, but addressing the contemporary issues in our time. In this last ten years, without being constrained by historic ideologies like their elder generation, Chinese architects have been exploring various fields and directions within or even outside the professional territory. Their practices stepped into a whole new level, redefining Chinese architecture under the context of globalization age.

Pic 18 Split House, designed by Zhang Yonghe, 2001

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[12]Zhang Yonghe( 1956- ), studied architecture in US, is the founder of Beijing based Atelier Feichang Jianzhu. He was the head of MIT architecture school and now jury of Prizker Prize 10

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Pic 19 Interior view of Split House Pic 20 Earth wall of Split House under construction Pic 21. Second floor plan & First floor plan Pic 22 Detail section

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Chapter 3: Categories In this chapter, selected projects will be cataloged and commented. Before start, I will briefly explain the method I applied in this research.

China is a vast land with diverse climate conditions and distinguished landscapes. Heavily influence architecture styles, its complicated geography has been breeding different vernacular architectures since the beginning of the civilization. Even in nowadays, when the massive urbanization has made Chinese cities more homogeneous than ever before, architectural practices still has to reflect their local environmental situations. Besides, dialect cultures inside China are never the same. Despite the effects of topography and climate, ethnic people other than mandarin Chinese also have keep their way of building and aesthetics. Hence it will be difficult to reach a unified summary to describe Chinese contemporary architecture under such complicated context. The method in the research is that: making a selection of dozens projects, then analyzing them in order to spot their similarities and differences; several categories will be made according to these results, and again re-select fewer examples from existed choices to fit into these categories. This method, as one can instantly point out, takes risk to be arbitrary. For one architectural project usually owns more than one arguments in its design. This might jeopardize the legitimacy of category itself. During the research, however,we believe that this method could push ourselves to take a more critic stand viewing these projects. Because each category actually stands for one direction, or even opinion.

Under this roof, we could make a retrospected perspective to compare different projects and reaching valid comments.

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Topography Chinese traditional architectures encourage people living in a harmonies way with the natural environments.

Buildings in those cases usually try to adapt local topography. Instead of being the dominative objects, artificial structures are mean to be a part of the landscape visually as well as physically. Being built in 1982, Xixi Scenery Spot Reception, by architect Ge Ruliang, demonstrates this idea in a straight forward way[13]. The complex, including numbers of independent yet visually connected pavilions and houses, craws on a sloppy site in mountain, almost vanishing into the surround forest. Vast roofs, one clearly hint for local vernaculars, extend along the landscape, creating interchanging in and out experience as well as merging the artificial structure with the landscape at the same time. The architect even preserves some rocks on their original location, which thrust out from tiled ground, establishing intriguing dual between man-made and nature.

Pic 23 Xixi Scenery Spot Reception, designed by Ge Ruliang, 1982 Pic 24 Plan od Xixi Scenery Spot Reception Pic 25 Corridor of Xixi Scenery Spot Reception, rocks on site are preserved, merged with artificial spaces and structures, bluring the boundary between nature and man-made

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[13]Ge Ruliang(1926-1989), received his architectural education in China, under instruction of Liang Sicheng. He was a professor of Tong Ji University in Shanghai, and in charge of dozens major architectural designs at the time.

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Pic 25 & 26 Sections Pic 27 Exterior View

The drawings of Xixi Scenery Spot Reception that are shown here are revised version by Peng Nu, Wang Weiwei,Yao Yanbin 14

Later in Wang Lu’s design for Tiantai Museum in 2003, height changes in landscape once again becomes the opportunity to insert architecture into its topographic environment[14]. While Ge Ruliang was using large roof to covert landscape into architectural spaces, Wang Lu did it in the opposite way. The site is a slope land with a river at the lower side and road at opposite. Hence one has to approach the museum from the higher part, and goes downward. Wang Lu submerged the building into landscape, leaving the roof top at the same level of the road.

The entire complex is divided into three parts by different height: the big exhibition halls near the road, the small exhibition halls in the middle, and the riverside landscape at the lowest part. Courtyards and alleys are insert among these three parts, providing natural light for indoor spaces. The building’s materials, especially those rubbles which are used for wall masonry, comes from local. This makes the building like a structure growing up out from earth, deeply connected to local context. However, some tectonic expressions inside this building are quite confusing. The upper parts of the big exhibition halls are designed for light accessing. They are smaller rectangle boxes on the top of the exhibition rooms. Yet violate logical hierarchy, these boxes are all with rubble stone facade, while their ‘bases’ are bricks.

Pic 28 Plan of Tiantai Museum Pic 29 Courtyard of Tiantai Museum Pic 30 Tiantai Museum, Zhejiang province designed by Wang Lu, 2003

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[14]Wang Lu(1963- ), chief editor of World Architecture magazine, Beijing. He is now teaching at Tsing Hua University.

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Scenic Architecture’s design for Dashawan Beach Facilities push this method to a new frontier[15]. The complex, facing towards the beach yet back on a hill, is a stack of long deformed concrete boxes with different programs inside. The interior walking paths, connecting all boxes together, also play roles as passages linking the beach and the parking lot above the hill. The building itself does not quite ‘disappear’ like the former two projects. But these boxes on various heights provide open platforms, all of which enjoying spectacular views, catalyzing public behaviors of the beach. The building hence becomes landscape which human activities interact with, transforming the beach into a stage for public events. The building’s relationship with the landscape here is not merely physical or visual. It might lack of the poetic sense like Xixi Scenery Spot Reception or Tiantai Museum, but it owns a dynamic atmosphere which the former two do not have.

Pic 31 Dashawan Beach Facilities, Lianyungang city in Jiangsu Province, designed by Scenic Architecture, 2009 Pic 32 View on the rooftop Pic 33 Plan of Dashawan Beach Facilities

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[15]Scenic Architecture was founded in Shanghai since 2004. Its chief architect is Zhu Xiaofeng, who is with MArch degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design 16

Pic 34 Sketch

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While another approach dealing with topography is somehow more visionary than the projects above. Shizilin Club is located at one of Beijing’s rural resort area. The site, which was already covered by a persimmon woods, is a valley surrounded by mountains. Zhang Yonghe, the architect, decided to ‘hide’ this resort complex into this exist woods. Diagonal walls divide the spaces beneath unified roofs, forming some rooms facing outward. Viewer’s perspective will be guild by these structures away from the indoor spaces and into the woods outside. Large openings reinforce this visual experience and bring the landscape inside. Several courtyards are inserted into, with persimmon trees in, becoming enclaves of surrounding landscape. The building, therefore, is as if numbers of independent pavilions, unified by larger roofs.

Pic 35 Plan of Shizilin Club Pic 36 Interior view Pic 37 Shizilin Club, Beijing, designed by Zhang Yonghe, 2004

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Pic 38 Elevations Pic 39 Entrance Pic 40

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Narration Chinese Gardening- or Chinese Landscape- is genetically different from European or even Japanese traditional landscapes. Unlike the later two, which provide visual spectacular by arranging plants and other elements in certain sequence, Chinese Landscape require viewers take a part into the experience. Views have to constantly change their positions so that they can have different views through those twisted trees or giant lake rocks. This idea matches, for some instance, Chinese drawings’ at the same time. Chinese drawings were often painted in long scroll rather than regular sized canvas like oil paintings. Instead of being hung on the wall, drawings are supposed to be unrolled part by part on a long table for viewing. Chinese traditional intellectuals believed that drawings had to express certain narrations inside. They did not care that much as their western counterparts about how real the drawing achieve: present author’s minds, instead of representing natural world, is the main point of both Chinese drawings and landscape design.

Pic 41 Zhuozhengyuan Garden, Suzhou Pic 42 The gate of Canglangting Garden, Suzhen Pic 43 A lake rock in traditional Chinese garden

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Wang Shu, who was born in northwest China, spend most of his life time in southern China[16]. His love for southern Chinese landscapes as well as traditional culture gift him a powerful insight for Chinese historic context. In his design for Wenzheng Library in Suzhou University, he tried to insert Chinese Garden’s spatial experiences into purely modern forms. But unlike I M Pei, who was charmed by the somehow rigid spatial hierarchy in tradition Chinese buildings, Wang Shu is more interested by the maze-like experiences in Chinese Gardens.

In his design for the library, several ‘cubic objects’ are inserted into the building’s main volume, blocking spatial movement and visual fluency- just like what lake rocks do in local garden designs. Those ‘rocks’ shatter the united indoor space of the library’s reading room, creating mysterious ambiguity. Sitting on one end of the bridge which passes through the library’s main volume, one ‘rock’ becomes a smaller pavilion on the water in front of the building. It quickly extends reading room’s space onto water, by establishing visual connection between the main block and the lake. This ‘see and been seen’ relationship is one core visual structure in Chinese Garden. Wang Shu applied this essence on his design without using any symbols like Pei’s Fragrant Hill Hotel.

Identity here is vague: a pure modernism geometrical architecture with a hidden Chinese story beneath. Later in his design for Ningbo Museum of Art, some phrases appeared again. The building’s morphology, again, is hight geometrical and modern. ‘Rocks’ alone with their visual relations in Wenzheng Library are kept into this new project in different ways. Regarding to the elevations, most significant difference Wang made is that, instead of having glass curtains in Wenzheng Library, he installed wooden panels on long side facades. These panels play as both enclosure walls and openings, depending on their statutes. This idea perhaps has something to do with local commercial vernacular buildings, which were using similar technique to maximize openings towards streets.

Pic 44 & 45 Wenzheng Library, Suzhou, designed by Wangshu & Lu Wenyu, 2000

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[16]Wang Shu(1963- ) is head of architectural school in China Academy of Arts, teaching at Harvard University Graduate School of Design 21

Pic 46 Ground floor plan & West elevation and section Pic 47 & 48 Entrance of Wenzheng Library

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In 2008, Wang Shu designed Ningbo Museum, which eventually push his methods and verbs into a new level. In his design for Wenzheng Library and Ningbo Museum of Art, the architect has always designed volumes in abstract geometrical forms, hovering above heavy bases. Yet Ningbo Museum, sitting on the ground as one gigantic rock, owns a relatively organic form. The openings on this ‘rock’ carves this rock, linking its inside to its urban environment. Wang Shu also uses passages to break building’s rigid volume, like same he did in the library and art museum. The most unmissable visual element of this building, however, is its mysterious facade materials.

Those bricks and tiles were all collected from dismantled buildings in local towns, most of which are still in high speed urbanization. Those wasted materials makes the museum much more than a jewry box which keeps city’s past away from hazard environment, but a monument, composed by the city’s dead body.

Pic 49 Exterior wall of Ningbo Museum Pic 50 Plan of Ningbo Museum Pic 51 Ningbo Museum, Ningbo in Zhejiang province, designed by Wangshu & Lu Wenyu, 2008

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Pic 52 Master Plan

Pic 53 Sections

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Almost at the same time, one other architect, Liu Jiakun, did a similar yet different experiment regarding to materials[17]. In May 12th of 2008, distractive earthquake hit southwest China, causing huge casualties and loss.

After the disaster, cities which were leveled in ruins were waiting for rebuilt. However, cleaning the ruins and reconstruction do not only take huge man-powers, but also long time and oversized budget. Liu wished that local people could manufacture cheap recycled building materials out of the waste beneath their feet. He proposed the ‘Rebirth Bricks’ which are the compound products of recycled building materials in ruins. The brick, however unlike ones in Wang Shu’s Ningbo Museum, can actually be used as structure units. The building built by it hence reaches its economic benefit while becoming living monument for the departed city.

Pic 55 Rebirth Brick Pic 56 Liu Jiakun( left) was inspecting the ruin caused by earthquake Pic 57 Local buildings made by Rebirth Bricks

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[17]Liu Jiakun( 1956- ), head of Chengdu based Jiakun Architectects, received his architectural education in Chongqing, China.

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This architectural yet poetic approach might have something to do with Liu’s early life experiences. After graduating from university in 1982, Liu Jiakun started to focus on literature producing instead of architectural design.

He was already a quite successful novelist by the time 1994 when he decided to come back for architecture. In 1997, he designed a villa for acclaimed Chinese oil painter He Duoling as art studio[18]. With almost square profile, the building’s plan is organized with one courtyard in center. An extra piece of wall wraps all rooms within, making the building almost as a closed bunker.[19] And then, a walking bridge is lifted up from the landscape and flying into this abstract volume. It crosses over some interior spaces and stops at the other end of the courtyard. This most theatrical gesture totally break all the spatial narrations by those square rooms, as a re-editing of a finished movie. Liu admitted in an interview that this has something to do with his literature concept, which usually reverses the story at the very end.[20] This can, in the architect’s mind, give a whole new view of one ordinary space, with a retrospective attitude.

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59 Pic 58 Courtyard view Pic 59 Plan of He Duoling Studio Pic 60 He Duoling Studio, Chengdu, designed by Liu Jiakun, 1997

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[18]He Duoling(1948- ), acclaimed oil painter in China.

[19]NewChina Architecture, Xing Ruan, page 227 [20]’People’ column, CCTV channel 10, 2003 26

In Liu’s later project , a sculpture museum located at Chengdu’s rural area, this spiritual approach climbs to a peak. Luyeyuan Sculpture Museum is a private exhibition building for an ancient Chinese Buddhism sculpture collector. The site is in a wood by river, away from main road. One has to walk through a bamboo forest on a winding path, in order to reach the museum’s front door. However, the building, with no windows on its front facade, looks like a roughly carved rock, sitting by a pool. Again, just like in He Duoling studio, a bridge rises up, linking the little front door-which is the only opening on front facade-and the path. Without realizing it, visitors will be guided into the second floor and go down to the first floor later in their tours. Several ‘cuts’ go through the building, creating path for natural light into the show room, making the building’s running budget relatively low. Here in this project, Liu Jiakun reveals his concern on the use of local material and building technique. The raw concrete he applies as elevation texture, are all manufactured and assembled by local workers, who barely had any construction experiences. This concern later became the very basic motive for Rebirth Brick project.

Pic 61 Luyeyuan Sculpyure Museum, Chengdu, designed by Liu Jiakun, 2001

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Pic 62 Pic 63 Pic 64 Pic 65

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Sections of Luyeyuan Sculpture Museum Ground floor plan of Luyeyuan Sculpture Museum Interior view The entrance of Luyeyuan Sculpture Museum

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Material/ Technology Expression Feng Jizhong accepted his architectural education at Vienna since 1936 to 1946[21]. This abroad experience

deeply influenced him in his later career. His design in 1981, Fang Ta Yuan( Square Pagoda Park), despite its traditional Chinese name and theme, is one with some striking non-Chinese characters. Being located at outskirt of Shanghai, the park was built on ruins of one once existed Budda temple. Feng’s task was designing a public park, which should put a rebuilt ancient pagoda in its center. In terms of visual languages, Feng’s designs are Chinese with no doubt: his references directly came from vernacular architecture around Shanghai. Yet his attitudes to details and tectonic expressions reveal the fact that this park is built in a Non-Chinese way. Helou Pavilion is a resort facility with a big thatched roof and bamboo structures. With a careless glance, it might be cataloged as an imitation of traditional Chinese architecture, as Henry K Murphy did. However, the lightness and tenacity of bamboo become the real reason for the pavilion’s form. Bamboo sticks are bound at joint points with ropes. Due to the earth gravity and weight of the roof, they are bent to form a organic space which materials like wood could not achieve. Besides, unlike traditional Chinese buildings’ structure which usually construct slope roof with a stepping back bean-pillars system, the pavilion has a truss structure. This apparently Non-Chinese methodmore like European to some extent- discerns Helou Pavilion from local traditional examples. The design of Fang Ta Yuan, in general, is product of Feng’s focus on materials and building techniques. It opened a door for a new possibility: express vernacular without imitating ‘vernacular’.

Pic 66, 67 and 68 Details of the landscape design in Fang Ta Yuan, Shanghai, designed by Feng Jizhong, 1981.

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[21]Feng Jizhong(1915- 2009), studied in Vienna, Austria. He was one founder for College of Architecture and Urban Planning Tong Ji University.

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Pic 69 He Lou Pavilion in Fang Ta Yuan, Shanghai, designed

by Feng Jizhong, 1981.

Pic 70 Plan of Fang Ta Yuan,

Pic 71 Interior view of He Lou Pavilion in Fang Ta Yuan, Shanghai, designed by Feng Jizhong, 1981.

Pic 72 Plan of He Lou Pavilion in Fang Ta Yuan, Shanghai, designed by Feng Jizhong, 1981.

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Nineteen years later, Ma Qingyun completed his project ‘Father’s House’ in his hometown Lantian county- a remote small town in northwest China[22]. The house, which was mean to dedicated to the architect’s father, is located in the middle of one arable land. Since struggling to reduce the use of concrete in this project, the architect only made supporting structures out of concrete. The exterior walls, are masoned with local pebbles, while interior walls on the other hand are bamboo mats. The sense of discerning supporting structure from enclosure fabrication here is clear here. One interesting reference for this project is Swiss Herzog de Meuron’s Stone house in 1988. The building as well owns clear hierarchy in material expression: looked from exterior, the concrete ‘frame’ goes through the building, and stone masoned fabrication filled in as walls. Just like in Ma’s Father’s House, stone house’s concrete beams stretch out to form a outdoor structure, giving very strong impression that this building’s supporting system is frame. However, the corner detail smoke this interpretation. For there is no column appear at where it should be. This confusion comes from the reason that the building is no frame system, instead, supporting structures are two crossing walls. In Father’s house, the structure expression is much ‘simpler’. For the visible concrete components directly represent the real structures in place.

Pic 73 Father’s House, Shan’xi province, designed by Ma Qingyun, 2000 Pic 74 Section of the Father’s House 73

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[22]Ma Qingyun(1965- ), chief architect of Shanghai based MADA s.p.a.m.. He is now the dean of School of Architecture in University of Southern California.

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Pic 75 Elevation & Sections of the Stone House Pic 76 & 77 Stone House, designed by Herzog & De Meruon Pic 78 Courtyard of the Father’s House

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Although seems like a private housing community, The Commune by The Great Wall is actually a real-estate development project. Twelve asian young architects were invited to design one villa for each. Later, several of these designs would be taken to copy into dozens more, as hotel rooms for new Kempinski Hotel. Architects, including Zhang Yonghe who is mentioned above, were allowed to deliver some most radical housing design due to the fact that they did not need to worry too much about the programs. Kengo Kunma’s design, ‘the bamboo wall’ as it been called, became this Japanese architects’ touch stone in China. He then was able to get more projects in China thanks to it. The house, despite the fact that it is a concrete building, is covered with bamboo poles. They are weaved into walls or cantilevers above. This penetrable enclosure system allows wind as well as natural light flow into the building, breaking the boundary of in and out. The architect wish this can as well constantly providing vista of the site’s spectacular landscape- The Great Wall. The building ends up to become a mysterious objects on site: it appearance changes from hour to hour as sun light moves However, beautiful as it is, bamboo wall’s tectonic expression is not so pure. It seems that its bamboo skin tries hard to cover the truth that it is concrete or steel behind it. Bamboos here, just opposite to what they are in Helou Pavilion above, are merely decorations and a way to fulfill designer’s imagination.

Pic 79 Section of the Bamboo Wall Pic 80 & 81 Bamboo Wall, Beijing, designed by Kengo Kuma, 2001

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Pic 82 Pic 83 Plan

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Some other architects, on the other hand, are not satisfied with the trend that using materials and building techniques only as expressive tool. They realize the potential to develop them into project strategies. For using local materials can reduce building budget due to the fact that transportation fee is low. Even more, applying local construction methods on contemporary designs will make construction more efficient with considerably better quality. For in some remote areas of China, local workers are barely trained for sophisticated project, while inviting professional ones are unaffordable. Localize construction methods and materials could solve this problem, generating original design at the same time.

Hongkong architects Wu Enrong and Mu Jun was commissioned to do a project for local elementary school in Gansu province. Gansu province is located northwest China, bothered by its harsh weather and poor land resources. The site is in mountains, almost being isolated from major cities around. The challenges architects were facing are following: without heating system, which is truly luxury here, provide a comfortable places for students in Gnasu’s terrible winter; with its low budget, which is mainly donated by charities, finish the project with delicate quality. The method is as mentioned before: localization. Local earth are made into walls, while wood are used for frame manufacture. Earth walls have been used as vernacular in northwest China for centuries. They do not only keep wind away, but also provide warm interior spaces thanks to their insulating character. Because annual water fall in Gansu is low, earth wall could be more endurable here compared to ones at other places. Local patients were encouraged to take parts in construction. Using their craftsmanship for local vernacular wood and earth buildings, the project could be carried out nice and efficient. Architect, on the other hand, focused to improve this vernacular, by adding steal reinforced components- such as cables, etc. Openings are designed in delicate sizes so that they will allow warm sun light in yet prevent warm air escape. The result, though might not be so visionary, is economical and original.

Pic 84 Maosi Elementary School, Gansu province, designed by Wu Enrong & Mu Jun, 2007 Pic 85 Section Pic 86 Plan

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Pic 87 Master plan Pic 88 Exterior and Interior view of Maosi Elementary School Pic 89 The school under construction

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Standard Architecture’s Visitor Center at Niyang river in Tibet is applied with similar method yet in a more visionary way[25]. The program asked architect to design an entrance facility for a tourist attraction- Niyang river and the Brahmaptra Canyon. Beijing based Standard Architecture proposes a one floor building with a open courtyard inside. It’s form interacts with surrounding landscape, with openings providing views of the river.

600mm thick rubble load-bearing walls are supporting the building even during frequent earthquakes in this area. The masonry of these walls is based on local Qiang people’s traditional method. It does not only give the building stability and sustainment, but a strong identity. For Qiang people’s culture, though related to which, is not the same as Mandarin Chinese[26]. As architect from outside culture, Standard Architecture is aware of the sensitiveness in this project. They applied local construction methods on the building, yet still keep the building abstract and modern, instead of falling into the dilemma to be Eclectic. Some other recent projects of Chinese architects are also under similar ideas’ influence: Visitor Center at Namchabawa by Standard Architecture, 2008; Museum of Handcraft Paper by Hua Li, 2011, etc. This approach allows architects to relink their designs back to local geographic and cultural context, while keep them fulfilling contemporary aesthetics and programs.

Pic 90 Visitor Center at Niyang river, Tibet, designed by Standard Architecture, 2009 Pic 91 Courtyard of the visitor center Pic 92 Traditional building of Qiang people in Tibet

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[23]Standard Architecture was founded in 1999 by Zhang Ke in New York. It was later moved to Beijing and started its practice in China.

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As China continues to open itself, more first-hand building technologies are poured into its architectural industry. Digitalized design methods( Computer-Aid Design) are becoming increasingly popular among major design companies and universities. The concept regarding ‘material’ is also influenced. In some digital designs, materials are considered as a unit in bigger man-made fabrications. The visual quality of the fabrication does not rely on the natural texture of the material, but artificial calculations. The Spanish Pavilion and British Pavilion in 2010 Shanghai World Expo are two examples of this method. The former one, designed by Benedetta Tagliabue, is a huge twisted organic volume with rattan weaved facade. These rattan panels were all produced in China, by local handcrafts men. They were then hung on a hugh steel frame as envelop. This rattan skin, like in Kengo Kuma’s Bamboo Wall, introduces sunlight and breeze into the pavilion. However, Tagliabue’s strategy is more awkward than Kuma’s. For in Bamboo Wall, although tectonically ingenuine, Kuma has managed to reduce the concrete supporting system to its limit. By having cantilever bamboo roofs with thin steel beams, he successfully hid the truth away. The Spanish Pavilion, however, does not able to deceive viewers by the same trick, for its massive and over complicated metal structure is too big to be a side dish. As people approaches, the building will becomes more and more monumental and heavy, severely jeopardize the lightness of the skin. When light comes into the building, it also reveals the existence of those giants behind the elegant skin.

Pic 93 Spanish Pavilion in Shanghai EXPO 2010, designed by Benedetta Tagliabue, 2010 Pic 94 The steel skeletons beneathe the pavilion’s skin

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British Pavilion, on the other hand, is even more duplicitous. The building, as the designer claims, looks like a dandelion flower. Each ‘hair’ on it is a transparent acrylic pole with seed samples inside- this is the origin for the building’s nickel-name, ‘The temple of seeds’. Dim light came into the interior through it, creating religious atmosphere. However fancy it seems, the building is more like an installation for concept expression. For those ‘hairs’ have nothing to do with the structure, they were attached on a metal box on four supporting legs, which is the true ‘building’. The British Pavilion hence is actually a building in a ‘building’. It pretends itself as a latest product of our time, yet is most awkward beneath its shiny coat. This kind of ‘building’, met contemporary China’s desire for spectacular and wonder. It was an event.

Pic 95 The interior view of the British Pavilion Pic 96 British Pavilion in Shanghai EXPO 2010, designed by Heatherwick Stucio, 2010 Pic 97 Section

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Chinese architects also stepped in digital design field. Yuan Feng, who is now teaching at Tongji University, has been promoting computer aid design for years[27]. His project ‘Silk Wall’ could be taken as one example of his method. In this seems ordinary ‘factory space to loft’ project, Yuan designed the exterior wall as most visionary element. He chose one concrete block as basic unit, for it allows view and air pass through. All blocks are organized by computer program, forming certain texture and pattern in vertical orientation. Unlike Spanish pavilion and British Pavilion above, the facade is self sustained. The calculation does not only compose units into bigger shape, but also provide structure solution, achieving tectonic genuine. Controversial as it be, computer aid design is now seeking ways to real world. The power of digital visualized tools is now not merely limited within the region of form making. The sense of material and structure expression now invade into the method, provoking the question regarding to the role of computer in architectural design process.

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Pic 98 Silk Wall, designed by Yuan Fei, 2010 Pic 99 Diagram showing the method of design in Silk Way

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[25]Yuan Feng(1971- ) is now teaching at Tong Ji University. He is focusing on digitalizing design and promoting parametric architectural methods.

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Density/ Complex Urbanization has been changing China at a unprecedented high speed during last thirty years. Up to the end

of 2008, 607 million people-almost half of Chinese total population- are living in urban areas, while in 1980s, 80 percent Chinese were still living and dying in rural area.[26] Cities like Shanghai has already habitat 19.2132 million citizens till the end of 2009, being one of the biggest metropolises around the globe.[27] This booming naturally provides numerals opportunities for contemporary architectural practices. Yet architects are also facing difficult challenges, for China’s fast urbanization also brings complicated spatial problems forward. The high density urban fabrication along with sophisticated program requirements call for designers’ extra attention and wisdoms.

Since 1990, John Porterman delivered his design for Shanghai Center, urban complex had made huge success among Chinese cities. Due to nation-owned land policy, which only allow developers to ‘rent’ the land from government, real estate developers need massive capital in a project so that they can deal problems like high land fees and demolition compensation. Fierce competition in real-estate industry creates some mega development companies( SOHO China, Vanke, etc.), which could use their projects- mostly are huge and expensive- to influence urban landscapes. One reason that projects like Portman’s Shanghai Center were favorable in 90s is: this kind of design, which propose one unified structure to content all programs within, while covering the whole site, could provide largest floor area ratio, which in another word- maximum profit. The new techniques like centralized air-condition system indulge this trend, especially in cities with humid climate like Shanghai. These mega structures, however, are generating new problems for Chinese cities. Their massive volumes crush urban spaces into side walks, keeping direct sun light and rest air away from urban events. People who are living inside theses communities are losing their sensation about neighborhood, becoming cold and indifferent. Intellectuals are calling for a cease of this exacerbating urban condition for years.

Pic 100 Shanghai Center, designed by John Portman, 1990

Pic 101 Section

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[26]According to data from DRCNET( Development Research Center of the StateCouncil of P.R.China official net) [27]According to Shanghai government’s data in 2009 41

Due to the booming real-estate economy, Chinese architect sometimes has to answer very piratical questions from their clients. Hebei Education Publication needed a new building housing its offices. Despite the fact that the company’s daily activities only requires three floors’ spaces, the clint still decide to build a high rise building in order to have hotel, restaurant and extra office spaces. This decision based on calculation that by having such facility, they would earn bigger profit by renting these extra rooms out. Zhang Yonghe, and his team Atelier FCJZ, proposed a design, however, not really that conventional. Instead of erecting one ordinary shiny glass office tower, the architects designed two 8 floors’ brick tiles facade towers side by side housing those extra facilities in requirements. Then they put a three floors long box above the two buildings’ rooftop, as the offices for the publication itself. The exterior look of this box is considerably lighter than the towers blow due to its larger openings and delicate wood skin. The contrasts between light box and heavy towers, between translucent skin and solid brick facade, draw a clear line to discern ‘necessity’ and ‘accessory’- as publication offices and rental spaces. For the later part, Zhang delivered rather conventional proposal. Yet in his design for the ‘box’, he practice his idea of ‘Micro-urbanism’. Enlarging the advantages to be in a long box, Zhang did not design the spaces into dozens homogenous rooms of programs. The way he interpreted this box is more like a community for the company. Spaces with different heights and sizes house various behaviors other than business within, for example, large skylight illuminated reading rooms. Walking inside, one will almost confuse these rooms to be on the ground instead of realizing they are ‘floating’ above other two buildings’ roof. This concept helps offices escape from the possible boring artificial illuminating atmosphere, making such to be rigid business spaces relaxing and dynamic for social events.

Pic 102 Hebei Education Publication House, Shijiazhuang of Hebei province, designed by Zhang Yonghe, 2004 Pic 103 Section

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Corridor on the upper floor Seventh floor plan Twelve floor plan Topfloor reading room

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In 2005, Jianwai SOHO opened to citizens in Beijing. The developer, Pan Shiyi, head of SOHO China, wished this new ambitious urban development could be a answer to the previous problem. The architect, Riken Yamamoto, proposed nine 30 floors high-rise buildings in his design. Each building is relatively smaller than ordinary office towers in terms of floor areas. This would allow him to disperse these towers around the community, having open spaces spare among them. Instead of being simply covered by green plants or pools like usual modern communities in China, these spaces, which are defined as extension of outside urban fabrication, are designed as streets. Then the architect carved ground, creating openings for basement while allowing community behaviors taking places at different height. Hence the experiences inside the community are three-dimensional and diverse. The community itself, to some extent, as it is embracing the city, rescued this block back to Beijing from being another negative indoor Walmart space. Steven Holl, almost at the same time, was completing his version of open community in the same city. Similar to Yamamoto, Holl proposed eight slender towers surrounding a cinema in the middle of Linked Hybrid’s community. Then he inserted a transportation circulation into the complex, linking all the buildings together at different height. This path, as architect’s define, should lead public passing through those towers and attending distinguishing events inside contemporary vertical urban space. This transparent organic volume, as it is in visual term, tangles with buildings and landscapes, breaking the darkness and mysterious of closed community.

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Pic 108 Jianwai SOHO, Beijing, designed

by Riken Yamamoto, 2005

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Pic 109 Linked Hybrid, Beijing, designed

by Steven Holl, Built in 2009

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Bird view of Jianwai SOHO’s community Plan Section of Linked Hybrid View inside Linked Hybrid. The two silver ‘bowl’ in the middle of the picture are cinema Conceptual diagram of Linked Hybrid

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Without the possibility to afford large building budget like Jianwai SOHO and Linked Hybrid did, Shenzhen based Urbanus Architecture had to find a relatively cheap way to meet the high ratio requirements while provoke community interactions[28]. They use traditional Hakka building as a reference for their low income housing project in Guangdong Province. Hakka building arranged living rooms in a circular way, facing inward to public space in the center. Urbanus adapt this idea in their Tulou Project, using semi-open corridors to connect all front doors. In the center of this ring is a square plan lower building, as youth hostel in the proposal. Urbanus believe that by exposing public events under the noses of every habitants, the community could be safer and more vigorous. They also open one cover of the volume, as well as lower level, hoping that interactions would take place between community behaviors and street events. However, the project is more successful as a research instead of built project. The core defect here is the fact that Hakka building only works when it is occupied by one big traditional Hakka family. Hakka people, who immigrate to southeast China centuries ago, built these fortress like building to house their clans. The round plan, however fascinating it might seems, was designed for defending people inside from attack of local bandits, while creating a open yet inward view[29]. When architects adapt this form on contemporary apartment program, which houses habitants from totally different backgrounds, the inward space on one hand becomes violation to privacy, the round exterior facade on the other hand refuses urban fabrication penetrating into the community. This becomes a dialect for experiments which are conducted in order to learn from traditional wisdom. Chinese society’s radical transformations, which are on their way, are deeply changing the cultural and moral of this civilization. They are addressing more crucial questions to architects: how to preserve and learn from the past, while truly facing the era we are living in.

Pic 115 Bird view of Tulou House, Nanhai in Guangdong province, designed by Urbanus, 2010

[28]Urbanus Architecture & Design Inc. was founded in 1999, under leadership of Liu Xiaodu, Meng Yan and Wang Hui. This Shenzhen based architectural company has been so far involved in more than 200 projects, including architecture and landscape.

[29]Tulou (‘earthen building’) is a traditional communal residence in southeastern China. They were mostly built as a complex for Hakka clans. The building could be circle or square plan, with residential spaces around one public space( usually a temple for ancestors) in the middle.

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Pic 116 Hakka Tulou buildings in southern China Pic 117 Ground floor plan of Tulou House

Pic 118 Section Pic 119 Exterior view of Tulou House

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Ideology Since the economic reform began in 1979, Chinese architects’ practices gain freedom they never had after 1949.

Nearly all projects before 1980s were developed by nationa-owned companies or government offices. Hence political ideologies played prominent roles in architectural designs. The situation changed after commercial realestate started to be the one major form in land development. Even some national projects, like Qi Kang’s design for the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre( rape of Nanjing), are quite abstract and emotional, unlike those monumental national projects with iconic Chinese roofs before. Around 2008, national projects like the CCTV tower by Rem Koolhaas and Guangzhou Opera House by Zaha Hadid own absolutely no trace of Chinese vernacular in. It seems that China now does not need certain ‘Chinese style’ to be its ‘National Style’ like it was in 1930s. In 2010’s Shanghai World EXPO, He Jingtang’s Chinese Pavilion however broke this interpretation.

The building’s form stems from traditional Chinese wooden structure’s expression: red poles stand for beams and components in wood, while four cores as columns. Images of Tadao Ando’s Janpanese Pavilion in 1994 might be evoked by this. But unlike Ando’s sensation imitation of ancient orientation wooden structure, He’s design is purely visionary. Beneath its red painting, which tries to evoke the memory of imperial palace, the ‘wooden beams’ are actually steel framed. They do not play any part in the whole building’s spatial organizations except being expensive and monstrous decorations. The pavilion’s gigantic volume dominates the EXPO park, dwarfing all the other pavilions around. National medias on one hand celebrate this building as a symbol for the nation’s prosperity, while architectural critiques attack it for its kitsch and parody for Chinese architecture.

Pic 120 Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japnaese Invaders, Nanjing, designed by Qi Kang, 1985

[30]Qi Kang( 1931- ) is now a member of Chinese Academy of Science, also teaching at Southeast University. He is Foreign Academician of French Academy of Architecture, as well as the director of Research Institute of Architecture of Southeast University.

[31]Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders is a national memorial museum in the city of Nanjing. It has two phase and one extension part: the first phase was built in 1985 and the second phase in 1995 were all designed by Qi Kang; the extension project built in 2005 was designed by He Jingtang.

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Pic 121 Ground floor plan, Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japnaese Invaders Pic 122 CCTV Headquater, Beijing, designed by OMA Pic 123 National Stadium of China, Beijing, designed

by Herzog & De Meruon Pic 124 Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, designed by Zaha Hadid

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Pic 125 Section of the National Stadium of China, Beijing, designed by Herzog & De Meruon Pic 126 Ground floor plan of Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, designed by Zaha Hadid Pic 127 Section of Guangzhou Opera House

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Recent project by Germany based company GMP in Beijing also provokes debates about its design. The National Museum was built in 1959 as major national projects by then[32]. It stands opposite to the People’s Congress Hall, with Tiananmen Square between them. In order to avoid the building being too oppressive due to its gigantic volume, architects designed extra large windows- two floors’ tall each- so that the building appear to be smaller seen from the square. GMP’s renovation plan, however, does not care about this sensational design. They extend the building, and install huge glass screen in front facade. In order to establish continuity between the ole and new, GMP took the column of the original building as reference for their new ones. However unlike the serious original design which carefully represents Chinese wooden structure with concrete, the new proposal is more abstract yet tectonically untrue. In its front facade, the columns do not go straight up for roof supporting like the old ones. Instead, they are stopped by a intact frame, which is attached with the roof. This strange language is created based on purely visual imitation to the original design, for the weird frame’s prototype is those concrete beams in the old building, which are also structurally meaningless yet visually accurate mimic for Chinese vernacular. Despite GMP’s almost random choices of structural language here, the building’s gigantic size is something truly shock. Massive interior spaces, with somehow serious and religious atmosphere, deny the building’s identity as a public facility but a national monument for its glories past. The landscapes in the building’s courtyards, which are supposed to bring live to this place, are overwhelmed by surrounding structures, almost like bonsais in a well’s bottom. Human emotions become abstract here, detached from those delicate memories of the civilization. The only feeling left is fear and respect for power.

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[32]National Museum of China was housing two exhibition institutes when it was built in 1959: the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the National Museum of Chinese History. The building was designed by Zhang Kaiji, father of Zhang Yonghe.

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Pic 128(last page) National Museum of China Expansion, Beijing, designed by GMP, 2010 Pic 129 Entrance lobby Pic 130 Courtyard in the National Museum

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While in southwest China, a tiny museum was built for memories of a single person. In 2008, a massive earthquake attacked this region, causing 80,000 death according to official reports. After the catastrophe, government announced a wave of construction to rebuild ruined towns and cities. Being symbols for confidence and hope, monuments for this event are set to be center pieces in these new towns. Yet most of them are distributed to an abstract concept called ‘people’ or ‘nation’. They are epics like the National Museum above. Somehow, Liu Jiakun, denoted to build Hu Huishan Memorial House for a fourteen years’ girl with the same name who died during the earthquake. The building is a concrete ‘tent’ in the middle of woods- tent is the most common structure in that region, and home to many after the earthquake. With one front door and one opening in the ceiling, the building is heavy and silent seen from outside. Yet Liu painted pink, color the girl loved most, allover the interior walls and floor, forming theatrical contrast to its sorrow exterior appearance. The only objects shown in this room are personal belongings of Hu Huishan: her school bag, her drawings, desk, chair and some clothes. Striking moment comes when visitor realize that this lovely warm space is actually built for mortality; all these memories here are frozen, like that in Pompeii. Never such monument was built before in China, it was soon forced to shut down by government’s orders. Refuse to hide this away from people, Liu installed a peep hole on the door: only this time we are looking inward, rather than outward. This one girl’s memory gives stronger impact to one’s emotion than the glamorous hall of National Museum. The term of ‘national style’, if valid, should be for real souls, not indifferent abstractions in the historical books.

Pic 131 Hu Huishan Memorial House, Chengdu, deisgned by Liu Jiakun, built in 2009 Pic 132 Interior view of the Hu Huishan Memorial House

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Bibliography: (1) New Architecture in China

Bernard Chan

(2) NewChina Architecture gapore

Xing Ruan

2005, Merrell Publishers Limitied, London, United Kingdoms 2006, Periplus Editions(HK) Ltd., with editorial offices at Sin-

(3) Modernism in China: Architectural Visions and Revolutions Edward Denison, Guang Yu Ren Wiley & Sons Ltd., United Kingdoms (4) Building a Revolution: Chinese Architecture since 1980 Press, Hong Kong, China

2008, John

Charlie Q. L. Xue 2006, Hong Kong University

(5) On the Edge: Ten Architects from China Edited by Ian Luna with Thomas Tsang, introduction by Yung Ho Chang 2006, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc, New York, United States of America (6) New Chinese Architecture doms

Zhi Wenjun, Xu Jie

2009, Laurence King Publishing, London, United King-

(7) Time Architecture ( Shi Dai Jian Zhu), periodical Tong Ji University Press, Shanghai, China (8)I M Pei: a profile in American Architecture Carter Wiseman, First edition, 1990, edit by Margaret Donovan; Revised edition, 2001, edit by Diana Murphy Published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc, New York, United States of America.

(9)Chinese Architecture doms

Laurence G. Liu

1989, published by ACADEMY EDITIONS, London, United King-

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