The condition of chinese architecture Elaboration of a Critical Approach
From 2011, a team of architects come to China to understand the phenomenon of the Chinese architecture interviewing the new generation of Chinese Architects, collecting meetings, conversations, ideas and provocations with masters, developers, curators, critics and artists. The team visited their works an experienced the places of their practice. This research tries to analyze and to understand what is architecture in China, to see how vast the architecture experience is to understand what happens in the midst of the Construction Boom in Asia.
China uses 33% of the world’s overall consumption of reinforced concrete. Chinese architects account for 1% of the world total, but the turnover from building work is 1/10 of the world total. How does this condition effect architecture? How the big demand of projects influences the process and the final result? What is the contemporary Chinese Identity?
TCA Think Tank TCA Think Tank is an international research group founded in Shanghai in 2011 by Italian architect Pier Alessio Rizzardi and Chinese architect Zhang Hankun, with the contributive thoughts from Joseph di Pasquale head of AM Project, architect Yibo Xu and Remo Dorigati Polytechnic University of Milan. TCA was born as aggregator of informations about the architecture, culture, history and critic always related to the present conditions. Through the production of projects and researches TCA pushes the understanding of the nowadays situation exploring the Theoretical Condition of the Architecture. FOUNDERS Pier Alessio Rizzardi is an architect, researcher and theoretician, founder of TCA Think Tank. Since 2013 he’s been Assistant Professor at Polytechnic University of Milan, Faculty of Architecture, journalist for l’ARCA International Magazine, correspondent for STUDIO Architecture and Urbanism Magazine, Editor of the Series of Books “Protagonisti”. He studied architecture in Polytechnic University of Milan and at FAU-USP, Sao Paulo and obtained Master’s Degree at Polytechnic University of Milan. Since 2007 he had collaborated with UMM Sao Paulo, Bamford Dash Architecture in Melbourne, MUDI-JDS in Shanghai and AMproject in Milan. Pier Alessio Rizzardi has been published on books, magazines and online platforms among the others MARK, East West Innovation GIZMO, ARTRIBUNE, ArchDaily, Designboom etc. He was the curator of the conference “The Condition of Chinese Architecture” in Polytechnic of Milan University, he was guest of the discussion “The Future of The Museum in China” in Beijing at STUDIO X in collaboration with Columbia University. Zhang Hankun is the co-founder of TCA Think Tank research group. She is graduate student of Master’s in Architecture at Polytechnic University of Milan. In 2011 she gained working experience in KH architects, Shanghai, in the fields of architectural design and urban development. She attained bachelor’s degree in architecture at Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, and attended Erasmus Exchange programme at Polimi in 2010. Zhang Hankun has been published on books and magazines and online platforms among the others MARK, East West Innovation, ArchDaily, etc.
TEAM Andrea Vertone / videomaker / / Italy Edna Gee / editor / / South Africa Katerina Dimova / architect / / Bulgaria Ni Ya / architect / / China CONSULTANTS Yibo Xu / architect / / China CONTRIBUTORS Harry den Hartog / professor / / China Daniel Gillen / professor / / USA Roland Karthaus / professor / / United Kingdom
The condition of chinese architecture Elaboration of a Critical Approach
In short, the research consists of 3 sections: Nowadays reality, the contemporary architecture studied through the big numbers of its expansion, the size and quantity of projects, the issue of demolition-history, the relationship between the project and the context and the so-called “no context�, the explanation of numbers of the Chinese phenomenon and condition that determines its architecture and the will of the search for identity. Trends Panorama, they are divided between objects mega-structural, landmark buildings and buildings icons, traditional and vernacular architecture. Considerations, the opposite point of views of Rem Koolhaas and Yung Ho Chang, one focused on the understanding of the reality and the current situation in Asia and the other one defining a new type of architecture focused on the quality of the space and the against the formalism.
The design approach is thus based on the big numbers. One need only consider that the projects that are advertised in Europe as the CCTV Tower by Koolhass and opera house by Zaha Hadid are dozens or even hundreds of times much smaller than other projects in construction: infrastructure, construction of new cities, industrial areas, ports etc. The number and size of projects strongly influence the way of making architecture. In China, the face of the city is characterized by the demolition. To quote Wang Shu, Pritzker Prize, only 10% of the historical buildings in China has survived to this day. Basically the reasons that can be found are two. [3] The first is based on past history: the traditional architecture used wood as the main material for building. The result is then the practice to reconstruct the image of architecture with new materials. The second is based on the recent history: the Cultural Revolution used the cancellation of the past in order to build the new culture. The lack of historical urban tissue creates dynamics completely different from those found in Western cities. With the almost total demolition of historic parts of the cities the Asian society must constantly face with the concept of tabula rasa. This leads to the possibility of free development with a complete world to rebuild. The number of architects is extremely significant. The proportion of residents and architects is 40,000 to one, incredible if we think that Italy is raised to 400 people for an architect. The number is 100 times greater. [4] If you look at the data of Chinese architecture, we see the peculiarity of the Asian condition. The Chine-
The numbers of the urban development in Asia considering the European one are incredible: 5 times faster (in 20 years happened what has been done in Europe in 100 years), 8 times bigger (23 cities with more than 5 million people in China while only 3 cities in Europe) and this covers a population twice as big (731,000,000 in Europe 1,342,000,000 and in China). It’s intuitive as these data lead to a way to tackle the project completely extraneous to a Western architect. [1] Currently, the urban population exceeding the rural population rose up to 51%. It is estimated that this will reach 83% in 2035 when the process stabilizes. [2] The urban population requires services and infrastructure.
se architects must be much more efficient than their Western counterparts to work. The volume of the use of reinforced concrete in China is 33% of the world total amount, the number of Chinese architects in the world is one hundredth of the total. The turnover instead stays to a tenth of the world average. [5] This creates the theoretical condition of Chinese architects and architecture of China. A Chinese unique phenomenon is the process of City-making. The state, the only landowner, rent the land to individuals allowing them to build. In this way the state receives funding from the private sector. The state government has absolute control, not only through the possession of the land, but also through the
an style. After 1980, the new Economic politics and the freedoms gained stimulated people to seek an improving in their living condition. Everything that came from abroad was seen as innovation, a goal to aim. China wants to experience life in Western way. Investors get the message and build idealized European cities. Real Estate is built, used, and when it cannot give any more profit, it is being demolished to make way for a new investment. “Tou Fu Buildings” are buildings in which materials and technologies are sacrificed to lower production costs and speed up the execution time. No one escaped from this trap even the Archistar as Zaha Hadid Opera House Guangzhou experienced the consequences of such philosophy. [8] The cultural upheaval of recent generations has resulted in a hybrid architecture, where profit directs the project. The large numbers of Chinese architectural theorem, the Olympics and Expo and the economic boom create opportunity and need to build. But China is still there, since it opened its doors to the West, in the process of creating its own identity. The architectural trends of recent years can be grouped by different types: International Architects (iconic architecture that aims at large-scale projects), Local Architects, the new Chinese generation (small-scale architecture and vernacular) and background Architects. The Archistar entered in the Chinese architectural scene, interpretating the voluntary of China to be visible at
the world level.
imposition of masterplan. The government cannot do anything else but planning, it doesn’t have an absolute power on architecture. [6] The government defines a masterplan in which investors and architects formally define the buildings and then the shape of the city. Homes are sold as investments, and these remain empty for years. [7] Today, the condition of Chinese architects imposes the reduction of both the design and construction time. The project with limitless possibilities becomes mechanical as industrial production and not time is left to think about it. The speed of execution and the will to characterize the site generate examples such as One City Nine Towns in Shanghai, satellite towns in Europe-
As it was Manhattan in New York nearly a century ago, China turns into a new stage in world architecture. This architecture is pointing up. Skyscrapers have a strong iconic impact: this is given by higher image and then economic returns. The city remains a “shopping window” for the modernization of the country, as Deng Xiaoping wanted Pudong in Shanghai, The “Manhattan of China.” China wants importance and visibility; the tendency of the government is toward recognizable, great and iconic architectures seeking a world-wide recognition. “Nostalgic Architects” pursuit the “Chineseness” in architecture through the idea of rebuilding portions of the city in a traditional style. The idea of Mao was the new against the old. Now is the old against the new. “Traditional Iconic Architects” use the way of the magni-
fication in scale of images of the cultural tradition. They explicate architectural symbols by putting an immediate icon in the city. Architects use traditional symbols like lanterns, fans, dragons, coins to instil in their buildings, the icon of “Chineseness.”
a theoretical viewpoint as the necessary attitude for upgrading the architectural profession and maintaining a critical spirit. As it was Manhattan in New York nearly a century ago, China turns into a new stage in world architecture.
“The Vernacular Architects” are composed by who have studied in leading universities of the United States. These architects are open to experimentation contaminated by Western notions. They reject the current architectural situation, creating a choice based on the purity of the tectonics, radical shapes, vernacular materials and simplified building technologies. If we compare the timelines of the Chinese and Western architecture, we
see the existing time gap. Analyzing the current ways of doing architecture of the new generation of architects, you will notice many features in common with the architectural period of post-war Europe and the West, from New Empirism in Sweden, to German Neo-expressionismus, but also English Brutalism, Italian Neorealism and Brazilian Brutalism. 3. CONCLUSIONS Concerning the architectural critic there are different point of views. 3.1. Eastern view From the Eastern side we can read from the writings of Yung Ho Chang, a Chinese architect and theoretician, clearly convey the message of the need for critical architecture that goes against the present-day consumerist situation based on the independence of architecture, radical forms and the use of vernacular architecture. 3.2. Western view The western counterpart is well represented by Koolhaas. Koolhaas talks about the need to pay attention to these emerging phenomena and to study them from
[1] [2] [4] [5] R. Koolhaas, S.Boeri, S. Kwiter, N. Tzai, Hans Ulrich Obrist, ‘Mutation’, ACTAR, Bacelona, 2001 [3] W. Shu, ‘Geometry and narrative of Natural Form, Kenzo Tange Lecture, HGSD. 2011 [6] A. Demagistris, ‘Storia dell’architettura dell’iltimo Sessantennio’, Politecnico di Milano University, Milan, 2010 [7] J. Grima, G. Cambiaggi, ‘Instant Asia’, SKIRA, Milano, 2008 [8] M. Moore, ‘Guangzhou Opera House falling Apart’, THE TELEGRAPH, 2011
CONVERSATION WITH... Since 2011, TCA visits China staying in Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hong Kong, Nanjing and Hangzhou. The Team meets face to face the main actors of the “New Generation of Chinese Architects”: Many well known architects of the last generation studied abroad in the best American faculties and sometimes in Europe, confronting a different way to deal with the design. They experience freedom and learn how to contaminate architecture with art and literature. Once they come back in China, they find a different situation from the universities in the West. The students relate the knowledge acquired abroad with the Chinese reality. They have the will to abandon the architectonic language of 30 years’ closeness which weighs upon them to search the lost identity through the possibilities of experimentation.
Zhang Yonghe / FCJZ
Ma Yansong / MAD ARCHITECTS
Liu Jiakun / JIAKUN ARCHITECTS
Li Xiaodong / LI XIAODONG ATELIER
Zhu Pei / STUDIO PEI ZHU
Liu Xiaodu / URBANUS
Rocco Yim / ROCCO DESIGN ARCHITECTS
Zhang Lei / AZL ATELIER
Li Hu / OPEN ARCHITECTURE
CHEN Yifeng / ATELIER DESHAUS
Qi Xin / QIXIN ARCHITECTS
Liu Yuyang / ATELIER LIU YUYANG
Xu Tiantian / DNA ARCHITECTURE
LU Wenyu / AMATEUR ARCHITECTURE
Zhang BIM / ATELIER Z+ SHANGHAI
ARCHITECTURAL REPORTS
Museum Bridge in Anren / FCJZ
Sculpture Museum / JIAKUN ARCHITECTS
Resort, Xi’an / MADA S.p.a.m.
Television & Broadcasting Center / MADA
Oct Design Museum / STUDIO PEI ZHU
TONGJI Architecture Faculty / ATELIER Z+
Songzhuang Art Center / DNA ARCHITECTURE
Red Brick Galleries / FAKE DESIGN
Siheyuan, landscape / Qi Xin
Qingpu Youth Centre / ATELIER DESHAUS
Xiaopu Culture Center / DNA ARCHITECTURE
Father’s House / MADA S.p.a.m.
Dafen Art Museum / URBANUS
Hua Art Museum / URBANUS
Songzhuang Residence / DNA ARCHITECTURE
TCA reports the experience of the Chinese Architects through video documentaries and photoessays of their most expressive buildings. It reports the environment, the reality, the context and the non-context of the projects.
Book contents
CONTENT Acknowledgments Pier Alessio Rizzardi Condition Liu Jiakun Preface Note on the text Nowadays reality Background / A portrait of the country Growth 24 7; Bigness the scale of the project Architecture / Issue about the project Demolition issue; Starting from scratch architecture of the tabula rasa; Chinese architects are the most importants; city making process; ‘Imitate’ the West to turn it East; Copy and paste strategy no time for thinking; Tofu buildings Learning from the West Impositions Ȇ%LJ URRIȇ ȴUVW FRQWDPLQDWLRQ &RQFHVVLRQV Beaux-Art Self-impositions Republic; 1st revulution Soviet Architecture; second revolution American Post Modern; New generation “Coming Back students” Conversations Zhang Yonghe / FCJZ Liu Jiakun / JIAKUN ARCHITECTS Ma Yansong / MAD ARCHITECTS Liu Xiaodu / URBANUS Zhang Lei / AZL ATELIER LU Wenyu / AMATEUR ARCHITECTURE Liu Yuyang / ATELIER LIU YUYANG Rocco Yim / ROCCO DESIGN ARCHITECTS Zhang BIM / ATELIER Z+ SHANGHAI Li Xiaodong / LI XIAODONG ATELIER Qingyun Ma / MADA S.p.a.m. Zhu Pei / STUDIO PEI ZHU Li Hu / OPEN ARCHITECTURE CHEN Yifeng / ATELIER DESHAUS Qi Xin / QIXIN ARCHITECTS Xu Tiantian / DNA ARCHITECTURE Li Xiangning
22 48
94
138 152 164 178 184 196 208 218 230 240 252 264 272 284 290 296 302 320 332
Issues Issue 1 / 1 Building in 7 days Spontaneous city; instant building Issue 2 / Sublime chaos 55 families 1 country Issue 3 / Icon, symbol, sign, index The meanning beyond Issue 4 / Chinese way to bigness Issue 5 / Urban balance
Harry den Hartog
7 10 15 20
Learning from the East Postscript Image credits Index
340 348 354 358
368
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What
Title: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Condition of the Chinese Architecture: Elaboration of a critical approachâ&#x20AC;?
Who
Author: Pier Alessio Rizzardi (supported by TCA Think Tank Group: Zhang Hankun, Xu Yibo, Joseph di Pasquale, Remo Dorigati, Edoardo Giancola Katerina Dimova Edna Gee)
How
Press: Chinese Architectural and Industrial PRESS Ĺ๻ᲦěŹ&#x192;áŤ&#x20AC;ĢŰ&#x203A;㪿ä&#x2014;°
When
Publication date: August 2014
Quantity
Print run: 5.000
Where
Exhibition: Tshingua University Beijing; Exhibition at Tongji University, Studio X Beijing
patronaged
Media Partners:
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