Trailblazing Mainland Architects Are Few and Far Between

JUNE 10, 2012

Trailblazing mainland architects are few and far between

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Shaky foundations

n a second-floor over the past few decades; the country is still Architecture’s top award was office in the archi- seen as being strong on engineers but weak tecture department on creative designers. won by a Chinese citizen for of the mainland’s “As the quantity of architecture work most prestigious increased from the end of the 1980s, many the first time this year, but university, Professor problems occurred in terms of designers not Xu Weiguo sits striving for higher quality,” says Xu. “As long home-grown professionals contemplating the as it could be built, it was. But the situation is changes that have changing. Chinese architects are developing are still seen, for the most occurred since he and maturing and good young architects are enrolled here, in the coming through.” part, as being second rate. first year that classes Not everyone is as optimistic. were resumed following “There is a reason why there are just a few Kit Gillet and Hannah Xu the Cultural Revolution. domestically trained Chinese architects in the “Architecture and design stopped from top ranks in China,” says Liu Xiaodu, principal find out why. 1966 to 1978,” explains the head of Tsinghua architect at Shenzhen-headquartered architect- University’s School of Architecture. “The first ural firm Urbanus. “Tsinghua is great for solid Iprofessors back were educated in the UK, the technical training, but the best students must USA and Russia. They brought knowledge of then go out to be exposed to Western styles postmodernism, deconstructionism and other and training.” new styles.” Liu and his two co-founders earned master’s The school has expanded significantly – degrees at Tsinghua in the 1990s and taught at 1,100 students study here today – yet the the school, before heading to the United States, mainland’s reputation as an incubator of to finish their education. young, talented architects has barely grown “If young students are aiming high, they

16 Pictures: Reuters; The New York Times “China is now almost a new country or a firms doing interesting projects in China, so Clockwise from main completely new country. We are unsure of we can learn from them.” picture: aconstruction our future and our tradition. We are just Nearby, 20-year-old Huang Haiyang is site in Shanghai; the moving forward in confusion.” arguing over elaborate designs for a glass art Ningbo History Museum, Asked why he named his office Amateur gallery with a fellow student. one of the buildings that Architecture Studio, Wang, who said he has “Modern Chinese style is still growing, so got Wang Shu noticed by wept for the grandeur the capital has lost – it is an interesting time to be an architect in the Pritzker Prize judges; “The old Beijing was so beautiful; even more China,” he says. “I may do an internship in a Wang poses in front of beautiful than Paris” – replied: “Many people foreign firm but eventually I will come back to another of his designs, say China’s new cities look horrible. Professional China. Foreign firms are a place to study and the China Academy architects churn out rubbish works. Unknown, train, but not somewhere to work long term.” of Art, in Hangzhou, non-professional masters … produce the most Xu is quietly optimistic that some of his Zhejiang province. beautiful works. I choose to go with them.” students will succeed, that a small handful The audience at the National Convention will be recognised on the world stage along- Centre heard from Pritzker laureates Frank side the likes of Wang, Ma Yansong and Shao Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Jean Nouvel and Glenn Weiping (see following pages) and make a Murcutt, as well as Zhu Xiaodi, director of telling contribution to the nation’s architec- the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design – tural future. He is, however, realistic. the biggest such institute in the world, with “We need some architecture stars in 1,500 architects under its wing. China but not everyone can become one. It “Many works by Chinese architects lack is important to lay the technical background depth and character,” said Zhu, warning “we because if we train all to become stars, most may become victims” of globalisation. will fail.” Murcutt offered some words of advice: Perhaps surprisingly, the sheer amount of “Globalisation flattens out culture. A timeless work being undertaken in China is seen as a component in architecture is something that barrier to the development of a distinct, inspir- belongs to its culture. China needs to be careful ing modern Chinese style. need to go abroad. Three years practising in in looking for its model.” “The whole country is a construction site China and then go.” and that leaves building quality a big question. Wang Shu, the first Chinese citizen to win “THERE IS A DIFFERENCE in levels be- Also, foreigners are more interested in our a Pritzker Prize in the “Nobel Prize of archi- tween top Chinese and top foreign architects,” markets than our architects,” says Liu. “Chinese tecture’s” 33-year history, has been equally says Xu. “Foreign architects have done a lot firms don’t need to go in for international critical of home-grown architects. While still more global projects and have a lot more competitions so they don’t try, but sooner or at school, he wrote an essay titled The Crisis experience. Only in the last few years have later they will have to start, and it will be a of Contemporary Chinese Architecture and Chinese architects looked overseas. I think hard wake-up call for most.” during his thesis defence announced, “China Chinese architects will win more international “Speed is a killer for architecture,” says MAD has an architect and a half. I’m one, and my competitions [for building commissions] in the Architects’ Ma. “Design periods are very short teacher, Ji Kang, is the half.” next 10 years.” in China. The Harbin Opera House we are A floor above where Xu is sitting, groups currently working on; we haven’t released the ON MAY 24, THE DAY before Wang’s of young architecture students are scattered final designs because we haven’t finalised the Pritzker award ceremony at the Great Hall among cramped computer workstations facade and the interior but the construction of the People, a panel discussion was held at sketching building plans on digital design company has already laid the foundations.” Beijing’s National Convention Centre. Wang programs and on notebooks. was among the speakers, who were asked to “Many thought Wang Shu didn’t have what IN THE AFTERNOON of May 24, the panel contemplate “globalisation, localisation, it takes to win the Pritzker Prize, but I think it discussion moved from the National Convention challenge and innovation”. proposes a new thinking, which is to pursue Centre to the auditorium of Tsinghua University. “Architects now work in the context of Chinese national culture,” says Xi Chongxiao, There, Wang told the assembled students: “The globalisation,” he told his audience. “This a petite, quiet-spoken 21-year-old tucked in a current educational system can hardly produce means global commercialisation and indus- small cubicle with two other students. “It’s outstanding architects. You have to engage in trialisation. The world is being flooded by hard for Chinese architects to win commissions self-salvation through self-study. standardised buildings. Globalisation must for foreign projects, but there are now Chinese “The most important thing is to have your be detrimental to cultural diversity. architects working in foreign firms and foreign own thinking.” >>

June 10, 2012 Post Magazine 17 Cover story: profile Akind of MADness At 36, Ma Yansong has already made his mark on the international scene, writes Kit Gillet. Picture: Simon Picture: Song

ffortlessly stylish in a simple black shirt and jeans, Ma Yansong sits cradling a cup of tea with a pack of flu medicine nearby. He E has just returned to his office, in the heart of a complex of thin ancient alleyways in Beijing, from a work trip to France, and looks tired; like someone who simply doesn’t have enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things he would like to. The 36-year-old, Yale University-educated architect is increasingly being seen as a rising star. Potentially, he is on his way to becoming China’s first “starchitect”. He was the first mainland architect to win an international commission: the Absolute Towers in Canada, which came just three years after he graduated from architecture school and two years after he launched his own, Beijing-based firm, MAD Architects. “I always wanted to work for myself, so I registered my office straight after graduation,” Ma says. “I was in London [working for Zaha Hadid Architects] for a short time – a couple of competitions [for building commissions], less than one year – and by 2004 I had returned to China to begin entering competitions myself. “When I decided to come back it wasn’t already clear there was a construction boom here,” he explains. “I just wanted to come back because I was born here and this is my home.” Ma didn’t take it too seriously in the beginning. “Entering architecture competitions was very easy, it was just like being in architecture school,” he says. MAD entered more than 100 such contests in its first opportunity for them,” says Ma. “The opportunities mostly go to older, Above: Ma Yansong. year or so, gaining valuable experience but no major commissions. more well-known architects.” Inset: the Ma-designed Then, in 2005, MAD won one: a commission to build skyscrapers Ma is familiar with that particular frustration. “When we began, Absolute Towers, aka in Toronto. This was big news in the mainland, at a time when the many clients saw us as too young – they didn’t want to talk with us or the Marilyn Monroe, country had no big-name architects and was allowing foreign firms to even bother to meet with us. That is why we could only really enter in Toronto, Canada. head the design of all the major arenas being built for the 2008 Beijing competitions; where people had no image of you, just your designs.” Olympic Games. The first building soon earned the nickname “the Ma was born in the winding, cluttered alleyways of Beijing in 1975, Marilyn Monroe” for its aesthetically pleasing curves. The Absolute as the mainland was beginning to emerge from the dark days of the Towers – scheduled to be completed this year – catapulted MAD Cultural Revolution. Architects and Ma onto the international scene. “I wanted to be a professional painter. I initially applied to study art Residential sales had been so impressive for the 56-storey first but they didn’t let me in – they said my abilities for fine art were too low tower that the developers asked Ma to come up with a second. He but they might be OK for a career in architecture,” says Ma, with a smile. refused to create an identical tower – “there is only one Marilyn At Yale, one of his teachers was Hadid herself. Monroe” – but offered to design a slightly shorter, complementary “In school, we didn’t talk about architecture much – we mostly talked building. The two spiralling towers, taken together, are more art- about contemporary art. She would bring in art books for me to look at.” work than architecture, their appearance changing when seen from The designs Ma and his colleagues have come out with are the type of different angles. iconic megastructures that would appeal to Hadid: buildings that imme- “When a single building becomes an icon it is because it is like a diately convey a striking, easy-to-market style and elegance, favouring sculpture,” says Ma, scratching his head while trying to explain his flowing lines, eye-catching structural patterns and ambitious facades. architectural approach, a four-metre-high plexi-glass model of the They’ve created futuristic add-ons for Beijing’s hutongs – a silvery towers visible in the stairwell behind him. egg-shaped structure called the Hutong Bubble, which increases living The towers have already become a much-photographed landmark space and adds a bathroom and stairwell leading up to the flat roof of and Ma received the Architectural League Young Architects Award in cramped courtyard dwellings; an otherworldly museum that looks like a 2006, in large part because of his design for the Absolute Towers, which deflated football, being built as part of an architectural experiment – the hadn’t even been awarded to him at that point. Ordos 100 project – in the middle of the Inner Mongolian desert; and are The studio rapidly expanded. It was initially staffed by just Ma and in the construction phase of a set-piece museum in the northern city of one intern but by the beginning of this year, more than 50 architects Harbin that some critics are comparing to a piece of driftwood. Others had taken up residence in Beijing to work in its large, open-plan office, see a shimmering spaceship. MAD has also designed a residential and complete with ping-pong table. commercial compound in Sanya, on Hainan Island, that resembles a “We have young architects from all over Europe, some Americans rolling wave, and several other projects around the world that imitate and quite a few ambitious Chinese architects. Half our team are from nature. According to Ma, his company is now working on about 15 overseas,” says Bas Lagendijk, strategy executive at MAD Architects international projects at any one time. and one of those recent, young foreign imports. In what some might regard as a show of arrogance for a fledgling Many of these architects, most in their late 20s or early 30s, are too architect, in 2008 Ma proposed planting trees throughout Tiananmen young to be heading large projects in more established firms and would Square, to turn the concrete expanse into an attractive outdoor space. probably have struggled to find work in their home countries. He met with officials to discuss the idea but, despite a suggested com- “I see young architects in the US, ones older than me, and they are pletion date of 2050, is realistic about his slim chances of success. experienced and ready enough for their own practices but there is no “In North America, buildings still feel like they are from the time of

18 Post Magazine June 10, 2012 Cover story: profile

the industrial revolution: they are all trying to be symbols of power – Not surprisingly, Ma does not see his approach as arrogant: “I want our higher, taller, more imposing. The same thing is happening here in new projects and thoughts to become more experimental. Maybe clients China. I am more interested in looking at what the future city can will say, ‘No’, but that’s OK. It is important to make time to think and try be; where people aren’t building individual towers but entire cities. independent projects and ideas.” “Beijing’s old city is like a garden, with planned hills, lakes, rocks. This approach should be a positive development for modern Chinese With modern cities and their huge towers this idea has disappeared.” architecture, which has been criticised for lacking originality and style. In another display of arrogance, or impressive self-assurance, For Ma, though, there is still a careful balance to keep. depending on your viewpoint, Ma entered a competition for a project “I still have a hand in everything – the concepts, sketches, develop- in Beijing’s central business district and instead of designing just one ment. Two years ago, we had a moment when we could have expanded building, as per the instructions, proposed both an elaborate slinky- a lot but I would have lost control. For big architects such as Norman like tower and an entirely new blueprint for the whole 12-tower devel- Foster, it is OK for them to have a huge team because he already has a opment. His plan was based on a return to nature, with the buildings style that can be followed. I am young and, put simply, I haven’t found surrounding a central lake and hills. my style yet.” While the master plan was not taken up, his building was chosen With that, the stylish, self-assured young architect finishes his tea, as one of 12 to occupy the site, a block south of the China Central picks up his flu medicine and heads upstairs to see what his young Television (CCTV) Tower. international team is thinking up next. Natural selection Shao Weiping stays ahead of the curve by rejecting traditional mores, writes Hannah Xu.

wealth or techniques,” Shao says. “They wanted something that suits their mission.” The judges were won over by the creativity and symbolic meaning that suffused Shao’s design. He used as his inspiration a Mobius strip – a surface with only one side and one boundary component. The curving outer shell of the building connects the broadcasting studios and offices. The overall look recalls the two graceful phoenixes in the broadcaster’s logo and symbolises a continuous ribbon that connects Chinese viewers around the globe. The flowing design avoids visual conflict with the surroundings, which could have been the case if an angular structure had been built. “The curved, non-linear design shows that we are in step with the latest international trends in architectural design,” Shao says, keen to distance himself from the rectangular constructions – such as the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square – that mainland architects have become known for. The design has eco-friendly aspects, too. The steel ribs, which support an expansive glass curtain, will channel rainwater directly into a collection tank at the ground level, from where it can be pro- Picture: Simon Picture: Song cessed for reuse. The unconventional design presented unprecedented challenges, Shao says. Inclined supporting pillars on the inside and Shao Weiping, eijing’s central business district is a showcase of landmark build- curved steel stripes on the exterior were both problematic and, with the Phoenix ings. The most noticeable among them include the futuristic between the steel grids, there are 3,180 glass windows, each of which International Media BCCTV headquarters and the 81-storey China World Trade Centre has different dimensions. Centre in the Tower Three. Soon, there will be an addition to the skyline. The total construction cost of the project has been kept down to a background. Covering nearly 19,000 square metres, the Phoenix International little above 600 million yuan (HK$734 million), Shao says. Media Centre will house Phoenix TV’s Beijing operations, and contain Shao’s studio, which employs 30 local architects and one from the six broadcasting studios and high-rise office blocks, as well as restau- United States, is part of the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design rants and other recreational facilities. It is scheduled to be completed (Biad). State-owned Biad was established soon after the founding of in October. the People’s Republic, in 1949. Since then, Biad has played a key role Unlike the radically shaped US$1.1 billion CCTV headquarters, which in shaping the image of the new nation through the design of many overlooks the eastern Third Ring Road, the oval-shaped Phoenix TV buildings in the capital, including the Great Hall of the People. building is subdued, sitting by a leafy street near Chaoyang Park, one Shao joined Biad in 1984, after graduating from the prestigious of the largest water parks in the city. Department of Architecture at Shanghai’s Tongji University. In 2001, “It’s a non-linear structure in harmony with the surroundings,” says he became executive chief architect at Biad. In 2002, Shao was appoint- chief architect Shao Weiping. ed to lead the first Western-style design studio at Biad, as part of its Sitting in his spacious quarters at the Un-Forbidden Office (UFO), efforts to instil creative energy in the institution. an architectural design studio he has been leading since 2002, 50-year- “Traditional design institutes are comprehensive in their functions old Shao recalls how, when he was invited to bid for the project, in 2008, but tend to be less flexible and creative,” he says. “With my dual role, I along with a dozen other top Chinese architects, controversy was raging can take advantage of both systems.” over the design of the CCTV building. First came the accusation that the From 2004 to 2008, Shao and his Biad team worked closely with building’s contorted form, created by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, British architect Norman Foster on Terminal Three of the Beijing was modelled on a pornographic image; then came the nickname: “a Capital International Airport. pair of big boxer shorts”. “The influx of Western architects is good for China’s urbanisation Not having the financial muscle of CCTV, the Hong Kong broadcaster and helps to raise the bar in design,” Shao says. “Chinese architects are wanted a less costly design. strong at generating designs that suit the local culture and landscape. “From the start, Phoenix TV did not want a project to show off “We are also good at controlling the cost.” I

20 Post Magazine June 10, 2012