China's Architecture Wave

[bhchao]

Check out this special feature on the projects currently underway in China. I like the design of Split House and how it is integrated into the surrounding environment, similar to Fallingwater.

http://archrecord.construction.com/china/

[Outofin]

Lot of fantastic pictures! I like the two.

I like futuristic design. But, this one is indeed a little gaudy.

This one is beautiful and has a great sense of traditions. But I'm afraid the real thing won't look so great in picture.

The Split House is really one of 12 architectures built by Pan Shiyi's wife. Pan Shiyi himself is an estate mogul, maybe not the biggest, but should be the most famous one.

For more info, check Commune by the Great Wall (with both Chinese and English version)

The Commune by the Great Wall is a private collection of contemporary architecture designed by 12 Asian architects. It was exhibited at La Biennale di Venezia in 2002 winning a special prize. Ms Zhang Xin, the mastermind and investor for the project, was recognized for her “bold personal initiative which emphasizes the role of 12 Asian architects in building privately-owned houses in a definitively contemporary manner.” The Centre Pompidou, Paris now houses the exhibited model, made of wood and cardboard, as its first permanent collection from China.

[bhchao]

The Looped Hybrid Housing in Beijing looks quite interesting. Are there a lot of high-rises in Beijing built for mixed-use purposes, having commercial office and residential units in one building?

I heard Beijing is naming certain residential sections in the city after neighborhoods in New York, such as Upper East Side and SoHo. Not that this is a big deal, but it would be nice if Beijing creates its own urban identity.

[fhwong]

Are there any architects on this board?

Is it relatively easy to find an architectural job?

Any feedback would be useful.

Regards,

Ho yin

[Outofin]

I don't appreciate the names copied from other places. But that's just okay. It hasn't reached a level of ruining city's reputation yet. I saw some pictures of Hong Kong. There's a twin towers called 御峰 and 晓庐. That is so awesome and creative to call the towers in mountain's name. hugely better than "plaza" or "山庄".

But SOHO, beside its NY flavor, really has another meaning. It's a shorthand of Small Office and Home Office, which is the same concept of mixed-use purposes you saw in the Looped Hybrid Housing. When they design the CBD, one concern was that most projects would be commercial offices, because obviously the profit is much higer than residential project. It has already become a problem for many cities that downtown is nothing more than a scary dead area in night time after everyone leaves. To keep the vitality of CBD, muptiple-purposed projects are made like SOHO. Whether it works is still in question. Some argue that when the estate price reaches a certain point, residents will eventually sell their apartments to make money for moving to a much better place in suburban.

[geraldc]

The first Soho was in London, Soho square, it was originally a park/royal hunting ground. It got its name from a hunting cry "soho" a variation of "tally ho". Soho's now full of strip clubs, gay bars, trendy restaurants and London's China town...

[bhchao]

It has already become a problem for many cities that downtown is nothing more than a scary dead area in night time after everyone leaves. To keep the vitality of CBD, muptiple-purposed projects are made like SOHO. Whether it works is still in question. Some argue that when the estate price reaches a certain point, residents will eventually sell their apartments to make money for moving to a much better place in suburban.

I think it would be nice if Beijing built multiple-purpose projects that incorporated commercial office space with retail (for example shopping) in one high-rise building. Has this happened or is this happening already?

If you ever visited the World Financial Center (not the former WTC) in lower Manhattan, there is a Winter Garden atrium highly popular with office workers. It's just across the street from the former WTC site. On the first floor of the atrium are restaurants catered to office workers during lunch hour, with the middle of the floor being a large, convenient sitting area. On the second floor there are retail stores like J.Crew, Banana Republic, Gap. Every floor beyond the second floor is all commercial office space.

[Outofin]

Yes, WFC's truly a fantastic place, which I visited in the new year of 2003. I don't really know how Beijing's newly built areas look like. I'll go back home next week. So, bhchao, since you're so interested in China, why not just buy an air ticket on-line, bring some money and your toothbrush, and see me on Tiananmen Square next week?

[bhchao]

The New York Times will be moving into its new headquarters, which is currently under construction, in 2007. This website shows what the building will look like once it is completed. There are also diagrams illustrating what the floor plans will look like. Retail stores will be on the first floor along with a garden. http://newyorktimesbuilding.com/

It's also a very convenient location to reach via mass transit.

Outofin, please take some great pictures of Beijing and show us the hutongs that you would like to see converted into luxury homes.

[Outofin]

I happened to have bought a 三联生活周刊 with a good amount of info on Chinese tranditional villa/garden. Very educational. And full of pretty pictures. Here is the online version 物质审美分子眼中的中国别墅——回归传统居住？ Buy the magzine and you'll find more.

[bhchao]

Last month's issue of Architectural Record featured some interesting architectural designs being considered in China. The magazine publishes exclusive issues on architecture in China every April, August, and December

http://archrecord.construction.com/ar_china/default.asp

Check out the the design plans for Shanghai's Qingpu district, which will incorporate historic preservation and modern design.

The diagonal bracing system in the proposed Jinao building in Nanjing was just recently used to complete the construction of the Hearst Tower in Manhattan, designed by Norman Foster. I passed by the Hearst last November and like it a lot. The view is obstructed by other buildings though as you go further away.

Cross our fingers that they will preserve the canals and buildings in the picture on the right:

[deezy]

That's awesome! Anything to replace all the drab, depression-inducing, concrete shoebox Communist "architecture." Something that updates the beautiful traditional tiled-roof styles with a clean modern look at the future...

But, they also need faaar better general construction quality and standards in China. There is just faaar too much Commy-rigged shoddy construction around.

[Outofin]

That's awesome! Anything to replace all the drab, depression-inducing, concrete shoebox Communist "architecture." Something that updates the beautiful traditional tiled-roof styles with a clean modern look at the future...

But, they also need faaar better general construction quality and standards in China. There is just faaar too much Commy-rigged shoddy construction around.

I identify a pattern of selectively using “communist” as an adjective, which is pervasively found in western media. The pattern could be simplified to “China replaces communist bad old things with new good things”, stressing the communist with the bad and old, but omitting it from the new and good. If you didn’t know, the new and good things are also very likely advocated, funded by the Party, or even designed by some party members. If you still don’t get it, try this, “Right aside the slums that are commonly seen in imperialist and capitalist countries, a modern building offering new hopes is under construction.”

Can you, for a moment, appreciate the architecture itself?

[roddy]

It is a stupid way of talking about it, thankfully usually restricted to certain journalists - there's a lot of bad architecture in China, but it's not bad because it's communist, it's bad because it's bad.

[deezy]

Points taken, Communist need not necessarily be synonymous with bad architecture.

However, there is arguably some correlation there - that is not apparent only in China - but all former Communist countries.

One where the only concern was function, and not form - due to the spartan Communist ethos and lack of finances. Also, shoddy workmanship often resulted from the Communist lack of competition. After all, if you basically get paid the same whether you sit on or bust your azz...why bust your azz and do a good job? Why take personal pride in your work?

[deezy]

Here's 10 of China's most post-modern structures under construction NOW - and most set to be completed in 2008 - likely in time for the Beijing Olympics. Some are a bit derivative of nouveau EU architecture - but some are really innovative as well. This slew of grandiose world-class buildings should really put Beijing, in particular, on the world map (assuming they don't use shoddy construction )!

[Outofin]

See this from Xinhua net. The name of the thread is China's Exotic New Designs. Some of them have beem implemented. Some are on paper. Some are declined proposals that will never been seen in real world. They look very like alien civilization in sci-fi movies.

[gato]

A review of new Hearst building in Manhattan by the British archiitect Norman Foster: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=94419

He's also the designer for the new addition to the Beijing international airport. See this interview with Foster: http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1599268,00.html

Many construction projects in China share the same problem of being attention-seeking political showpieces, approved by people who have no sense of what it means to organically fit into an urban environment.

[yingguoguy]

Oh so that's what their building at Beijing Airport, when I landed there the whole place seemed to be a giant construction site. Have to say from the BusinessWeek picture it looks like just another terminal, but the Normal Foster interview makes it sound more interesting.

Does anyone know where the Beijing National Grand Theater is being built? How close is it to Tiananmen Square? I ended up there at about 8am last weekend. Though it might be the largest public square in the world, without many people there, I was stuck by how poorly the space there is used. The National Museum is definately one of those "communist" style buildings which doesn't deserve to be at the heart of Beijing.

I'm not to impressed by the CCTV building either, seems pointlessly quirky to me. I wouldn't like to work in the 'hanging' bit of it either, however good the engineering, it would just freak me out. Nice to see the World Trade Center will be continuing the tradition of great Shanghai skyscrapers that look like screwdrivers.

Um. I guess I'd better say something nice about modern Chinese architecture quickly. I like the Suzhou Museum a lot, and the Swimming Center could be very interesting if it looks like what I'm imagining.

[gato]

The last time I went past, the National Grand Theater seemed to be just across the street from the Zhongnanhai, about a mile west of Tiananmen and the same Changan Jie. Changan Jie is virtually empty at nights. There are probably much better places for a theater. Such is city planning in Beijing.

http://english.people.com.cn/english/200008/13/eng20000813_48096.html

The cost for a proposed 6,200-seat theatre was 758,000 yuan (US$91,300) per seat, equivalent to the cost of an imported Mercedes Benz sedan plus high tariffs, said a Chinese architect who participated in the bidding.

At the request of the Proprietor Committee, Andreu revised his proposal recently and was believed to have reduced both the scope and cost of the proposal.

He was quoted by Hong Kong media last month as saying that he has managed to cut costs by approximately 25 per cent so that the project's price tag is now around 3 billion yuan (US$361 million).

However, a Proprietor Committee member said the project's cost will not exceed 2.6 billion yuan (US$313 million).

A recent picture:

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=258372