yueqi jazzy li 2013 portfolio

YUEQI JAZZY LI

Portfolio

architecture / urbanism / photography / graphics / web design / writings

Yueqi Jazzy Li established BL-DG in 2011, a practice dedicated to the realization of innovative design. BL-DG is flexibly based in Bejing, Lon-don, and New Orleans. The name BL-DG stands for both the short for building (noun) and build-design(verbs), alluding to Lis deep belief in the power of the built reality and ambition to create architecture that is innovative, provocative, and at the same time real.

Li studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, UK and Tulane Univer-sity in New Orleans, USA, where he received the distinguished Deans Honor Scholarship and won several honors, awards, and competitions. Li has worked at EXH Design, a Swiss-Chinese firm in Shanghai and Solid Objectives - Idenburg Liu (SO-IL) in New York, where he led the Flockr Pavilion to completion as project lead.

Profile

Academic

Minimal Mirror

Katrina Memorial

Percival Stern Facade Renovation

Straw-blurry Fields

Warhol Foudatin Office

Desert Resort

Urbanuild 08 08

Marsh Research Station

New Orleans Public Library

Jintang New Town Masterplan

Of Interest

Research

Professional

Kukje Art Center (SO-IL)

Photography

Writing / Polemics

Density Remixed

Rapid Structures

Light Bubble Machine

Danaus

Daegu Public Library

Vacation Home Renovation

Inhabiting Infrastructure

Xujiahui High-rise Facade (EXH)

Flockr Pavilion (SO-IL)

Graphic and Web Design

SOCIAL REGIONALISM

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

The project is sited next to the levee wall and railway tracks in the bywa-ter neighborhood of New Orleans. Originally filled with industrious ware-houses and factories, this up-and-coming neighborhood is becoming increasingly popular among artists and hipsters while still maintaining the rough industrial feeling. The design of the Warhol Foundation Office very much respects the site and intends to echo the overal rough atmo-sphere of the neighborhood while promoting high art in the area. Deeply rooted in Warhols own legacy - connecting high and low culture - the design aims to create a landmark that gives back to the city.

The existing sloped site is manipulated and landscaped to become an undulating surface of green space, accessible to the public. Tucked un-derneath this surface is an array of programs of a public nature: gallery, restaurant, cafe, and parking. Together these two levels extend the func-tion of a planned park nearby and offers a direct connection between the private office and the general public through additional outdoor pro-grams such as an observation deck, a picnic forest, and an amphitheatre.

The sculpted green roof also influences the building mass atop where the form appears to be tilting as the ground plane is lifted up on one side. The leaning facades that face the neighborhood are covered with a sophisticated kinetic system of 6 diameter aluminum rings. This matrix of rings, individually controlled by a rotary actuator, spin with the winds during the day and creates art imagery at night. The scale of the system transforms our generic perception of off-the-shelf aluminum rings and restates Warhols mission to connect high and low culture in an archi-tectural way to the neighborhood and the city.

LocationNew Orleans, LA StatusSchematics / Studio ProjectProgramSpec Office, Public Plaza, AuditoriumArea55,000 sq ftVideohttp://vimeo.com/23048614

Warhol Foundation Office Building

PROGRAM AXONOMETRIC

warhol foundation

spec office

spec office

spec office

lecture hall and auditorium

green space and observation platform

public plaza

garage

restaurant

foyer and reception

exhibition

1/16 bristol paper and transparency print model

program axonometric

LANDSCAPE MANIPULATION

existing landscape

6

32

modified landscape

21

32

6

ground circulation

areas of interestamphitheatreobservation deckpicnic forest

21

32

6

slope access

stair access

river front jogging trail

facade undulation

setback for an inviting entry

pulled forward for

more space

pulled forward for

more space

sculpted landscape diagram

3rd, 4th, and 5th floors plan

ground floor plan

wall section facade plan detail

facade elevation

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Percival Stern Hall Facade Redesign

LocationNew Orleans, USAStatusSchematics / Studio ProjectProgramLaboratory, OfficeArea138,600 sf / 12,800 m2

ProfessorJudith Shade Monk

Percival Stern is the home of the laboratory sciences at Tulane University. It was built in 1971 by Curtis and Davis and Thompson B. Burk and Associates. Students and faculty using the building nowadays often compalin about the fully enclosed hallways and the monotonous circulation and thus call for the reskin-ning of its facade.This proposal of the new facade focuses on the idea of logistics and connectivity. Pushing the existing dark hallways out to the perimeter of the building,the design brightens up the entire mass while enablingthe facade to function as covered outdoor spaces. Further, the campus side of the hallways interweave to create a variety of circulation options, facilitate the flow of people and scientific items.

pedestrian traffic

Tulaen academic campus

Tulaen residental campus

vehicular trafficmain street

stern hall

boggs cen

ter

parking stru

cture

freret stree

t

ROTC building

Fogelman Arena

israel scie

nces build

ing

freret street elevation 1=100

campus side elevation 1=100

interior corridor offset towards building edge open up facade woven corridors

bristol study models 1/32=1-0

existing facade partial facade model 3/8=1-0

cosine p

voids/atriums

main structure

fenestration pattern

shading fins pattern

exterior hallway and balcony

partial facade model 3/8=1-0

a operable windowb 4 wide frosted glass shading fin c 3concrete floor finishd 1/2 exterior cedar wood deckinge 1/2 tempered glass railingf spider connectorg drop ceilingh 1 double glazed glass with argon gas filli HVAC pipesj steel framing for deckingk air outletl 26 clerestory window for hallway

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Academ

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Research

Of Interest

CAN

DAUPHINE

BOURBON

ST.LOUIS

TOULOUSE

ORLEANSORLEANS

DUMAINE

ST. ANN

MADISON

TI

ST. LOUIS

MAGAZINE

CLAY

N. PETERS

DECATUR

DORSIERE

ROYAL

CHARTRES

CLINTON

BIENVILLE

IBERVILLE

DAUPHINE

BOURBON

NGEPL.

CONTI

BIENVILLE

CLAY

IBERVILLE

N. FRONT

car and carriagebus line

street car linesteamboat dock

ferry and cargo ship

New Orleans Public Library

LocationNew Orleans, USAStatusSchematics / Studio ProjectProgramLibrary, Exhibition, ObservationArea53,000 sf / 4,900 m2

ProfessorJudith Shade Monk

This is a 53,000 square feet public library located in the heart of the historic French Quarter of new orleans. A place for people to observe, read, and interact, the library is intended to form an open, liberating, and uplifting atmosphere in the middle of the constant huzzling and buzzling of the quarter.To achieve this, a giant canopy whose pattern is derived from oak tree branches stands on 60-ft tall thin stilts, hovering over the entire site. Any outdoor space below then becomes cov-ered and shaded, the most desirable in a climate like New Orleans. The four floors are articulated with a 2-foot gap to accentuate the image of floating. Penetrating the canpy, a 3-story tower sits on top of the main library. the tower pro-vides 2 floors of reading space and a penthouse observation room that enjoys panaroma views of the quarter and the city. It is accessible via a separate elevator 24/7.

design process site map

mississippi river

main courtyard

occupy

twist

indent

trim

tower/twist

indent

canopy

elevate and separate carve

floor plans 1=80

public terraces

reading room

7th Floor Plan 1=80

6th Floor Plan 1=80

5th Floor Plan 1=80

Brick Wall Section 1/8=1-0a Strecther brick x-truss infillb W8x6-1/2 wide flange steel trussc W24X9 wide flange steel beam with openings for pipesd Directional light e Fluorescent Lightf 3 metal decking and concrete toppingg HVAC pipes and plumbing chasesh 1 double glazed glass with argon gas filli 1/2 tempered glass railingj steel plate to conceal the structure

a

b

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dg

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observation room

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Straw-blurry Fields

LocationNew Orleans, USAStatusCompetition First Prize / CompletedProgramArchitectural InstallationArea100 sf / 10 m2

Design PartnerEric BaumgartnerPhotographyDavid Armentor Alexandra Bojarski-StaufferJill StiollPublished on Archdailyhttp://www.archdaily.com/113772/architects-week-tulane-school-of-architecture/

Architects Week is an annual week long design-build competition at the Tu-lane School of Architecture. This years program calls for an interactive instal-lation that must be designed and built within on week under US$350. Utilizing more than 17,000 straws, Jazzy Li and Eric Baumgartner led a team of 13 students and strung together a blurry architectural space that engages touch, sound, and sight. Twelve panels form two constantly moving curtain walls and fluidity the space in between. The transparency and lightness of the installation allows itself to play with sun, wind, and light conditions. The ephemeral project does not take any static visual, acoustical, or sensual form. Instead, the dematerialization of straws, characterized by porosity and local interconnectivity, creates what Stan Allen calls - field conditions which are defined not by overarching geometrical schemas but by intricate intervals, repetitions, and seriality.

Partial Elevation 3/8=1-0

original rendering

straw-blurry fields

LBC Qua

d

Newcom

b Quad

Newcom

b Hall

Dixon Ha

ll

Newcom

b Art

Gallery

Dixon Pe

rforming

Arts Cen

ter

1/2" All Thread

75 lb Test Fishline

7.75" Clear Straws

PRO

DU

CED

BY

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ESK

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PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK EDUCATIONAL PRODUCT

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3-1/4 long construction nail painted whitewith fishing line tied connection

7-11/16 straws

Zip Tie

Tree Branch

Spacer

All Thread

PRO

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PRO

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PRO

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panel assembly1:30

all thread detail 1:4

20d end nail detail 1:4

20d construction nail 3-1/2

tied and superglued joint

7-3/4 clear drinking straw

two lengths 10 and 15

7-3/4 clear drinking straw

15lb tested fishing line

1/4 metal all thread

1/4 metal all thread

zip ties anchor to tree branches

straws strung along fishing line

cross-wire strung to prevent tangling

painted reflective straws form a gradient pattern

nail end weight2

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

sketch by grover mouton

LocationChengdu, ChinaProgramVacation Rental HousingArea6000 acresAdvisorGrover MoutonTulane Regional Urban Design Center

Jintang Newtown Master Plan

Jintang, a small town located in the periphery of Chengdu, has been looking to expand its urban footprint to the east. Separated by a riv-er and a couple of local streams, the old towns urban landscape is characterized by narrow and well shaded streets as well as a series of under-utizlied water front properties, including two valuable islands and several peninsula conditions.This proposal focuses on the idea of giving back the waterfront to the public as green spaces and civic amenities. The two islands are also integrated and connected by newly built foot bridges to form a pe-destrian friendly network of green space. The rest of the new town are laid out into 10 smaller districts. Rather than have a central business district, the commercial buildings are planned to spring up in the area in an organic fashion.

context photos of old town Jintang

rendering of the new town anchored by the stadium

master plan

Commercial EducationResidentialPublic Park Space

OLD TOWN JINTANG

section through the two green islands

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest Commercial EducationResidentialPublic Park Space

Type2nd-year Studio ProjectLocationBig Band National Park, USAProgramVacation Rental HousingArea50,000 sf / 4,650 m2

ProfessorMarilyn Feldmeier

Desert Resort

Located in the heart of the Big Bend National Park, TX, this vacation rental housing proj-ect aims to provide its tenants the best lodging experience while maintaining a healthy contact to the surrounding natural senary. It was designed with the principle in mind that architecture on such a remote but stunningly beautiful site should begin to engage the nature as opposed to competing for the primary existence. To ensure the viewing de-mocracy within the cluster, all the units are arranged on an arch whose radii all point to the monumental rock scene in the middle of the River de Grande. Enclosed by a porous wall assembly using primitive on-site materials - straw and shale - the interior becomes a micro-climate that enjoys a dappled light effect and also the freedom to utilize glass ceiling and sliding doors to maximize spatial transparency and flexibility.

monument

trail

river

plateau

parking

travel

site map

model 1/32=1-0

Upper floor plan 1/24=1-0

Lower floor plan 1/24=1-0

Upper unit interior render

The section developed for this project took into account the hot and arid climate and makes use of a number of passive environmental strategies.As seen in the sectional perspective on the left, each unit is broken into two levels: one above the ground and cantilevering off of the cliff (the living); the other below the ground and embedded in earth (the sleeping). Shading for the ground level is provided through the micro-climate (see interior rendering) created by the porous exterior enclosure. The embedded level on the other hand, is set back six feet and utilizes the cantilever to provide shading for the bedrooms. In the winter when the sun position is low, both levels are able to get solar heat and day lighting.The fact that the site is located on an extremely hot and arid desert

requires the buildings to not only have ample shading but also an effective cooling system. Taking advantage of the spring source and the prevailing southeastern winds in the summer, natural cooling begin to take shape. Openings in line with the corridor between the two glass units are cut out on the exterior enclosure to facilitate south-north ventilation. Together with the flexible voids formed by the sliding doors, stag-gering and high-ribbon openings on two other sides of the enclo-sure are designed to facilitate east-west ventilation. Water from the spring also circulates thorough and around the units to further cool down the breezes, maintaining a high comfort level in the interior.

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Minimal Mirror

Type2010 All School Competition First PlaceLocationNew Orleans, USAProgramMulti-purpose RoomArea850 sf / 78 m2

The program of this one-week all-school competition calls for an multi-purpose room to fit on Tulanes campus. The proposal features a sculptural triangle jutting out of the ground andreflecting its beautiful surroudings. The duck invites visitors to de-scend underground - a space that rarely exists in the area - to experiece the decorated shed.

It is in the shed that one finds a space that is both dark and bright, straight and curvy. Here, green roof, ceiling, ground, and landscape all become one integral piece that recaptures the spirit of minimalism.

modified landscape

Tulane Campus Plan

ground level plan 3/32= 1-0

rear view rendering

underground level plan 3/32= 1-0

interior rendering

longitudinal section 3/64= 1-0

cross section 3/64= 1-0

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Harmony at LaSalle (UrbanBuild 08)

LocationNew Orleans, USAStatusUnder Construction / Design DevelopmentProgramRetail, Housing, Community GardenArea9.500 sf / 1000 m2

ClientHarmonyCollaboratorsByron Mouton, Matt DeCotiis, Una Anderson, Charles Cutno, Rianna Bennett, David Campanella, Victor du Peloux, Lauren Evans, Drew Hauck, Eliz-abeth Kovacevic, Beau Lacroix, Daniel McDonald, Dave Namaky, John Nelson, Dennis Palmadessa, Julien Remond, Kyle Ryan, Aaron Schenker, Nora Schwaller, Alexander Shporer, Matthew Skoda, Roland Solinski, Joshua Ungar, William Nemitoff

To date, the URBANbuild program has enjoyed success while focusing on the design and construction of homes by student groups. The intention was to re-build the city of New Orleans one lot at a time. In the eighth year of the program, the focus has shifted to a larger scale.

At the heart of Central City, Lasalle Street has historically been a vital com-mercial corridor. This project proposes to revitalize it with the establishment of a mixed-use commercial center that will act as an amenity for Harmony Oaks residents and others in the area. Additionally, micro-business pods will be built on site and then deployed along the corridor over time. This will help to an-nounce future development and act as a catalyst for holistic growth.

Due to the phased development of the project, consideration had to be given to how the unused space would be treated while waiting for further construc-tion. To meet this need, and to respond to the development of a commercial sector focusing on the informal micro-economies of the area, URBANbuild 8 is proposing a system of mobile units capable of hosting a variety of programs.

In the initial phase, these pods will be located in a series of tracks through the site. This will help create a marketplace capable of creating an iconic and vi-brant atmosphere focusing on community, while allowing for the flexibility of an ever changing program. In later phases, as the project builds out towards final completion, the units will be redistributed down the Lasalle Corridor.

place maker diagrams

model

DN

Balcony

MechanicalRooftop

OpenToBelow

DN

W/D

REF

W/D

REF

Living/Dining

Bedroom

Bath

Kitchen

Terrace

CafeMezzanine

UP

UP

Terrace

Bath BathService

KitchenStorage

Loading/Res. Access

Dining Room

CoffeeBar

Apts.Access

OutdoorDining

EventBar

Sales Area

Loading

Office/Storage

Bath

Terrace

rendering of the overall project seen from across la salle

second floor plan

ground floor plan

rendering of the place maker landscape

photo of the construction site (2013.3.21)

photo of place makers under construction (2013.3.21)

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Turtle Cove Research Station

LocationManchac, LAStatusSchematics / Studio ProjectProgramResearch StationArea875 sf / 81 m2

Design PartnerJack Garbutt

The Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station is a field research and edu-cational facility of Southeastern Louisiana University and is located in the Lake Pontchartrain estuarine ecosystem. Set deep in the marsh, this pavilion is an addition to the main station, which is connected by 2 miles of boardwalkThe deisgn intends to marks the juncture between the man-made boardwalk and the organic landscape below. Serving as a classroom and viewing plat-form, the enclosure seeks to blur the transition between indoor, outdoor, man-made and organic spaces. The walls and roof planes are discretely seg-mented, allowing their perceived unity to change with the varying infiltration of natural factors such as sun, shadow and wind through their gaps. Derived from a cypress tree root, the screen system further blurs these boundaries while shielding the structure from western sun.The building is designed to be self sustainable. Power is provided by the solar panels installed on the roof, and water is collected in a cistern with a purifica-tion system at the bottom of the sloped roof.

floor plan 1/32=1-0 section 1/32=1-0

Rendered perspective

exploded axonometric

form tracingcypress tree roots 2D to 3D flatten and simplify

solar panels

beams

metal screen

flatten and simplify

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

LocationNew Orleans, USA

StatusSchematics / Studio Project

ProgramMemorial, Observation Deck

Area1,000 sf / 92 m2

Katrina Memorial

During Hurricane Katrina, a portion of the 17th Street Canal flood wall was breached and water surged into the low land, flooding many areas of the city. Due to the increasing demand of visitors to view the fatal failures, the New Orleans city government decides to provide a public observation platform along the breach site. Designed for the purpose of viewing, reflecting, meditating, praying, and observing the breached wall, the project seeks to explore the possibility of static wood pieces creating dynamic forms of mo-tion. Four ramps that meet A.D.A. Specifications ascend up to 12 off the ground and comprise the primary structure. The undulating effect along the side, evocative of the water and the disaster, was created by 2 x 4 x 8 wood sticks bolted to two layers of deliberately designed brackets which are in turn connected to the ramp railings. As one starts walking on the ramp, the undulating effect of the wood sticks and their shadows become even more dynamic. Four viewing platforms of increasing heights are provided, with the last one at the end being the highest and crossing over the flood wall.

plan 1/32=1-0

basswood model 1/16=1-0

bass wood sectional model 1/2=1-0

bass wood and foam core model 1/16=1-0

plan 1/32=1-0

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

LocationBeijing, ChinaStatusCompletedYear2011-2012ProgramHomeArea2,200 sf / 207 m2

MaterialsSteel Frame and Wood

Vacation Home Renovation

The idea of architectural renovation is quite novel and not often practiced in the build-ing industry in China, particularly in the field of private residences. This project seeks to expand the features and reorganize the program of this vacation house in order to facilitate the activities inside as well as fully utilize the natural scenery around the site.

In the exterior, the decorative porch and sloped roof were completely torn down to make way for a 10m-span observation deck and patio. This span was achieved with a steel box girder whose depth was minimized to 415mm. In the interior, the original staircase was removed and replaced by a spacious storage room on the first level and a new study on the second level. The new staircase relocated to the west side of the living room introduces a double height space that links the two floors together, providing connections that did not exist in the original design.

Collage of Existing Conditions Prior to Renovation

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Ground Floor Plan After Renovation

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Second Floor Plan After Renovation

30x40mm50mm40X60mm

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100x50mm

LED

30x15mm50mm

T: 182 1019 72088461 3375

2142208100029

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B6-19

A-303

2011.8.31

1:10

Section Through the Steel Deck

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Daegu Public Library Competition Entry,2012, 2012

professional (as director and project lead of BL-DG)

Daegu Gosan Public Library

LocationDaegu, South KoreaStatusSchematic / Competition EntryYear2012ProgramLibrary, Public Plaza, Activity PodsArea30,000 sf / 3,250 m2

CONCEPTSituated between two major cities, the prospective site for the com-munity library remains undisturbed by the fume of urbanization. Taking cue from the slender trees that cover most of the site and the adjacent park, the design aims to complete the form and function of a library without necessarily claiming architectural monumentality.

By receding back into the trees and above the trunks, the proposed building allows an architectural experience that blurs the boundar-ies between man-made and nature. This experience is articulated by a series of prefabricated pods hung off of the facades, which provide the patrons of the library with intimate spaces to read, watch, contemplate, chat, discuss, and play, in addition to conven-tional library reading areas. Voids are created within and beneath the building to create unique corner spaces and to preserve the existing urban fabric on site.

APPROACHThe design follows an approach that places the utmost importance on the architectural experience, which is characterized by the idea of being in the woods and mother nature. In this modern era, new libraries should be able to accommodate many ways to acquire knowledge and information. The activity pods are designed to meet such a challenge. By offering a variety of intimate spaces, they fos-ter a learning environment that relates to each and every visitor to the library in different ways.

read watch contemplate chat discuss play

street view rendering

elevation

exploded axonometric showing various components and program

AB

C

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3

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1

D

ground floor plan

corner rendering

facade rendering

section perspective

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

For Kukje Gallery in Seoul, SO IL has developed a master plan of the gallerys art campus in the historic urban fabric of Sogyeok-dong, a lowrise area in the northern part of Seoul. Small alleyways and courtyard houses characterize this neighborhood, which is currently being infil-trated by newly constructed galleries, boutiques and coffee shops. One of the newly planned buildings within the master plan is a gallery. The structure is a single-story, clear-span art space. The ground floor will be used for large installations, performances and other functions, while the two sublevel floors house a sales room, a lecture space and storageareas. Circulation is pushed out to the edge of the building to maintain the pure geometry of the box. A perimeter skylight admits natural light.

Considering the clear diagrammatic geometry of the white cube too rigid within the historic fabric, the building is enveloped in a permanent nebulaa pliable chainmail veil. The stainless steel mesh produces a layer of diffusion in front of the actual building mass, through a com-bination of multidirectional reflection, openness, and the moir pattern generated through interplay of its shadows. An additional quality of the material is that it can stretch, thus avoiding creasing. It is strong yet pli-able, and can easily wrap around crude geometries. Together with Front Inc., SO IL produced a 1:10 mockup and has developed, engineered and fabricated this one-off faade.

The new kukje gallery also calls for the renovation of a neighboring building, which will be turned into a bookstore and cafe serving the visitors to the museum. Stripping down to the basic four walls, the de-sign of this cafe intends to create an open space in the middle and an interstitial space on the side for service and outdoor seating. The two main walls, the ceiling, and the floor all diminish in thickness towards the giant glass doors in the front, creating an extremely thin and pro-nounced profile.

LocationSeoul, South KoreaStatusCompletedProgramArt Gallery, Lecture Hall, CafeArea11,000 sf / 1,500 m2

ClientKukje GalleryBudgetUSD 3,500,000Key ConsultatntFront, Inc (facade)Dong Yang Structural Engineering (structure)J.K. Technology (MEP)Design PrincipalsJing Liu, Florian IdenburgRoleJazzy Li assissted the project architect and contributed to the design of the andante cafe

Kukje Art Center

foam core and fabric model 1:500

gallery

0 1m 2m

kukje galleryandante bookstore and cafe

exterior view

model

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Located in one of the city centers of Shanghai, China, this project of 3 residential and 2 office towers was originally designed by a large state-owned corporate firm. However, the client came to EXH after the plans had been halfway through government approval, seeking an attractive and modern look for this complex. The challenge for EXH lies in the little leeway in changing the existing plans and how to create an aesthetically pleas-ing and practically functional building envelope. Taking a geometric cutting approach, the new facade aims to create a dynamic effect that will become a strong architectural icon for its immediate neighborhood.

LocationShanghai, ChinaStatusSchematicsProgramHousing and Office ComplexArea1,050,000 sf / 100,000 m2

RoleJazzy Li was part of the project teamDesign PrincipalsXi Zhang, Eric DiserensPublished on Archdaily

http://www.archdaily.com/49774/shanghai-high-rise-exh-design/

Xujiahui High-rise Facade Redesign

origingal designsite plan

F2

F6,14,22

F10,18

F7,15,23

F3,11,19

F8,16,24

F4,12,20

F9,17,25

F5,13,21

F26

Office D floor plan modifications (marked in red)

Residential towers B and C floor plan modification (marked in red)

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Flockr Pavilion

Get It Louder, an acclaimed biannual media and arts festival sponsored by Modern Media of China, features a series of lectures, screenings and exhibitions by over 100 Chinese and foreign designers, artists, writers and filmmakers. Organized by an international team including Chinese curator and writer Ou Ning and design writer Aric Chen, this years theme, SHARISM, focuses on the relationship between public and private realms in the digital age. SO IL was commissioned to design Get It Louders main pavilion, which serves as a central hub for the event and houses many of the festivals activities.SO IL conceived the Flockr pavilion as a structure that responds to its environment while also creating a sense of place through its basic form. Covered with thousands of tinted mirrored panels, the skin reflects its surroundings and makes the changing contexts of this temporary and mobile installationthe cityscapes of Beijing and Shanghaian integral part of its expression.In SO IL s experimental faade, only the top of each panel is at-tached to the structure, allowing the individual pieces to respond to wind, thus creating a kinetic skin that is permeable by light and air. The pavilions structure is made out of 56 thin, flexible steel rods that con-nect at the bottom and top into two large steel rings. The larger bottom ring frames the interior perimeter of the structure, while the smaller top ring creates a skylight; the relationship between the two results in the pavilions curvilinear womb-like shape. The activities that take place within are gently enclosed by a dynamic pattern of thousands of flicker-ing reflections. Because it is circular in plan and curvilinear in section, the pavilion does not discriminate any direction; as one passes through the entryway, the interior is generous and encompassing. The structure was assembled within six days on location in Beijing and demounted and reinstalled within a weeks time for its use in Shanghai.

LocationBeijing, China StatusCompleted in September 2010ProgramExhibitionClientModern Media Group & Get It Louder ExhibitionArea2,150 sf / 200 m2

BudgetUSD 11,000 / RMB 70,000MaterialsSteel Structure, Reflective Plastic PanelsKey ConsultatntBeijing Cenbo Co., LtdDesign PrincipalsJing Liu, Florian IdenburgRoleJazzy Li led the project from design to completionPhotographyIwan BaanPublished on Archdaily

http://www.archdaily.com/79358/flockr-pavilion-so-il/

study model

roof plan 1:200

section 1:200

floor plan 1:200

elevation 1:200

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Inhabiting Infrastructure (work-in-progress)Past and Future in the Post-diluvian CityLocationNew Orleans, USAStatusWork-In-ProgressProgramEcological Levee, Master Planning, Housing, InstitutionsArea53,000 sf / 4,900 m2

Thesis AdvisorsJudith Kinnard, Richard Campanella, Scott Bernhard

As a result of coastal subsidence, catastrophic hurricanes, and sea level rise, the Risk Reduction System of New Orleans, char-acterized by hard-lined levees and floodwalls, has proved not only insufficient, but also detrimental to the sustainability of the metropolis. At an urban level, how can we reduce the risk of a city whose very survival is hinged on its water-land relationship? At an architectural level, how can we maintain the operation and enjoyment of this water-land boundary without subjecting it to ruthless engineering? This thesis investigates an alternative ap-proach based on soft, inhabitable, and transformative infrastruc-ture.

The master plan portion of the thesis project calls for conces-sion of low-lying high-risk areas and establishing a new soft edge along 0 feet elevation overlapping roughly with Claiborne Avenue. The architectural portion envisions this edge, made out of a continuous landscape of levee structures, to be also inte-grated with built programs and ecological processes. A series of typological housing units occupy the city side of the widened levee illustrates a new mode of living that provides protection for the city in and out of itself. An aquaculture center is also designed to occupy the water side of the levee at the junction between Esplanade and the levee axis. Registering the urban fabric in the levee infrastructure, this center operates with an unprecedented mode of existence where farms, markets, and conditioned spaces all become an ecological whole.

initial sketch

master plan for a sustainable new orleans

vacant land on higher ground existing hard-lined flood walls and levees

elevation with 2030 sea level existing regional transport network

low level +3

medium level +10

surge level +25

flood sidewetland ridge protected side

250+/-150

300+/- 100

30~100 200+/-150

purple loosestrifemarsh orach

saltspray rose

blue mussel

atlantic sturgeon

herring gull

bluegill

amphitrite warm

norther rock barnacle

sea blitekillifish hooded mergansterruddy turnstone

soft shell clam

overbuildimpermeable layerfoundation sandfoundation clayfoundation pilingsgeotextile layercompacted clay

roof utility layeractivity decks

widened ecological levee and its habitat

section through the levee system and the aquaculture center and market

program and study model of the aquaculture center and market

preliminary view from the wetlands

Trash Area 300Storage 900Public Restrooms 400Receiving Area 900SUPPORT PROGRAM

main collection

digital area

main exhibition

exterior exhibition

roof deck

pier decks

boardwalk

lab 1

lab 2

storage

kitchen

RESTAURANT 3000

LIBRARY 1800

OPEN MARKET 4000

EXHIBIT SPACE 2000

VIEW PLATFORM 500

OUTDOOR SPACE 3000

LAB / CLASSROOM 2 @ 1000

ADMINISTRATIVE 1200

LECTURE HALL 1500

diningtrainingstorage

directors suitestaff officestaff hang out

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

program and study model of the aquaculture center and market

Density (Re) MixedTransformable Architectural Machine for City DwellersLocationLondon, UK & Shenzhen, ChinaStatusCompleted ResearchProgramHigh Density Housing, Subway StationArea620,000 sf / 55,900 m2

Unit MastersJeroen Van AmeijdeBrendon CarlinAccoladesTechnical Studies High Pass

This research project proposes an alternative mode of life enabled by a system composed of transformable kit of parts for an emerging entrepreneurial social class in Shenzhen, China.

Sited directly on top of a metro station, the proposed project is integrated into the Shenzhen infrastructure and serves as a node of public activities. Each apart-ment consists of a live unit and a work unit that can be easily reconfigured with sliding elements depending on the specific use. We deploy an inventive circula-tion strategy to facilitate the highly mixed programs: courtyards serve as a gate-way to the individual live units and linear corridors provide access to the work units in an efficient fashion. This coexistence of two systems enable a constant flux of movements through the entire building without undesirable crossovers between the residential and business activities. Because of the transformable spaces shared by each live and work unit, the proposed project is imagined to have a density 40 times the average in Shenzhen. (5201 people /km2)

8pm WEEKDAY

MULTI-UNIT COMMUNITY AXONOMETRIC

panel storagecore

lift core

piping core

prototypical unit

stair core

sliding panel palette smaple

multi-unit axonometric drawing

8pm WEEKDAY

MULTI-UNIT COMMUNITY AXONOMETRIC

panel storagecore

lift core

piping core

prototypical unit

stair core

sliding panel palette smaple

1:1 prototype with spatial investigative scenarios

section through the entire building

Column bundle Column truss connector Primary truss Secondary truss Sliding wall panel Sliding floor slab

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

This five-day workshop conducted with the AA Digital Prototyp-ing Lab combines digital mapping of contextual data with the design of a process for its physical manifestation. Using Arduino micro controllers and basic relational scripting, we set up a range of sensors and interactive actuators and produced a series of digital models and site-specific fabrications.

This project intends to digitize and automate the simple yet play-ful process of bubble blowing. With a flux sensor and an Arduino controller, a buble is blown out of a exquisite light box when a movement of bending is detected. This allows the Light Bubble Machine to be installed in an array of locations, door hinges, bedside tables, kitchen counter tops and even outdoor decks. Key factors that make the process and thus were experimented and built into the Arduino code include: fan speed, response de-lay, sensing algorithm.

Light Bubble Machine (Physical Computation Workshop)

LocationLondon, UK StatusCompleted InstallationPartnerXuexin Snow DuanWorkshop TutorsDenis VliegheShankara Kothapuram

Three Key Components From Left to Right: Arduino Unit, Bubble Blowing Box, Computer

flux sensor

bubble hoop

fan

Arduino board

bread board

servo

Finished Light Bubble Machine in Action

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Danaus is an installation created by the Digital Fabrication seminar at the Tulane School of Architecture (TSA) in the spring semester of 2011. The piece explores the classic relationship between form and function through a series of multifaceted transitions of complexity, density, and depth.

Inspired by the work of French artist George Rousse, the student design-ers created a red cube made out of thin fragmented pieces in the shape of a hexagon. After entering Richardson Memorial Hall, one is confront-ed with the complete perspective of the cube right at the door. As one steps in and walks up the stairs in the lobby, the perfect cube reveals itself in the fragmented composition and begins a morphological pro-cess towards the floor above. Starting from small 4-sided polygons on the cube, the voids gradually morph into 5 and 6-sided shapes, simul-taneously growing in size while diminishing in spacing. The designers digitally scripted this reciprocal relationship between size and spacing to formulate another level of transition in the visual, namely from the subtractive to the additive, and further articulated it to allow Danaus a function that emerges out of its own form.

One finally arrives at the end of Danaus and realizes its programmatic use as shelves for school publications, pamphlets, and postcards, which formerly were left flat on the bench by the administrative office. These unique shelves vary widely in size and depth to accommodate different publications and reach 11 at the deepest. The very last one of them is articulated to be a perfect hexagon, referring back to the original cube and completing the morphological cycle.

LocationNew Orleans, LA StatusBuilt / Completed ResearchProgramInstallation, pamphlet shelfArea200 sf / 20 m2

RoleJazzy Li was the lead designerFoam SupplierDrew FoamCNC MillingTroy Malmstrom, LA Tech PaintingKirkfields Powder CoatingCreditsAmmar EloueiniAndrew GrahamKevin FranklinJade JiambutrSam LevinMike LandryRachel Finkelstein

Danaus - A Polymorphic Installation

projection diagram

script diagram

fabrication panel axonometric

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Rapid Structures was a short workshop that explored the use of XBox Kinect 3D scanning devices to inform the design of an experi-mental 1:1 installation, built and exhibited at the AA.

Using the scanning device to incorporate 3D environmental and/or user information to inform digitally generated design models, the workshop project explores a material system that combines the rapid production of building elements using an inventive method of CNC fabrication with a fast-assembly strategy for complex struc-tures at 1:1 scale.

LocationLondon, UKStatusBuilt Installation / Completed ResearchWorkshop TutorsMaria PaezBrendon Carlinkarleung Wai

Rapid Structures

scan physical movements obtain point cloud and make movement flow

digital transformation: subdivide bounding box based on parametric logic

file to factory process: node labeling / member extraction / cnc fabrication

axonometric of the layered parts

Academ

ic

Professional

Research

Of Interest

Chopshop UI DesignFrom UI concept to Logo

The logo design intends to keep it consistent with the color schemes used in the UI as well as the cube concept.

Using a minimal amount of lines, the logo visualises a simple cube that represents a shopping box. The feathered effect of CHOPSHOP further articulates the idea of a fast and hands on feel of the application.

Chopshop

logo for hytes group limited high school commencement t-shirt design

logo for tianxiawen social grouplogo & interface design for chopshop

beverage package design for adam

Chopshop UI Designreal time navigation in 3D

Route Marks Share Notes

Store Map

Once tabbed into the Map Page, a 3D environ-ment will showcase all the maps for the store in perspective mode. (The most similar to a street view.)

Same rules of the 3D cube navigation apply:1) Swipe left or right to roate the cube surface which in this map view will reorient the maps. This way when you walk down an aisle that is shown as a horizontal line on a map, you will never need to think about directions. Simply swipe left to make the horizontal vertical thus fit ones normal walking perspective

2) Tab a particupar floor to center the map of the floor for ease of view.

3) Swipe up or down to rotate the cube to its top or bottom surface, in which case a 2D map will be shown

4) Double tab to zoom: The map should be detailed enough that the most zoomed in level would only show the immediate two shelves around you and the aisle you are walking on

Graphic Design

www.bl-dg.com

Web Design

buckminster fullers dome, vitra campus, germany

Photography

ciutat de la justicia by david chipperfield architects, barcelona, spain

Bibliothque nationale de France by Dominique Perrault, Paris, France

Photography

CHINA AND THE SOCIAL REGIONALISM

ABSTRACT This paper begins by giving an account of the last thirty years of Chinas unprecedented transformations and credits the Western criticality that has one-directionally flowed into and influenced the theory and practice of contemporary Chinese architecture. In the meantime, the paper notes an increasing interest in attempting to understand the particular Chinese achievements and situations from the West. As we begin to see the West extracting critical points in Chinas success, the paper argues that many of the Western readings are fragmented or biased judgments. By looking at works of contemporary Chinese architects, the paper proposes a social lens through which Chinas architecture should be analyzed, understood, and further developed in the name of Social Regionalism.

Writing / Polemics

CHINA AND THE SOCIAL REGIONALISM

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Ever since the enactment of the Open and Reform policy put forward by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the Peoples Republic of China has experienced staggering waves of rapid development in almost all sectors. Remaining politically socialist, it gradually opened its doors and embraced the Western ideology, particularly that of a market economy. In hoping to grasp the outside world and acquire fresh knowledge, many college graduates flocked to western universities and schools; Meanwhile, foreign entrepreneurs flooded the newly established open market with direct investments, pouring in an unprecedented amount of human resources, technology, and capital. A previously introverted and locked ideology was exposed to the vast kaleidoscope of global cultures almost over night. From finance to real estate, from service to industry, and from music to art, there exists an overarching optimism in the mutually beneficial flow of goods and information between China and the West. In critical terms however, this flow followed a single-directional vector in that the underdeveloped China has always been learning from and catching up with the more advanced, civilized, and developed West but never the other way around. Dubbed as the bringing-in-and-going-out policy, the government spared no efforts in enthusiastically inviting capitalist expertise and encouraging Chinese professionals to proactively learn from the West.

The vectorial tenet also held true for art and architecture in this period of Chinas history. Foreign firms landed a considerable amount of projects in China as long as they partnered with a state-owned institute. Many competitions were held and sometimes commissions directly given in favor of the fame of a foreign name. By delivering a high level of excellence in large-scale, comprehensive, and technically sophisticated buildings, the foreign firms lend themselves to bridging the gap that exists in design methodologies, construction management, as well as detail specifications1. At the time, top Chinese architects and artists believed that Chinese modernity is not a force from within but rather a process of opening up to outside (mainly Western) influences.2 And the West would help address the countrys desperate need of new ideas, examples of creativity, and artistic blood3. It was exactly in this context that many collective projects, curated, funded, and supported by private sources, also sprung up all over the country. Commune by the Great Wall, ORDOS 100, Jinhua Architecture Park, Xixi Art Village, and many more attracted international attention by enlisting a dream team of famed architects from around the world, Herzog & de Meuron, Kengo Kuma, Steven Holl, just to name a few. Similar to the Weissenhofsledlung in scale and quality, these projects nevertheless lacked a collective manifesto from which theory specific to China could emerge.

1 Charlie Q. L. Xue, Building a Revolution: Chinese Architecture since 1980 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006), p 160. 2 Yung Ho Chang, Preface to Ian Luna and Thomas Tsang, On the Edge: Ten Architects From China (New York: Rizzoli, 2006). 3 Hans Ulrich Obrist, The China Interviews (Hong Kong: Office for Discourse Engineering , 2009), p33.

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Not only are contemporary practices of architecture in China influenced by their Western counterparts, the academia and the educational systems formulated under the legacies from the West as well. The School of Architecture at Tsinghua University, one of the best in China, was founded by the Father of Modern Chinese Architecture Liang Sicheng, who studied at University of Pennsylvania. The two Schools of architecture remain in close ties until this day. Countless exchange programs, symposiums, visiting professorships were set up to promote the Western pedagogy. Preferring a Western education, many high school graduates have also opted for directly going to schools like the AA in the UK, SCI-Arc in the US, or ETH in Switzerland.

In addition, more than 30 years since China opened its doors, the first generation of western-educated Chinese architects have matured, reached their prolific ages, and started assuming leadership roles in shaping an emergent Chinese urbanity. Among them, people like Yung Ho Chang, Qingyun Ma, and Yansong Ma have set the precedent of operating with a great level of autonomy with their private offices rather than under the umbrella of state-owned design institutes. The autonomy gained in the privatizing of Chinas architectural profession, not only facilitated free and personal expressions but also accelerated the ushering in of Western influences and theories to the country.

This single-directional import and internalization of Western architecture culminated in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The largest works of Foster + Partners, Herzog & de Meuron, and OMA/Rem Koolhaas were all coincidently completed within dozens of miles of each other in the same city. Exactly 30 years after the enactment of the Open and Reform policy, China was elevated to the world stage and poised to become the largest economy in this century4. However, voices of criticism and concern could be heard both from abroad and at home. Domestically, nicknames with negative connotations were given to the high-profile projects: the Birds Nest (Beijing National Stadium), the Birds Egg (the National Center for the Performing Arts), and the Birds Legs (CCTV Headquarters). From professionals to average citizens, many criticized the lack of respect for context and wasteful use of materials, which led to hefty construction costs. Internationally, the masterminds behind these labor-intensive projects also faced serious charges for their contribution to the pervasive efforts in flashing up Chinas image and their obedience to a totalitarian regime. As a propaganda machine and an institute of censorship, the state television is the ultimate instrument of repression, and Koolhaas was going to provide it with an icon with which it could, brimming with confidence, present itself to the world.5

It is just at this moment that, we began to see a shift of directionality in the flow of architectural theory and practice between China and the West, as observed by scholars and architects alike. In his essay Criticality in between China and the West, Jianfei Zhu notes that the West has enacted a move from criticality to post-criticality by absorbing the vitality of production and pragmatism in the frontier of urbanization in

4 Niall Ferguson, China: Triumph and Turmoil (Channel 4, 2012), Episode 1. 5 Edzard Mik, Koolhaas in Beijing (Amsterdam: Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design, and Architecture, 2012), p40.

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China.6 No longer is China simply a Western laboratory free to experiment, nor is it blindly importing what the West have to offer, its miraculous achievement (and pitfalls) are being studied and interpreted as lessons the West could learn from as well.

Scholars like George Baird and Michael Speaks have long expressed frustration over an architectural discourse plagued by criticality. Citing Koolhaas in his essay Criticality and its Discontents, Baird promoted efficacy above criticality, social and practical understandings above formal and ideological positions7. The slogan Crossing the River by Touching the Stones coined by Deng Xiaoping in the early days of the Reform vividly captures this spirit of pragmatism in China that the West lacks today. In addition, comparing CCTV and Ground Zero, two competitions held roughly at the same time, Dutch Essayist Edzark Mik comments on the empty rhetoric and bloodless commercialism that America has left to offer these days. China is the place where architects can afford the chance to serve the public good and provide a vision of the future.8 By exhibiting and building abroad, Chinese architects have also collectively initiated an era where their experiences and ideals offer significant relevance to global issues. In 2007, Beijing-based MAD Office headed by Yansong Ma became one of the first in China to win a major international competition. Their winning design for two residential towers named Absolute World in Ontario, Canada is slated for completion this year. MAD Dinner, a monograph of the offices work, was also published straight in English the following year.

Less than 4 years after the Olympics and 2 years the Shanghai EXPO, yet another extraordinary event marked a formal entrance of Chinese architecture to the international stage. In announcing Wang Shu and his Amerteur Architecture Studio as the 2012 Pritzker Architecture Prize recipient, Thomas J. Pritzker believes that the award represents a significant step in acknowledging the role that China will play in the development of architectural ideals. Perhaps, Mr. Wangs unexpected award can be directly comparable to US President Obamas winning of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Rather than an acknowledgement of past works and efforts, it was more of the visions the figures respectively represent in architecture and world politics that lead to the bestowment of the awards for expected importance. President Obama interpreted the award as a call to action, and Wang Shu presumably too.

The China fever is unstoppable.

In the Great Leap Forward, Koolhass observes the efficiency of Chinese architects who are designing five times the project volume in one-fifth the time, earning one-tenth the design fee with an implied efficiency of 2500 times that of an American architect9. He also notes the special intelligence and huge ingenuity created by straddling

6 Jianfei Zhu, Criticality between China and the West (Toronto: The Journal of Architecture, Volume 10 Number 5), page 497. 7 George Baird, Criticality and its Discontents (Boston: Harvard Design Magazine Fall, 2004/ Winter, 2005), 21. 8 Mik, 28. 9 Rem Koolhaas, Great Leap Forward/ Harvard Design School Project on the City (Boston: Taschen, 2006)

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apparent contradictions among Chinese architects who have learned so much from opposing world views in an extremely short period like no other.

Hans Ulrich Obrist documents the independence and autonomy of a new generation of Chinese architects and artists in his China interviews, often eliding his own presence to reveal the psychoanalytic underpinnings of this phenomenon10.

Adrian Hornsby digs deep into the bones of Chinese politics in order to understand the inner workings of a totalitarian power.11 Niall Ferguson asks how China manages to live under a Communist system of government but with a thriving Capitalist economy in a recent documentary titled China: Triump and Turmoil.12

Conversely, the same generation of architects who first brought western influences back to China is now given opportunities to not only express their voices through lectures and teaching posts worldwide but also project the new China influence through leadership roles in several top architecture schools.

In 2005, MITs School of Architecture appoints Yung Ho Chang as Dean. Subsequently in 2007, the University of Southern California names Qingyun Ma as their Dean of the School of Architecture, all presumably in the hope that the raw energy from these most brilliant minds will trickle down the ranks to its own new stock of designers, according to Joseph Grima.13 Wang Shu participates 2010 Venice Biennale with the Tiled Garden project utilizing recycled materials and in the next year becomes the first Chinese architect to hold the Kenzo Tange Visiting Professorship at Harvards Graduate School of Design. Ai Weiwei, the paramount voice in contemporary Chinese art, although temporarily silenced under government investigation in 2011, exhibits in his absence the Sunflower Seeds installation at Londons Tate Modern Turbine Hall to critical acclaim, critiquing on the made-in-china phenomenon and causing widespread debates and discussions.

Meanwhile, in the capital city of China, Columbia Universitys GSAPP sets up Studio-X Beijing to think about the future in and with all the transformative regions of the world, according to Mark Wigley, Dean of the school. Robert Mangurian and Mary-ann Ray, both of whom are professors at SCI-Arc and the Taubman School of Architecture at University of Michigan establish B.A.S.E studios in Beijing to study the citys urban and rural villages.

In response to the fast ascendency, some are exhilarated and some are concerned. But clearly the West is reacting with a sense of urgency to understand this vast Middle Kingdom that all seems too strange yet a bit familiar. Everyone from both inside and outside the country is trying to extract criticality from the overarching pragmatism that drives the development in both architectural theory and practice.

10 Obrist, 17 11 Neville Mars and Adrian Hornsby. The Chinese Dream , A Society Under Construction (Amsterdam:010 Publishers, 2008) 12 Ferguson, Episode 1 13 Joseph Grima. Instant Asia Fast Forward through the Architecture of a Changing Continent ( Italy: Skira Editore S.p.A, 2008), p15

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Doesnt this all feel like a Dj vu?

If we look at Japan half a century ago retrospectively, we see the flourishing of theories and practices that led to a unique Japanese modernity much admired and studied by the West. Influential Japanese architects in the early 20th century, Kunio Maekawa and subsequently Kenzo Tange both first studied and apprenticed under Le Corbusier and internalized the western modernist ideals to further develop their own brand of architectural theory, which was later titled Metabolism. Regarded as the last avant-garde architectural movement as well as the last moment when architecture was a public rather than a private affair14, the Metabolism saw revitalized interests in contemporary studies following the rise of a digital paradigm in architecture and design. The following generation, characterized by minimalist practices like SANAA, strengthened the recognition and significance that Japanese architecture had already gained. It has become common practice for western architects to collaborate with their Japanese counterparts from whom they often draw inspirations and references. In publications like Learning From Japan by Florian Idenburg, this sense of a new architecture within a larger social context is becoming ever clearer15.

However, situated in the middle of the ascendency of Chinese architecture, one cannot help but question what exactly China has to offer to the West in critical terms. Is it the shear efficiency that dwarfs Western developments and the totalitarian power regime that affords massive projects? Or is it the energy and optimism across the board that Chinese architects present to the world? Or rather is it the renaissance of Chinese traditions that possibly will shape up a new Asian aesthetic style? My view is that none of these constitutes the true lesson of China, for they are either fragmented readings or biased judgments formed form a purely Western standpoint.

As much as the efficiency of Chinese architects and the totalitarian decision making process can be viewed as a positive catalyst and an indispensable factor in Chinas recent successful boom, the West has neglected the inconvenient costs that came with such an achievement, which has generated much criticism within the country. In lifting millions of people out of poverty and transforming insignificant towns into global metropolises, much of the countryside was not only left forgotten but in many cases devastated by the invasion of buildings, factories, and an erosive profit-driven mentality. In some cases villages were wiped out to make way for real-estate developments without a collective consent; in other, they were stranded in the waves of urbanization and became a marginalized voice-in-refusal to the growing gap between the new and the old, the urban and the rural, the rich and the poor. Such damages have amounted immense pressure and led to a foreseeable danger of social unrest so prominent that the Communist Party had to address with a set of policies under the name of Socialist New Village.

14 Rem Koolhaas, Project Japan: Metabolism Talks (New York: Taschen, 2011) back cover synopsis 15 Florian Idenburg, Learning From Japan Single Storey Urbanism (New York: Lars Muller Publishers, 2009)

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It would also be nave for the West to be envious of the opportunities and flourishing energy currently available in China, as the nation is well on its way to a become a developed state. Sooner or later, the miraculous economic growth dependent solely on foreign exports and massive construction is going to slow down and eventually come to an end. It is inevitable by mid-21st century that China will face the same critical issues of a developed society. A transition from an extensive economic growth model to an intensive one has been called for. It is only a matter of time that the disciplines of art, design, and architecture would take similar actions against this fast-tracked, thought-lacking, and profit-based process.

There have always been a substantial amount of keen interests in traditional Chinese art and architecture. Delicate vases and chinas can often be seen among the premiere collections of Western museums and art connoisseurs. The Forbidden City in the North and Suzhou Gardens in the South continue to be top tourist attractions as well as academic subjects of scholarly studies. Old paintings and calligraphy that date back to several hundred years are being auctioned off at sky-high prices. With contemporary home-educated architects like Wang Shu, Liu Jiakun and artistis like Ai Weiwei who are very much concerned with the restoring and renewing of such traditional poetics in their work, it is natural that the West already has started to speculate the arrival of a Chinese modernity. Its interesting that theres been this idea of a universal modernity, noted Hans Obrist, But in reality multiple modernities have made it pass. So theres a Brazilian modernity, there is a Singaporean modernity, there is a Chinese modernity.16 As valid and positive such an observation sounds, it remains a very fragmented and limited reading. Based on geo-cultural conditions specific to China, this view can be compared to that of Critical Regionalism, which celebrates an aesthetic, tectonic, and perhaps stylistic engagement with art and architecture17but falls short when studied and compared to past movements like the Modernist for universal significance on the discourse and theory.

Critical regionalism is a theory that has generated lots of interests and debates in the past. Around the globe, works of James Stirling, Alvar Alto, Frank Llyod Wright, Peter Zumthor, and others all exemplified qualities of critical regionalism that respond to local colors, materials, and customs and embrace and transform traditions.18 Most recently, the work of the 2012 Pritzker Laureate Wang Shu is also being read as a Chinese manifestation of critical regionalism by the same token as the Ten Points laid out by Kenneth Frampton: It would be wed to its setting, in either rural or urban landscape; it would foster craft and push the limits of technology; it would speak to the individual and search for the universal; exalt the craft of building while at the same time encourage a new consciousness in the manufacture of machine products.

16 Obrist, 106 17 Jeremy Till and Sarah Wiggleworth. Strong Margins. Samuel Mockbee and the Rural Studio: Community Architecture, David Moos and Gail Trechsel, editors (Birmingham, AL: Birmingham Museum of Art, 2003), 80-81 18 Kenneth Frampton, Ten Points on Architecture of Regionalism: A Provisional Polemic (Center 3: New Regionalism (1987): 20-27)

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However, as Yung Hong Chang has pointed out in his interview with Hans Obrist, China is currently experiencing highly uncertain times and cultural transitions, which have enabled architects to build and serve society through design, an agenda Chang believes that the West has struggled to establish with architecture19. Thousands of people flock to urban areas along the coast every day only to find them without a basic habitat. Municipal governments are move into new office headquarters flanked by gigantic monuments and open public plazas too expansive and daunting for peasant-turned-city habitants to occupy; Multi-billion-yuan face-lifting projects by high profile international architects only worsen the popular view that architecture is a beauty contest belonged to the rich and possesses no relevance to the ordinary life of an average citizen.

In this ongoing exchange of critical ideals and practices between China and the West, what I believe China is poised to offer, through architecture and the activity of building, is a regionalism that is reloaded with humanistic concerns and charged with social ambitions, one that marries the specific social ambitions with design potentials. Such a Social Regionalism, in my view, would prompt architectural practices with deep political engagements and amplifying public effects previously unimaginable.

The Social Regionalism needs to answer the call for quality habitats for the vast population of Chinas working class, those who could not afford houses, apartments, workplaces, or other spaces in the open market and precisely those who bear a dismissive and biased view on the role of architecture.

The Tulou Project by Urbanas can be read as an experiment in this regard. Informed by the Hakkah Houses, a residential typology that date back to 300 years ago and can be found in some southern provinces in China, Urbanus reinterpreted its circular form and collective nature and

transformed it into 245 affordable housing units for low-income families. Rather than simply replicating the original layout of Hakkah Houses, Urbanus studied and experimented with internal partitions to achieve the balance between senses of individual privacy and collective life. Sited in an urban area, a series of considerations were also taken into account for the building to be stitched within the existing city fabric consisting of green areas, overpasses, highways, and residual lands. In rural areas, there have also been significant projects that exemplify the idea of a socially charged critical regionalism. The Bridge School by Li Xiaodong Atelier is a very small building that simultaneously offers four seemingly conflicting programs education 19 Obrist, 95

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space for an elementary school, a bridge connecting two old castles across the creek, a playground for the students, and a stage for the residents of this remote village in Fujian Province. The project injects a new spirit into the village, for it not only reactivates the two traditional castles with contemporary functions, but also enables educational activities to be carried out without interruption. Inside the bridge school, students absorb knowledge of all sorts whereas outside, it posits itself as a legacy of the past connecting the present with the future.

In realizing such humble projects, both Urbanus and Li Xiaodong Atelier achieve not only required functions but also a social agenda specific to the region. Although the agendas in these two projects remain distinct, they inform an architecture that carries a social stamp of universality. Occupants of the projects benefit from the programmatic spaces that meet their urgent needs but more importantly gain tangible understanding and appreciation through the everyday experience of critical architecture. The educational role such Social Regionalism architecture could play has the potential to influence governments, developers, and other potential occupants alike. By raising such awareness that architects once again could serve the public good and bear social responsibility through their design, we will be fostering a unique environment from which more works in this spirit could emerge and the systematic theorization of Social Regionalism could commence.

It is only in this context that China will pull together all the other previously discussed advantages to truly set an example of the urbanization of a developing world. Not a prediction in itself, this statement is to call for a Social Regionalism that imminently re-enacts an era where architecture is a series of publicly participatory acts rather than stationary objects or bloodless images.

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