The theme of the Eighth Biennale di Venezia in 2002 is "next", that is, the future. With this theme in mind, Deyan Sudjic, the exhibition organizer, has been searching for a key landmark project around the world that will set the agenda for architecture in the coming decade. Upon a recommendation, Deyan Sudjic came to know the Commune By The Great Wall and was highly impressed by the project's website. Soon thereafter, Zhang Xin, the project manager and a well-known real estate developer in China, received an invitation from Sudjic. The invitation stated: The Commune by the Great Wall combines aesthetic ambition and the reinforcement of Asian identity through architectural innovation, and therefore is well qualified for the architectural exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia to be held in September of this year.
Asian architects take the stage?
"By 2002, Asia will account for 57 percent of the overall world market. Two thirds of the major metropolises will be located in Asia. Before that time, it is an imperative task for architects to think about how to plan the developing urban landscape", predicts Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, winner of the 2000 Pritzker Prize for Architecture and one of the most outstanding architects in the world.
The 1990s saw China, the largest country in Asia, begin its urban reconstruction. In Beijing alone, total completed construction area soared to 2.5 million square-meters in 2001, more than twice that of the whole of Europe. When asked why she selected Asian architects to design and develop the Commune, Zhang Xin said, "Last century the majority of architectural innovations were formulated in Europe and America. That stage of architecture was theirs. However from the turn of the century, a great deal of construction has been happening in the East. It is time now that Asian architects took the stage..."
Asia is striving to build its own global cities. Quite a few of these cities are emulating and being integrated into other well-developed urban centers. In its 2001 municipal government report, Hong Kong set itself the goal of becoming an international Asian metropolis. The Taipei Council for Cultural Affairs takes pride in making efforts to create a capital of Asian cultures. In addition, a Singaporean Institute also points to its national goal of establishing Singapore as an international center.
However, certain problems are surfacing. Cities are growing alike, just like airports. For Asian architects, nothing is more urgent than the question of how to preserve regional cultures and characteristics amid a process of rapid globalization. McDonald's and KFC have become available around every corner in Seoul and Shanghai. You can't tell the difference between the skyscrapers of Manila and those of Manhattan. This is a time when some Asian designers have begun to worry about the current approaches to development for their cities.
As the first Chinese architect invited to the La Biennale di Venezia, Yung Ho Chang has his own way of thinking when it comes to a definition of 'Asian Architecture'. So-called Asian architecture has two categories. The first one is native and traditional architecture, which has little or nothing to do with modern economic activity: examples include the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The other category is modern architecture, which is, as it happens, often highly commercialized. Generally this type of architecture is commissioned by big corporations, or major architecture institutes in China. This latter category is the product of profits and institutional pressure. The creative force is actually found in architectural design studios. Under normal conditions, corporations should be able to compete with design studios head to head for better quality and market share. But in Asia the reality is, big corporations have taken over the market. In the 1960s, a few individual design studios started to appear in Japan. But you can still count on your finger the number of small design studios in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Modern Asian architecture is in fact still in its infancy.
The Asian Spirit in Retrospect
Some people said September 11th was not only an event, but also the end of an era: It forced people to re-think the strong faith in and blind pursuit of high-tech industrialization upheld by Western civilization. The Asian spirit is being reinstated, the essence of which embraces a harmonious relationship with nature, and advocates peace and tolerance.
However, in the past few decades, Asian nations have sped up their modernization by emulating the Western industrialization model, and in doing so, are paying a significant price. It is foreseeable that, in the future process of globalization, people will turn their eyes to Asia. Asian aestheticism and value systems will replace the Western admiration for luxury and its logic, which alienates people from life's fundamental elements. The world will be restored with a more human and natural approach to development. The Commune may be the beginning of this exploration.
Stretching 3.1 miles, the Commune is situated in the valley of the Beijing Shuiguan Great Wall. It is a 50-minute drive from downtown Beijing. Zhang Xin has explained in an interview the original motivation for the project. One reason was to set up a stage showcasing the work of avant-garde architects, and hopefully to discover or uncover new talents. A second reason was to build an art museum displaying some new possible life styles, with the hope of creating an architectural museum that would introduce modern residential architecture to China. For this purpose, Zhang Xin has recruited, by various means, the top architects in Asia. Except for the requirements of using local construction materials, local resources and local labor, the architects enjoyed the utmost freedom in utilizing their creativity. The project's initial phase includes eleven villas and one clubhouse with a theatre, an art gallery, restaurants and several conference rooms. The initial phase has taken about two years to complete, and is scheduled to open to the public in May 2002. Serving its initial purpose as an architectural museum open for to the public, the twelve buildings will not be for sale, but will be introduced to the market as boutique hotels.
As the general planner, Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim hoped in his initial overall planning of the Commune project to provide a place for architects to explore the subject of interrelationships. The architects are expected to disclose the essence of modern architectural art through their individual expressions. Take his design, villa No.4, as an example. His ideas are to unravel the contradiction between the inner orientations manifested by traditional residences and the externalization characteristic of modern residences, and to embody the design with the traditional Chinese philosophy of art that centers on simplicity, leisure, and a subtlety of meaning.
As for the choice of the ancient Great Wall as a backdrop for avant-garde architecture, Rocco Yim did not believe there were any contradictions. In Yim's philosophy, architectural art is different from other arts like music, painting, or sculpture in that architecture cannot exist by itself. Architecture is all about interrelationship. If it is considered an art, architecture is a relational art, which stresses the relationship between the structure and its surroundings, between the structure and its neighboring structures, and between the structure, time and the weather. The value of the Commune lies in the fact that it represents the orientation of modern Chinese culture. The prosperity of a culture is, to some extent, contingent on whether it is derived from a rich and long history. But the key is to see if history is a burden or a catalyst to cultural progress. The Commune lies in an area with a profound cultural heritage (Shuiguan Great Wall), yet has not been intimidated by that heritage. In fact, the Commune shares the same natural setting with, and takes advantage of that heritage, as avant-garde architectural art. There is a 2000-year gap between the Great Wall and the Commune, but they are both ultimately from nature, and surrender to nature. The expressions and components in these two structures no doubt differ from each other as they were incepted at different historical periods. Yet, they both shine through their harmonious coexistence with nature.
After all, there are few architectural projects similar to the Commune. Due to the varying elements in weather, geography, materials and architectural history in different Asian countries, today's Asian architects are striving to create architecture that embodies regional features. Tunny Lee, professor of architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, thinks that Asian people are able to handle conflicts adeptly. Though globalization has made cities look seemingly alike, this maybe just a superficial phenomenon. As Winston Churchill put it so well, we build the architecture, and are then in turn built by the architecture. In measuring the impact of a piece of architecture on a specific area, the important element of usage has been neglected too often. "There may be skyscrapers copied from Houston or Atlanta in Shanghai, but people working in these buildings are still speaking Chinese. Asian customs and cultures will not disappear just because of the availability of McDonald's hamburgers."
Does commerce bridge the gap between architecture and art?
Unlike other previous entries at the La Biennale di Venezia exhibition, the Commune represents a commercial project. Some insiders concluded that this highlights the importance of commercial investment in sponsoring creativity.
In the forum on "architects' crisis and transformation" at the seventh La Biennale di Venezia, participants agreed that architects were facing an unprecedented embarrassment. On one hand, people's central concerns are urban expansion speed and project profits. Most projects strictly follow the investors' wishes; on the other hand, many talented architects and creative designers fail to adapt to the market. Only commerce can aid communication between architecture and art, introduce talented designers to the public, and enhance communication within society. Savvy business people with foresight and a sense of social responsibility are the best force in uncovering talents and encouraging creativity.
Architecture in China has become a subject of frequent criticism. Most people attribute the primary responsibility in this industry to the real estate developers. The developers are often criticized as being shortsighted in their desire for quick profits and for a lack of refined taste. Indeed, the uniform urban landscape and ubiquitous European architectural styles are valid and inevitable concerns. Real estate developers cannot shy away from their responsibilities. In fact, after modest beginnings a small group of real estate developers have begun to achieve their ideals in terms of social responsibility. "I've known some wealthy developers who've frequently been abroad, and brought back many new ideas and innovative concepts that have inspired me. Some of them are now the avant-garde of the era, much more cutting-edge than we are", an experimenting architect says.
At the Commune, leaning against the window, you can see the space between the winding Great Wall and its beacon towers. The mountains are not particularly attractive, and they even seem a bit bleak. It is exactly this place once forsaken by farmers that has now received 24 million RMB in investment from Zhang Xin and her husband, and used as a stage for the twelve architects from different Asian countries and areas to realize their designs. What's more, this project has no connection to any government bodies.
Some prophesize that only the best architects can create the architecture of the future. The aforementioned Koolhaas from the Netherlands is no doubt one of the best architects. But even Koolhaas designed the flagship store for Prada, a high-end fashion store. Koolhaas says, "Using imagination and illusion for the benefit of the high-end fashion industry is nothing out of the ordinary. Try to imagine a pair of shoes or a handbag displayed in an artful museum setting, just like a piece of art, and with prices that are comparable to artwork. How could anyone still think of the experience as just shopping in a store? We should call it all art! The desire to pave the path to high-end sales by involving expensive art concepts is the common approach of all high-end merchandise brands."
Indeed the above paragraph is the best footnote for the idea of "bridging architecture and art by commerce." Pan Shiyi asserts that it is a traditional idea for commerce and art to be unrelated and unattached. In an ever-changing society, savvy business people should be able to uncover the value of art through business development. In his own words, "the real reason behind the foundation of the La Biennale di Venezia is to bring public attention to a group of poor and unappreciated artists."
Asian architects take the stage?
"By 2002, Asia will account for 57 percent of the overall world market. Two thirds of the major metropolises will be located in Asia. Before that time, it is an imperative task for architects to think about how to plan the developing urban landscape", predicts Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, winner of the 2000 Pritzker Prize for Architecture and one of the most outstanding architects in the world.
The 1990s saw China, the largest country in Asia, begin its urban reconstruction. In Beijing alone, total completed construction area soared to 2.5 million square-meters in 2001, more than twice that of the whole of Europe. When asked why she selected Asian architects to design and develop the Commune, Zhang Xin said, "Last century the majority of architectural innovations were formulated in Europe and America. That stage of architecture was theirs. However from the turn of the century, a great deal of construction has been happening in the East. It is time now that Asian architects took the stage..."
Asia is striving to build its own global cities. Quite a few of these cities are emulating and being integrated into other well-developed urban centers. In its 2001 municipal government report, Hong Kong set itself the goal of becoming an international Asian metropolis. The Taipei Council for Cultural Affairs takes pride in making efforts to create a capital of Asian cultures. In addition, a Singaporean Institute also points to its national goal of establishing Singapore as an international center.
However, certain problems are surfacing. Cities are growing alike, just like airports. For Asian architects, nothing is more urgent than the question of how to preserve regional cultures and characteristics amid a process of rapid globalization. McDonald's and KFC have become available around every corner in Seoul and Shanghai. You can't tell the difference between the skyscrapers of Manila and those of Manhattan. This is a time when some Asian designers have begun to worry about the current approaches to development for their cities.
As the first Chinese architect invited to the La Biennale di Venezia, Yung Ho Chang has his own way of thinking when it comes to a definition of 'Asian Architecture'. So-called Asian architecture has two categories. The first one is native and traditional architecture, which has little or nothing to do with modern economic activity: examples include the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The other category is modern architecture, which is, as it happens, often highly commercialized. Generally this type of architecture is commissioned by big corporations, or major architecture institutes in China. This latter category is the product of profits and institutional pressure. The creative force is actually found in architectural design studios. Under normal conditions, corporations should be able to compete with design studios head to head for better quality and market share. But in Asia the reality is, big corporations have taken over the market. In the 1960s, a few individual design studios started to appear in Japan. But you can still count on your finger the number of small design studios in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Modern Asian architecture is in fact still in its infancy.
The Asian Spirit in Retrospect
Some people said September 11th was not only an event, but also the end of an era: It forced people to re-think the strong faith in and blind pursuit of high-tech industrialization upheld by Western civilization. The Asian spirit is being reinstated, the essence of which embraces a harmonious relationship with nature, and advocates peace and tolerance.
However, in the past few decades, Asian nations have sped up their modernization by emulating the Western industrialization model, and in doing so, are paying a significant price. It is foreseeable that, in the future process of globalization, people will turn their eyes to Asia. Asian aestheticism and value systems will replace the Western admiration for luxury and its logic, which alienates people from life's fundamental elements. The world will be restored with a more human and natural approach to development. The Commune may be the beginning of this exploration.
Stretching 3.1 miles, the Commune is situated in the valley of the Beijing Shuiguan Great Wall. It is a 50-minute drive from downtown Beijing. Zhang Xin has explained in an interview the original motivation for the project. One reason was to set up a stage showcasing the work of avant-garde architects, and hopefully to discover or uncover new talents. A second reason was to build an art museum displaying some new possible life styles, with the hope of creating an architectural museum that would introduce modern residential architecture to China. For this purpose, Zhang Xin has recruited, by various means, the top architects in Asia. Except for the requirements of using local construction materials, local resources and local labor, the architects enjoyed the utmost freedom in utilizing their creativity. The project's initial phase includes eleven villas and one clubhouse with a theatre, an art gallery, restaurants and several conference rooms. The initial phase has taken about two years to complete, and is scheduled to open to the public in May 2002. Serving its initial purpose as an architectural museum open for to the public, the twelve buildings will not be for sale, but will be introduced to the market as boutique hotels.
As the general planner, Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim hoped in his initial overall planning of the Commune project to provide a place for architects to explore the subject of interrelationships. The architects are expected to disclose the essence of modern architectural art through their individual expressions. Take his design, villa No.4, as an example. His ideas are to unravel the contradiction between the inner orientations manifested by traditional residences and the externalization characteristic of modern residences, and to embody the design with the traditional Chinese philosophy of art that centers on simplicity, leisure, and a subtlety of meaning.
As for the choice of the ancient Great Wall as a backdrop for avant-garde architecture, Rocco Yim did not believe there were any contradictions. In Yim's philosophy, architectural art is different from other arts like music, painting, or sculpture in that architecture cannot exist by itself. Architecture is all about interrelationship. If it is considered an art, architecture is a relational art, which stresses the relationship between the structure and its surroundings, between the structure and its neighboring structures, and between the structure, time and the weather. The value of the Commune lies in the fact that it represents the orientation of modern Chinese culture. The prosperity of a culture is, to some extent, contingent on whether it is derived from a rich and long history. But the key is to see if history is a burden or a catalyst to cultural progress. The Commune lies in an area with a profound cultural heritage (Shuiguan Great Wall), yet has not been intimidated by that heritage. In fact, the Commune shares the same natural setting with, and takes advantage of that heritage, as avant-garde architectural art. There is a 2000-year gap between the Great Wall and the Commune, but they are both ultimately from nature, and surrender to nature. The expressions and components in these two structures no doubt differ from each other as they were incepted at different historical periods. Yet, they both shine through their harmonious coexistence with nature.
After all, there are few architectural projects similar to the Commune. Due to the varying elements in weather, geography, materials and architectural history in different Asian countries, today's Asian architects are striving to create architecture that embodies regional features. Tunny Lee, professor of architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, thinks that Asian people are able to handle conflicts adeptly. Though globalization has made cities look seemingly alike, this maybe just a superficial phenomenon. As Winston Churchill put it so well, we build the architecture, and are then in turn built by the architecture. In measuring the impact of a piece of architecture on a specific area, the important element of usage has been neglected too often. "There may be skyscrapers copied from Houston or Atlanta in Shanghai, but people working in these buildings are still speaking Chinese. Asian customs and cultures will not disappear just because of the availability of McDonald's hamburgers."
Does commerce bridge the gap between architecture and art?
Unlike other previous entries at the La Biennale di Venezia exhibition, the Commune represents a commercial project. Some insiders concluded that this highlights the importance of commercial investment in sponsoring creativity.
In the forum on "architects' crisis and transformation" at the seventh La Biennale di Venezia, participants agreed that architects were facing an unprecedented embarrassment. On one hand, people's central concerns are urban expansion speed and project profits. Most projects strictly follow the investors' wishes; on the other hand, many talented architects and creative designers fail to adapt to the market. Only commerce can aid communication between architecture and art, introduce talented designers to the public, and enhance communication within society. Savvy business people with foresight and a sense of social responsibility are the best force in uncovering talents and encouraging creativity.
Architecture in China has become a subject of frequent criticism. Most people attribute the primary responsibility in this industry to the real estate developers. The developers are often criticized as being shortsighted in their desire for quick profits and for a lack of refined taste. Indeed, the uniform urban landscape and ubiquitous European architectural styles are valid and inevitable concerns. Real estate developers cannot shy away from their responsibilities. In fact, after modest beginnings a small group of real estate developers have begun to achieve their ideals in terms of social responsibility. "I've known some wealthy developers who've frequently been abroad, and brought back many new ideas and innovative concepts that have inspired me. Some of them are now the avant-garde of the era, much more cutting-edge than we are", an experimenting architect says.
At the Commune, leaning against the window, you can see the space between the winding Great Wall and its beacon towers. The mountains are not particularly attractive, and they even seem a bit bleak. It is exactly this place once forsaken by farmers that has now received 24 million RMB in investment from Zhang Xin and her husband, and used as a stage for the twelve architects from different Asian countries and areas to realize their designs. What's more, this project has no connection to any government bodies.
Some prophesize that only the best architects can create the architecture of the future. The aforementioned Koolhaas from the Netherlands is no doubt one of the best architects. But even Koolhaas designed the flagship store for Prada, a high-end fashion store. Koolhaas says, "Using imagination and illusion for the benefit of the high-end fashion industry is nothing out of the ordinary. Try to imagine a pair of shoes or a handbag displayed in an artful museum setting, just like a piece of art, and with prices that are comparable to artwork. How could anyone still think of the experience as just shopping in a store? We should call it all art! The desire to pave the path to high-end sales by involving expensive art concepts is the common approach of all high-end merchandise brands."
Indeed the above paragraph is the best footnote for the idea of "bridging architecture and art by commerce." Pan Shiyi asserts that it is a traditional idea for commerce and art to be unrelated and unattached. In an ever-changing society, savvy business people should be able to uncover the value of art through business development. In his own words, "the real reason behind the foundation of the La Biennale di Venezia is to bring public attention to a group of poor and unappreciated artists."
