Avant-garde and alternative, Zhang Xin views the world's architecture from the shoulders of the talents with whom she surrounds herself.
Open and tolerant, she is a woman without a woman's weaknesses.
She makes the most of her strengths to compensate for her drawbacks.
It is nearing midnight in March 2002, the noise and excitement of daytime has receded from Beijing's SOHO New Town. The eye-catching, colorful residential/office complex shines through the darkness of the night.
We are in one of the most prosperous business districts in Beijing. In comparison to surrounding buildings, SOHO New Town is especially controversial because of its distinct colors, its progressive conceptual design and of course its developer, the well-known Pan Shiyi with his unusual background. Having survived earlier ridicule and criticism followed by flattery and admiration, SOHO New Town has emerged to become a showcase for Beijing's often less-than-inspiring architecture.
As Pan Shiyi's wife, Zhang Xin cannot help feeling both proud and satisfied. On Christmas Eve 2001, Zhang brought more than three hundred celebrities from all walks of life to SOHO New Town for a grand ball. They needed more than half the human resources and equipment from Beijing's 5-star Wangfujing Hotel to put on the party. All the guests came wearing black ties or formal evening gowns. Zhang even hosted a few fun activities including contests for best alternative outfit, most elegant dress and best-dressed couple. That day, Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi were the hosts, the award presenters and even the fashion models. Zhang has always been ready to learn from and borrow trends from other industries. This particular occasion was an excellent demonstration of her open-minded and detail-oriented work ethic.
"Being quiet is not my style"
"Being quiet is not my style", says Zhang. It's ok to say that after you have been voted iLook Magazine's 'most intelligent woman'. Her resume is full of less well-known but impressive achievements. In 1992, she obtained her Master's degree in Development Economics from Cambridge University in Great Britain; from 1992 to 1995, she took positions on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs and then with the Traveler's Group where she was responsible for direct investment projects in China. Currently she is President of Beijing Redstone Industrie, in charge of project planning, design and construction at SOHO New Town, Jianwai SOHO, the Commune by the Great Wall and Bo'ao Canal Village.
There are at least four ongoing projects at Redstone, all of which are managed by Zhang and her husband. The battle to complete SOHO New Town was barely finished when they started on the Commune by the Great Wall; an effort to fulfill Zhang Xin's long-held vision of creating "collectable architectural art." Soon afterwards, Bo'ao Canal Village in Hainan had its grand opening.
Like an ocean, Zhang Xin's creativity is infinite and everlasting. Outsiders are often amazed by the developer's vigor and skill in simultaneously managing all of these projects. They find it especially exceptional in a male-dominated industry and wonder how a woman could be in control of such complicated projects while still remaining poised and seemingly trouble-free.
When Redstone's busy President finally sat in front of me, I was worried that she may refuse to answer my questions and I felt uncertain about what to expect from this powerful lady. However, when I started talking Zhang Xin did not hesitate to speak freely and frankly about herself, her family and the future of her company. She talked with ease and confidence, as though she had the answers to all life's complicated questions.
She looked energetic and cheerful. Her clothes were fashionable and graceful. A pot of white butterfly orchids was the only decoration in her office. On a big table there were stacks of periodicals and books on real estate and architecture. Everything reflected her self-confident and intelligent nature.
The colorful framework of the main buildings make SOHO New Town and Jianwai SOHO the progressive, alternative and cool spots to live and work in Beijing. An insider from the real estate industry says, "Zhang Xin's advantage is that she has a more advanced vision than other real estate developers. She stands on the shoulders of architectural talents to view the world's architectural landscape. She is avant-garde and alternative. She is a woman without a woman's weaknesses. She discovers talents and masterminds her own theories. All these remarkable qualities have not only brought her prosperity in the real estate business, but have also won her recognition as a discoverer of young architectural talent."
Some people believe that the marriage between Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi was based on her attraction to his money. Pan had been a well-known businessman in China since the age of 25 while Zhang Xin was relatively unknown in Beijing's power circles. But in fact, Zhang Xin's net worth was greater than Pan's when they got married. Upon leaving Wall Street, she had already worked there for four years with a salary of several hundred thousand dollars per year. Pan, however, was still working for someone else and had few personal assets. He once said that no one supported him when he was starting his business, but Zhang Xin thinks that quitting her job was the ultimate support she could give him.
"As a Chinese on Wall Street, I knew what my future would be in twenty years." However, Zhang Xin was born to experiment and explore the unknown. She was always looking for something she could call her own, something that allowed her to dream. She eventually came back to China because of Pan Shiyi's dreams.
For a long time Zhang Xin remained behind the scenes assisting her husband, mainly handling outside investment. With her Wall Street background, Zhang Xin was familiar with the investment banks and had many friends in the industry. She insisted that they needed a huge amount of foreign capital to start the project. Pan told her at the time, "no matter who wants to work with me, I will give them a share of the profits. I don't care about their background, only the about money." Zhang could only laugh at herself saying, "All the management methods I learned from Wall Street were discarded and criticized here. The first thing other people would say when they talked about me was: 'This is a foreign wife, (she is) no use, no use'."
Creating a "legacy of genius" using her intuition
At Redstone, Zhang Xin is the President and Pan Shiyi is the General Manager; nobody can deny the fact that Pan is more experienced. After all he has been in the real estate business in China for many years. Pan says that his wife, who used to know nothing about architecture, has helped bring about great changes in the Chinese real estate industry. With Zhang Xin, their company's architecture is now not only different in concept, but also rather dramatically different in style. Pan thinks that Zhang has been very influential throughout the whole real estate industry in China. However, Zhang Xin states that the reason for her success is not how well she knows the industry, but rather that she is a woman. A woman's intuition has enabled her to discover talent with sharp eyes, and even to "create" talents one after another like magic...
Yung Ho Chang: Carry an umbrella when you want to go sightseeing
Frankly speaking, Zhang Xin still knew nothing about architecture at the end of 1997, but she wanted to build a villa in Huairou County. The villa is now known as "Mountain Dialogue Space." At the time, even Zhang Xin did not know what she wanted to build. Like most people, when she does not understand something she tries to figure it out. Zhang Xin told me, "I remembered that the gardens in Suzhou were the among the best when I was a child. Therefore, I went all the way to Suzhou and took a lot of pictures of them. First I thought that it was a good idea but later I knew 'this is not a process of creation but rather imitation at most. Not original.' That is why I gave up the idea."
Soon after, a painter friend introduced Zhang to Yung Ho Chang. "I remember walking through a residential building where the first room in the hall was a toilet. The whole building smelt really bad and paint was peeling of the walls in large patches. Yung Ho Chang and his wife Lu Lijia were there showing students how to make models. I noticed a slightly chubby person wearing a hat. He looked very honest and sincere. My friend introduced me to him saying, 'Zhang Xin wants to build a villa and is looking for an architect.' Without saying anything he showed me what he was doing at the time. I thought this guy is quite interesting--he was surrounded by many small paper houses and boxes. He was cutting and pasting so happily there! I thought maybe he could help me, so I asked him to have a look at the site of the villa. He went with me and in fact, before that day, he had never even built a complete house. He used to be an architecture professor in an American university. When I got to know him he had just come back to China to open a small agency. Everything was still only on paper; not even one finished project as a model. It can be said that just hiring him was itself a risk! But at that time, I did not understand risk or what architecture was so I brought him to see the construction site."
"Walking around the site several times, Yung Ho Chang said, 'This is a good place! What kind of house do you want?' I thought that the area was so pretty. There were green mountains, big trees and weird rocks. In such a wild place, I told him I didn't want to feel like the house was separating me from the outdoors. Yung Ho Chang understood immediately: 'You want to carry an umbrella when you go sightseeing, right?' A few days later he called me and said he had an idea. I saw he had designed a lopsided roof, just like the big rake that the pig carries in Journey to the West. It also looked like somebody's head was coming out of the roof, looking at the scenery. It was wonderful! I immediately felt happy about the design; it was what I wanted."
"Even though I could not fully appreciate his architectural concepts, I knew I would want to live in that building after seeing his model. With this confidence, I told him about our budget. Actually, just like him, I did not have a precise estimate. Neither of us knew how much money we would need to spend to finish this project. Due to lack of experience from both of us, the project turned out to be an experiment. We built a little, torn down a little, and then built a little more. It took a lot of energy."
Yung Ho Chang was not good at engineering, so he found an expert engineer. But the expert was not able to explain the various issues to them clearly. A house is a whole system of projects. Other than the main building, there are many related issues like water, heating, lighting, framework and materials. "Conflicts arose in different aspects of the project. Over the next couple of years even after the project was finished, we could not stop renovating it." Though a frustrating experience, Zhang Xin learned a great deal about architecture. This was one of her first experiences with the construction industry. Zhang Xin now understood, from the ground up, how a house was built and the many issues and problems architects must face.
Gary Chang: Make a house that supports nine possible lifestyles
South American architect Antonio said this about Zhang Xin when China Central TV interviewed him: "Zhang Xin is very open-minded and good at accepting and tolerating new foreign ideas. That is precisely the precondition of our collaboration..."
Besides Yung Ho Chang, whose reputation was created through Zhang Xin's project, Riken Yamamoto, Antonio, Gary Chang, Cui Kai, Ai Weiwei, Seung H-Sang, Rocco Yim, Shigeru Ban and Kengo Kuma are all part of Zhang Xin's elite talent pool. At Redstone, Zhang Xin encourages employees to be "open"--to be tolerant, accepting, and never to be close-minded.
"Sometimes you will encounter something you might not be able to accept. But you still have to keep an open mind; otherwise, you can never improve yourself. Before 1995, I was in finance on Wall Street. After 1995, I was engaged in real estate development. The gap is quite big, isn't it? This has a lot to do with the fact that I have a strong curiosity about many things around me and I keep an open mind."
Frank and open, Zhang Xin told me an interesting anecdote, "Architect Gary Chang designed a villa called 'Suitcase'. He is not very tall but he is very aggressive. He's from Hong Kong and is thirty-eight years old. He's the youngest among all the twelve architects. When he came to present his design, he brought with him a rectangular box with an aluminum handle. He put the box on the table and opened a small door with a key on one side. He pulled the handle and a piece of wood dropped from the inside. He pushed the board back and a crude glass model appeared. Afterwards, he talked to us about a concept house. When he said he would design a house like this for me, I was very uncertain."
Chang answered, "We don't know who will live there, sometimes you will live there alone, sometimes with a friend, but you rarely know too far in advance. Therefore, we must consider the flexibility of the house. You constantly emphasize the adaptability of houses, so I designed this house as a multi-purpose one. The adaptability of a house is its life. A house can be designed to last for a hundred years but people's requirements for a house cannot be the same for a hundred years. A house should adapt to the way people change and develop. Thus, I've made a house capable of supporting nine possible lifestyles."
That night Zhang Xin tried her best to convince Gary to give up on this idea. She explained, "Your design is not practical, not realistic and it won't sell here." However, Gary insisted on his ideas. He said: "Listen, in the 1920s, when classical was the mainstream, Le Corbusier came up with five principles and shocked the whole world. What I'm doing now is quite different from Le Corbusier's designs, but it's no big deal!"
Zhang Xin carefully considered what Gary said. After Gary went back to Hong Kong, Zhang Xin sent him an email telling him that she thought his design was reasonable and gave him the go-ahead.
Shigeru Ban: Completely transforming the nature of architecture
Among the twelve architects working on the Commune by the Great Wall project, there is a Japanese named Shigeru Ban. He is known for utilizing unconventional materials such as paper in his designs. When people think about paper, they think of it as vulnerable, that is has no capacity for support. As a matter of fact, a house built with paper is stronger than one built with steel. There are many types of paper such as the rotating drum in a fax machine. Shigeru Ban decided to strengthen the rotating drum, which after waterproofing treatment, was as tough as steel-reinforced concrete. Only a genius could have such an imagination.
At one point Zhang Xin told him not to continue with his paper house. She also asked if he had any other ideas. He answered that he would come have a look. Zhang Xin says, "The first time I did not give him any limitations. In order to have some ideas about the big picture, I thought he would first look at other architects' designs and the finished projects. But he didn't. Instead, he went straight to the construction materials market. In fact, he did not go there to search for materials, but rather for inspirations. Later on, he told me with great confidence that he would build a bamboo house. He would split the bamboo and bond them into boards and take advantage of the natural qualities of bamboo...I was excited by his initiative. We experimented many times on ways to make bamboo boards tougher than wood. During this process, we kept in constant communication and made many adjustments. We were not just trying to change the color of a material--we were trying to change the very nature of it! This is an original art. It's no wonder that Mr. Shigeru Ban is now one of the world's best known architects."
Zhang Xin's secret weapon: She knows she is going to win
What Zhang Xin is most proud of is that she provides these genius-slash-architects with an environment and a working style that allows them to fully express their creativity. She said that this is her secret weapon.
"At first, a good architect may come up with one hundred designs. The point is getting what you really want. Every project is different. In big cities, people want to be metropolitan; they look for ways to enhance modern lifestyles and quality of life. In Jianwai SOHO and SOHO New Town, we required architects to put their emphasis on the details. They must be skilled in this respect. In general, it can be said that we introduced the minimalist architectural concept of "less is more" to China. In real estate development, we must have specific embodiments of this concept. This way, the architects understand immediately: 'Oh! You want minimalism.' Of course, when we chose these architects, we already knew they were minimalists. Our overall style is similar. After an architect arrived, I would tell him what kind of clientele we have and what our budget is. They don't understand some concepts like 5,000 Yuan per square meter. So we have to constantly ask them to tell us their ideas and then go to the materials market to ask about the price of the materials they require. It is an interactive process. Maybe after his fifth design, I would tell him that he needs to modify some aspects. For example, this design may appeal to older people but our clientele is younger. It is not progressive enough and you should make it more avant-garde." Zhang Xin was, as always, very delightful while talking about her 'secret weapon'.
Open and tolerant, she is a woman without a woman's weaknesses.
She makes the most of her strengths to compensate for her drawbacks.
It is nearing midnight in March 2002, the noise and excitement of daytime has receded from Beijing's SOHO New Town. The eye-catching, colorful residential/office complex shines through the darkness of the night.
We are in one of the most prosperous business districts in Beijing. In comparison to surrounding buildings, SOHO New Town is especially controversial because of its distinct colors, its progressive conceptual design and of course its developer, the well-known Pan Shiyi with his unusual background. Having survived earlier ridicule and criticism followed by flattery and admiration, SOHO New Town has emerged to become a showcase for Beijing's often less-than-inspiring architecture.
As Pan Shiyi's wife, Zhang Xin cannot help feeling both proud and satisfied. On Christmas Eve 2001, Zhang brought more than three hundred celebrities from all walks of life to SOHO New Town for a grand ball. They needed more than half the human resources and equipment from Beijing's 5-star Wangfujing Hotel to put on the party. All the guests came wearing black ties or formal evening gowns. Zhang even hosted a few fun activities including contests for best alternative outfit, most elegant dress and best-dressed couple. That day, Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi were the hosts, the award presenters and even the fashion models. Zhang has always been ready to learn from and borrow trends from other industries. This particular occasion was an excellent demonstration of her open-minded and detail-oriented work ethic.
"Being quiet is not my style"
"Being quiet is not my style", says Zhang. It's ok to say that after you have been voted iLook Magazine's 'most intelligent woman'. Her resume is full of less well-known but impressive achievements. In 1992, she obtained her Master's degree in Development Economics from Cambridge University in Great Britain; from 1992 to 1995, she took positions on Wall Street at Goldman Sachs and then with the Traveler's Group where she was responsible for direct investment projects in China. Currently she is President of Beijing Redstone Industrie, in charge of project planning, design and construction at SOHO New Town, Jianwai SOHO, the Commune by the Great Wall and Bo'ao Canal Village.
There are at least four ongoing projects at Redstone, all of which are managed by Zhang and her husband. The battle to complete SOHO New Town was barely finished when they started on the Commune by the Great Wall; an effort to fulfill Zhang Xin's long-held vision of creating "collectable architectural art." Soon afterwards, Bo'ao Canal Village in Hainan had its grand opening.
Like an ocean, Zhang Xin's creativity is infinite and everlasting. Outsiders are often amazed by the developer's vigor and skill in simultaneously managing all of these projects. They find it especially exceptional in a male-dominated industry and wonder how a woman could be in control of such complicated projects while still remaining poised and seemingly trouble-free.
When Redstone's busy President finally sat in front of me, I was worried that she may refuse to answer my questions and I felt uncertain about what to expect from this powerful lady. However, when I started talking Zhang Xin did not hesitate to speak freely and frankly about herself, her family and the future of her company. She talked with ease and confidence, as though she had the answers to all life's complicated questions.
She looked energetic and cheerful. Her clothes were fashionable and graceful. A pot of white butterfly orchids was the only decoration in her office. On a big table there were stacks of periodicals and books on real estate and architecture. Everything reflected her self-confident and intelligent nature.
The colorful framework of the main buildings make SOHO New Town and Jianwai SOHO the progressive, alternative and cool spots to live and work in Beijing. An insider from the real estate industry says, "Zhang Xin's advantage is that she has a more advanced vision than other real estate developers. She stands on the shoulders of architectural talents to view the world's architectural landscape. She is avant-garde and alternative. She is a woman without a woman's weaknesses. She discovers talents and masterminds her own theories. All these remarkable qualities have not only brought her prosperity in the real estate business, but have also won her recognition as a discoverer of young architectural talent."
Some people believe that the marriage between Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi was based on her attraction to his money. Pan had been a well-known businessman in China since the age of 25 while Zhang Xin was relatively unknown in Beijing's power circles. But in fact, Zhang Xin's net worth was greater than Pan's when they got married. Upon leaving Wall Street, she had already worked there for four years with a salary of several hundred thousand dollars per year. Pan, however, was still working for someone else and had few personal assets. He once said that no one supported him when he was starting his business, but Zhang Xin thinks that quitting her job was the ultimate support she could give him.
"As a Chinese on Wall Street, I knew what my future would be in twenty years." However, Zhang Xin was born to experiment and explore the unknown. She was always looking for something she could call her own, something that allowed her to dream. She eventually came back to China because of Pan Shiyi's dreams.
For a long time Zhang Xin remained behind the scenes assisting her husband, mainly handling outside investment. With her Wall Street background, Zhang Xin was familiar with the investment banks and had many friends in the industry. She insisted that they needed a huge amount of foreign capital to start the project. Pan told her at the time, "no matter who wants to work with me, I will give them a share of the profits. I don't care about their background, only the about money." Zhang could only laugh at herself saying, "All the management methods I learned from Wall Street were discarded and criticized here. The first thing other people would say when they talked about me was: 'This is a foreign wife, (she is) no use, no use'."
Creating a "legacy of genius" using her intuition
At Redstone, Zhang Xin is the President and Pan Shiyi is the General Manager; nobody can deny the fact that Pan is more experienced. After all he has been in the real estate business in China for many years. Pan says that his wife, who used to know nothing about architecture, has helped bring about great changes in the Chinese real estate industry. With Zhang Xin, their company's architecture is now not only different in concept, but also rather dramatically different in style. Pan thinks that Zhang has been very influential throughout the whole real estate industry in China. However, Zhang Xin states that the reason for her success is not how well she knows the industry, but rather that she is a woman. A woman's intuition has enabled her to discover talent with sharp eyes, and even to "create" talents one after another like magic...
Yung Ho Chang: Carry an umbrella when you want to go sightseeing
Frankly speaking, Zhang Xin still knew nothing about architecture at the end of 1997, but she wanted to build a villa in Huairou County. The villa is now known as "Mountain Dialogue Space." At the time, even Zhang Xin did not know what she wanted to build. Like most people, when she does not understand something she tries to figure it out. Zhang Xin told me, "I remembered that the gardens in Suzhou were the among the best when I was a child. Therefore, I went all the way to Suzhou and took a lot of pictures of them. First I thought that it was a good idea but later I knew 'this is not a process of creation but rather imitation at most. Not original.' That is why I gave up the idea."
Soon after, a painter friend introduced Zhang to Yung Ho Chang. "I remember walking through a residential building where the first room in the hall was a toilet. The whole building smelt really bad and paint was peeling of the walls in large patches. Yung Ho Chang and his wife Lu Lijia were there showing students how to make models. I noticed a slightly chubby person wearing a hat. He looked very honest and sincere. My friend introduced me to him saying, 'Zhang Xin wants to build a villa and is looking for an architect.' Without saying anything he showed me what he was doing at the time. I thought this guy is quite interesting--he was surrounded by many small paper houses and boxes. He was cutting and pasting so happily there! I thought maybe he could help me, so I asked him to have a look at the site of the villa. He went with me and in fact, before that day, he had never even built a complete house. He used to be an architecture professor in an American university. When I got to know him he had just come back to China to open a small agency. Everything was still only on paper; not even one finished project as a model. It can be said that just hiring him was itself a risk! But at that time, I did not understand risk or what architecture was so I brought him to see the construction site."
"Walking around the site several times, Yung Ho Chang said, 'This is a good place! What kind of house do you want?' I thought that the area was so pretty. There were green mountains, big trees and weird rocks. In such a wild place, I told him I didn't want to feel like the house was separating me from the outdoors. Yung Ho Chang understood immediately: 'You want to carry an umbrella when you go sightseeing, right?' A few days later he called me and said he had an idea. I saw he had designed a lopsided roof, just like the big rake that the pig carries in Journey to the West. It also looked like somebody's head was coming out of the roof, looking at the scenery. It was wonderful! I immediately felt happy about the design; it was what I wanted."
"Even though I could not fully appreciate his architectural concepts, I knew I would want to live in that building after seeing his model. With this confidence, I told him about our budget. Actually, just like him, I did not have a precise estimate. Neither of us knew how much money we would need to spend to finish this project. Due to lack of experience from both of us, the project turned out to be an experiment. We built a little, torn down a little, and then built a little more. It took a lot of energy."
Yung Ho Chang was not good at engineering, so he found an expert engineer. But the expert was not able to explain the various issues to them clearly. A house is a whole system of projects. Other than the main building, there are many related issues like water, heating, lighting, framework and materials. "Conflicts arose in different aspects of the project. Over the next couple of years even after the project was finished, we could not stop renovating it." Though a frustrating experience, Zhang Xin learned a great deal about architecture. This was one of her first experiences with the construction industry. Zhang Xin now understood, from the ground up, how a house was built and the many issues and problems architects must face.
Gary Chang: Make a house that supports nine possible lifestyles
South American architect Antonio said this about Zhang Xin when China Central TV interviewed him: "Zhang Xin is very open-minded and good at accepting and tolerating new foreign ideas. That is precisely the precondition of our collaboration..."
Besides Yung Ho Chang, whose reputation was created through Zhang Xin's project, Riken Yamamoto, Antonio, Gary Chang, Cui Kai, Ai Weiwei, Seung H-Sang, Rocco Yim, Shigeru Ban and Kengo Kuma are all part of Zhang Xin's elite talent pool. At Redstone, Zhang Xin encourages employees to be "open"--to be tolerant, accepting, and never to be close-minded.
"Sometimes you will encounter something you might not be able to accept. But you still have to keep an open mind; otherwise, you can never improve yourself. Before 1995, I was in finance on Wall Street. After 1995, I was engaged in real estate development. The gap is quite big, isn't it? This has a lot to do with the fact that I have a strong curiosity about many things around me and I keep an open mind."
Frank and open, Zhang Xin told me an interesting anecdote, "Architect Gary Chang designed a villa called 'Suitcase'. He is not very tall but he is very aggressive. He's from Hong Kong and is thirty-eight years old. He's the youngest among all the twelve architects. When he came to present his design, he brought with him a rectangular box with an aluminum handle. He put the box on the table and opened a small door with a key on one side. He pulled the handle and a piece of wood dropped from the inside. He pushed the board back and a crude glass model appeared. Afterwards, he talked to us about a concept house. When he said he would design a house like this for me, I was very uncertain."
Chang answered, "We don't know who will live there, sometimes you will live there alone, sometimes with a friend, but you rarely know too far in advance. Therefore, we must consider the flexibility of the house. You constantly emphasize the adaptability of houses, so I designed this house as a multi-purpose one. The adaptability of a house is its life. A house can be designed to last for a hundred years but people's requirements for a house cannot be the same for a hundred years. A house should adapt to the way people change and develop. Thus, I've made a house capable of supporting nine possible lifestyles."
That night Zhang Xin tried her best to convince Gary to give up on this idea. She explained, "Your design is not practical, not realistic and it won't sell here." However, Gary insisted on his ideas. He said: "Listen, in the 1920s, when classical was the mainstream, Le Corbusier came up with five principles and shocked the whole world. What I'm doing now is quite different from Le Corbusier's designs, but it's no big deal!"
Zhang Xin carefully considered what Gary said. After Gary went back to Hong Kong, Zhang Xin sent him an email telling him that she thought his design was reasonable and gave him the go-ahead.
Shigeru Ban: Completely transforming the nature of architecture
Among the twelve architects working on the Commune by the Great Wall project, there is a Japanese named Shigeru Ban. He is known for utilizing unconventional materials such as paper in his designs. When people think about paper, they think of it as vulnerable, that is has no capacity for support. As a matter of fact, a house built with paper is stronger than one built with steel. There are many types of paper such as the rotating drum in a fax machine. Shigeru Ban decided to strengthen the rotating drum, which after waterproofing treatment, was as tough as steel-reinforced concrete. Only a genius could have such an imagination.
At one point Zhang Xin told him not to continue with his paper house. She also asked if he had any other ideas. He answered that he would come have a look. Zhang Xin says, "The first time I did not give him any limitations. In order to have some ideas about the big picture, I thought he would first look at other architects' designs and the finished projects. But he didn't. Instead, he went straight to the construction materials market. In fact, he did not go there to search for materials, but rather for inspirations. Later on, he told me with great confidence that he would build a bamboo house. He would split the bamboo and bond them into boards and take advantage of the natural qualities of bamboo...I was excited by his initiative. We experimented many times on ways to make bamboo boards tougher than wood. During this process, we kept in constant communication and made many adjustments. We were not just trying to change the color of a material--we were trying to change the very nature of it! This is an original art. It's no wonder that Mr. Shigeru Ban is now one of the world's best known architects."
Zhang Xin's secret weapon: She knows she is going to win
What Zhang Xin is most proud of is that she provides these genius-slash-architects with an environment and a working style that allows them to fully express their creativity. She said that this is her secret weapon.
"At first, a good architect may come up with one hundred designs. The point is getting what you really want. Every project is different. In big cities, people want to be metropolitan; they look for ways to enhance modern lifestyles and quality of life. In Jianwai SOHO and SOHO New Town, we required architects to put their emphasis on the details. They must be skilled in this respect. In general, it can be said that we introduced the minimalist architectural concept of "less is more" to China. In real estate development, we must have specific embodiments of this concept. This way, the architects understand immediately: 'Oh! You want minimalism.' Of course, when we chose these architects, we already knew they were minimalists. Our overall style is similar. After an architect arrived, I would tell him what kind of clientele we have and what our budget is. They don't understand some concepts like 5,000 Yuan per square meter. So we have to constantly ask them to tell us their ideas and then go to the materials market to ask about the price of the materials they require. It is an interactive process. Maybe after his fifth design, I would tell him that he needs to modify some aspects. For example, this design may appeal to older people but our clientele is younger. It is not progressive enough and you should make it more avant-garde." Zhang Xin was, as always, very delightful while talking about her 'secret weapon'.
