2
Specifically written to support teaching, especially in architecture, art and design,
and environmental education, this teaching pack provides ideas that can be
adopted into the teaching of varying ages, using materials about the exhibited
collection in the show, “Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection”.
There are a total of 6 chapters in this pack; each of them focuses on a particular
topic that is explored in our exhibition. Every chapter consists of a brief
introduction, suggested discussion points and simple activities, individual case
studies based on the exhibited collections, and additional references that might
be useful as interesting reads for further discussion.
Ultimately, the aim of the pack is to enhance the appreciation of architectural
design, and to encourage students to think about the built environment critically,
through considering the role and the practice of an architect, and other social
issues brought up in the process of urban design. With case studies drawn from
the exhibited collection, the pack will also provide an additional layer to the
understanding of the exhibition.
“Building M+: The Museum and Architecture Collection”
Introduction
The fifth in the Mobile M+ exhibition series, “Building M+: The
Museum and Architecture Collection” presents a preview of Hong
Kong’s new, multidisciplinary museum for visual culture, as seen through
the lens of architecture. Offering a closer look at the future M+ building,
scheduled for completion in late 2017, the exhibition tracks the ongoing
development of the building’s design by the renowned Swiss firm of
Herzog & de Meuron, with TFP Farrells and Ove Arup & Partners HK,
and for the first time, reveals the other shortlisted proposals from which it
was selected in an international competition held last year. The exhibition
also marks the debut of the museum's growing, and unprecedented,
architecture collection, illustrating some of the many approaches that M+
will take in conceptualising, collecting and representing the built
environment. We hope that in these ways, “Building M+” will shed light
on the important role of architecture—at the museum, in Hong Kong, and
within visual culture at large.
Museum collections are perpetually evolving, and are never finished nor
complete. However, they do have beginnings. In its first ten months of
collecting architecture, M+ has acquired hundreds of architecture-related
works and materials to form the first collection of its kind in Asia.
Including drawings, photographs, and print and video documentation
along with models, installations, digital animations and other archival
materials—many previously unseen— the collection will help uncover,
preserve, interpret and revisit the myriad narratives of the 20th- and 21st-
century built environment. It will do so from our vantage point in Hong
Kong, China and Asia, while linking these diverse geographies, and their
histories and futures, with each other and the rest of the world.
By also including works from the museum’s visual art holdings, this
exhibition illustrates some of the museum’s various approaches to
conceptualising and collecting architecture. Along the way, we hope it
offers insight into the richness of the discipline as an expression of, and
vehicle for, cultural aspirations and intellectual pursuits; economic,
political and historical forces; social relations and value systems; and the
constraints, possibilities and, sometimes, unintended consequences that
help define the world we inhabit. With an initial emphasis on works from
post-World War II Hong Kong and contemporary China, as situated
within broader global frameworks, we are pleased to present this first
look at a collection that will continue to grow in scope and depth in the
coming years.
3
Content
Chapter 1 Overview: Architecture Collection, Documentation and Representation p.4
Chapter 2 Crossing Boundaries: Exchanges and Connections
Case Study 1 Frank Lloyd Wright Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
Case Study 2 Paul Rudolph Wisma Dharmala Sakti (Intiland Tower), Jakarta, Indonesia
Case Study 3 W. N. Chung Chartered Architect (Chung Wah Nan Architects Ltd) (Hong Kong) / Chung Wah Nan Peak Tower, The Upper
Terminal of the Peak Tramway, Hong Kong
p.16
p.17
p.21
p.23
Chapter 3 Designing for the City: Constraints and Creative Solutions
Case Study 4 Tao Ho Design / Tao Ho Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
Case Study 5 Palmer & Turner (P&T Group)/ James H. Kinoshita Electric House(Kennedy Road Substation), Hong Kong
Case Study 6 Rocco Design Architects / Rocco Yim Hollywood Terrace, Hong Kong
Case Study 7 Wong and Threadgill Architects & Engineers (Wong Tung & Partners Ltd, Hong Kong) Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Hong Kong
Case Study 8 Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
p.27
p.28
p.32
p.34
p.36
p.39
Chapter 4 Making Iconic Buildings: Conception and Representation
Case Study 9 Iwan Baan Bird’s Nest #3 and Guangzhou Opera House #1
Case Study 10 Andres Gursky Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank 1994
Case Study 11 Jiakun Architects / Liu Jiakun Rebirth Brick
p.43
p.45
p.47
p.48
Chapter 5 Critical Futures: Imaginations and Suggestions
Case Study 12 MAD Beijing 2050, Beijing, China
Case Study 13 OPEN Architecture 2nd Ring Beijing 2049
p.49
p.50
p.52
Chapter 6 Digital Tools: Virtual and Reality
Case Study 14 davidclovers with C.E.B Rea Immuring
Case Study 15 MAD Absolute Towers, Mississauga, Canada
Case Study 16 Cao Fei RMB City
p.53
p.54
p.55
p.56
54
4
5
Chapter 1 Overview : Architecture Collection, Documentation and Representation
What is architecture – what does it mean to collect architecture?
What is Architecture?
Architecture is a broad discipline, one that is both intellectual and
physical consisting of an amalgam of intention (ideas) with iteration (the
process and results). It is about the built environment, and the making of
places for people. The design of the spatial environment takes on many
forms and operates at various magnitudes of scale. It affects our daily
lives immensely in ways in which we are often unaware.
Over many centuries, the architecture profession has expanded to cover a
wide range of disciplines, from designing to engineering, economics,
sociology, anthropology, and history. With such a broad nature,
architecture inevitably exerts a strong influence on our lifestyle, customs
and society at large.
Why is it important to study architecture?
While not everyone ends up becoming an architect, the study of
architecture consists of important knowledge. From the more technical
ends on how things are constructed, and how spaces are designed and
organised, to architecture as a design and problem-solving process,
architecture is a discipline that records historical development by
illustrating social ideas, innovations and wider philosophical and
conceptual considerations. Thus, stories of architecture should be
documented and told to further our understanding of ourselves and the
places we inhabit.
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION
Consider these quotes: “The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul
of our own civilisation.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
“Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.” –
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
“Architecture is the thoughtful making of space.” –Louis Kahn
“To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with
bureaucrats. … You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then
you have a lot of criticism about how it works.” –Ai Weiwei
“Architecture has recorded the great ideas of the human race. Not only every
religious symbol, but every human thought has its page in that vast book.” –Victor
Hugo
“Architecture is not merely national but clearly has local ties in that it is rooted in
the earth.” – Alvar Aalto
“The problem with digital architecture is that an algorithm can produce endless
variations, so an architect has many choices.” – Peter Eisenman
“Architecture is about public space held by buildings.” – Richard Rogers
“Architecture is invention.” – Oscar Niemeyer
“Architecture is to make us know and remember who we are.” – Sir Geoffrey
Jellicoe
“Architecture, under all of its constraints of engineering safety, function, climate
responsibility and economy, sometimes transcends to inspire us with ideas in space
and light – qualities achieved in the abstract” – Steve Holl
What does “Architecture” means to you? Come up with your own
interpretation and definition. Discuss by considering these quotes
and the different definitions, what do they tell you about architecture
as a discipline?
5
ACTIVITY
Have you ever considered how a space is designed to create a particular
experience for visitors? The act of sketching is instrumental in the
practice of architecture as it encourages critical observation of our
surroundings. Developing a habit of sketching will help train your skills
in visualising space and contexts while at the same time sharpening your
observational skills. This exercise invites you to look at spaces differently,
and to consider the frequently subtle elements that create particular
impressions and atmospheres of a built environment.
Look for any image of interior space (you can refer to the following
suggestions). Allow yourself just three minutes to look at it, and then take
a maximum of two minutes to sketch what you saw from memory. The
work does not have to be picture perfect. You only have to draw the
characteristics and general atmosphere of the space. Invite others to do
this exercise with you, and compare your results.
Think of the adjectives that go through your mind when you are trying to
remember and sketch the space. What features of the space lead to such
associations?
You can do a similar quick sketch exercise when you are travelling on the
underground. The doors of the MTR open for about half a minute. Carry
your sketching materials, and practice sketching the space you see when
the doors open.
Tao Ho Design / Tao Ho
Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968-1977),
Hong Kong
Tao Ho Design / Tao Ho
Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968-1977), Hong
Kong
Paul Rudolph
Wisma Dharmala Sakti (Intiland Tower)
(1983-1985), Jakarta, Indonesia
Image courtesy of Architectural Record
\
Steven Holl Architects
Linked Hybrid (2003-2009)
Photo Courtesy of Shu He
Steven Holl Architects
Linked Hybrid (2003-2009)
Photo Courtesy of Iwan Baan
Steven Holl Architects
Linked Hybrid (2003-2009)
Photo Courtesy of Iwan Baan
Steven Holl Architects (United States)
Linked Hybrid (2003-2009)
Photo Courtesy of Iwan Baan
Palmer & Turner (P&T Group)(Hong
Kong) /Remo Riva
42 Sassoon Road Houses (1977-1979),
Hong Kong
Photo Courtesy of P&T Group
6
View of M+ building from the Park
M+ building is designed by the celebrated Swiss architecture firm of Herzog & de
Meuron, working with Hong Kong-based TFP Farrells and Ove Arup & Partners HK.
Extra notes:
About M+ and its architectural collection
As a site of cultural discourse and preservation, M+ includes architecture within its visual
culture mission. The emphasis on “visual culture”, points not only to the shared
experience of seeing, but the many possible readings of what is being seen. Needless to
say, there are many ways of looking at architecture. Through its growing collection
architecture collection, M+ will take on different approaches in conceptualising,
collecting and representing the built environment.
So, what does it mean to collect architecture? To begin with, one must accept the
impossibility of the task. Architecture does not exist as a thing, nor is it simply an
assemblage of things. Rather, one way is to consider it as a delineation of sites: sites of
ideas, of craft and making, of encounters, politics, tactics, capital flows, networks,
systems and, even people, streets and buildings. Architecture exists as much in the
physical, formal and social realms as it does in theory and the imagination. Not to
mentioned the impracticality of “collecting buildings, cities, landscapes and
infrastructure”, collecting architecture is a difficult task.
Collecting architecture is thus predicated on the notion of multiplicity. It relies not on
acquiring a discrete, neatly-defined thing, but rather the many things that convey, represent
and mediate the multitude of meanings and consequences (both intentional and not) of
architecture. This might include drawings, models and digital files revealing an architect’s
design process and aims; or correspondence, media reports and other documents that unravel
the external forces he or she must negotiate. It might also include photographs or videos
examining how a space is used (or co-opted); or an artist’s or filmmaker’s deployment of
spatial and urbanistic devices and techniques. It could be something as simple as a brick—a
brick that tells a good story.
Architectural research and production come in many forms—as texts, animations,
installations, data visualisations, manifestos—and there are just as many ways of
collecting them, depending on their time and contexts. Sometimes, it’s imperative to
collect the “original” (as with a drawing that holds nuances and subtleties); in other cases,
“originals” are entirely irrelevant (a digital file). Occasionally, new reproductions are
called for and, increasingly, the things we collect will be virtual. The only blanket rule is
that there are no blanket rules.
To be sure, collecting architecture requires both humility and judgment. Humility in
recognising that total comprehensiveness is unattainable, and judgment in making well-
considered decisions about what to collect, and why. Underlying it all is a constant
awareness that what and how a museum collects can have an impact on architectural
practice itself. We hope M+ will have a positive effect on the study and future of the
discipline in this most dynamic region.
7
How do we tell stories about a building?
How do we document and represent buildings, whether still existing or
lost, space, or even an entire city? A building or an architectural project
can be represented by a multitude of documentation materials, which may
include drawings, photographs, models and newspaper clippings. Each of
these records tells a story about various aspects of the project. These
materials, forming an archive or a collection, are often best kept in places
where they can be accessed by the public, such as a library, museum or
other research institution.
Various types of materials reflect the different features and aspects of an
architectural project. These include its background, its conception, design
and construction process to the final outcome and reception by the public.
Architects may use drawings and models to explore and visualise their
ideas, or to put their ideas into reality.
DISCUSSION
How can architects express their ideas, for themselves, clients and
builders?
What different materials and media did you see in the exhibition? Make a
list of all the materials you remember. Think of how each one presents
information about the building project in different ways for different
audience. Each type of medium has its specific function. Discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of each of the materials
Which of the exhibits were the most memorable? Discuss the most
memorable, arresting, unusual, or interesting exhibits you found in the
show. What strikes you as so special about them?
Refer to the following various types of materials that can be seen in the
gallery, what do they reveal about the process of designing a building?
What aspects of the project are illustrated through these materials? The
tools an architect uses depend on the different stage of the design process,
the budget, the needs and expectation of their clients, as well as the
materials that are available to actualise their ideas. Can you think of more
possible tools that help illustrate an architect’s ideas?
8
Drawings
There are different types of drawings that make up the architectural design process.
First sketch ideas are
quick drawings put
down at the start of a
project as a study or as
the basis for possible
ideas. Often, sketch
books are used for
collecting and
researching ideas.
Exhibit 9
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (Germany
and United States, 1886-1969)
Plan and Interior Perspective for
Court House Studies (1931-1938)
1933
ink on paper
In the 1930s, the preeminent modernist
architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
undertook a series of “court house”
studies investigating the relationship
between interior and exterior space.
Exhibit 39.4
Steven Holl Architects/Steven Holl (United States, b.
1947)
Filmic loop study for Linked Hybrid (2003-2009),
Beijing, China
2003
watercolour on paper
Architect Steven Holl’s Linked Hybrid was one of the
most significant architectural projects to rise in
Beijing during the period around the city’s 2008
Summer Olympics. It proposes a more urbanistic
alternative to the private gated developments seen
throughout the city, while also exemplifying Holl’s
interests in phenomenology, a mode of architectural
thinking that emphasises the sensorial nature and
ephemeral qualities of built space.
The 220,000 square-metre complex includes a ring of
towers linked by aerial bridges that form a “filmic loop”
while accommodating a number of public and semi-
public functions. Built around the towers were parks, a
school, and a hotel, cinematheque and viewing platforms
placed among reflecting pools. Over 600 geothermal
wells were installed to help heat and cool the project. As
an ideal, Linked Hybrid’s mix of uses was aimed at
creating a vibrant and “porous” urban space—begun, like
all Holl projects, as a series of watercolour studies, and
translated in an interplay of light, colours, overhangs and
floating volumes.
Exhibit 16
Palmer & Turner (P&T Group)(Hong
Kong) /Remo Riva (Hong Kong, born
Switzerland, 1946)
Axonometric drawing for 42 Sassoon
Road Houses (1977 -1979), Hong Kong
1977
coloured pencil and ink on paper
Gift of the architect
An axonometric drawing is a scaled
representation of a building or object,
shown as a three-dimensional volume
and usually at a 45-degree angle. It gives
the impression that one is looking from
above, revealing more than one side of
the building or object in the same view.
This colourful drawing shows how
Riva’s designs for the 42 Sassoon Road
Housing were articulated and derived
from a rigorous grid plan.
9
More detailed drawings
or technical drawings
are used to present
more concrete designs.
Whether it is the
building’s exterior form
or the details of the
interior design,
technical drawings play
a crucial role as
communication tools
that help transform
ideas into reality in the
design and construction
process.
Palmer & Turner (P&T Group)(Hong Kong)
Back elevation for Electric House (Kennedy Road Substation)
1967
print on paper
Image courtesy of P&T Group
This back elevation drawing of Electric House delineates the details of its
functional yet dramatic design.
Exhibit 7.4
Frank Lloyd Wright (United States, 1867 – 1959)
Detail for ornamental block of the theatre balcony stone
railing, Imperial Hotel (1916-1923), Tokyo, Japan
c. 1920
graphite and coloured pencil on tracing paper
Exhibit 26.1
Wong ∙ Tung & Partners Architects
and Planners (Hong Kong) Pedestrian movement plan for
Taikoo Shing (1972-1988), Hong Kong
1973
print on paper
10
Models
Model making is one of the most direct tools in communicating ideas three dimensionally. Different types of models are produced in the various
stages of the designing process for particular purposes.
Model-making can be
a process by which an
architect examines
various issues or
specific features of
the design such as its
shape and form
Exhibit 46
Sou Fujimoto Architects (Japan)
/ Sou Fujimoto (Japan, b. 1971)
15 concept study models for
Nature/Architecture, Serpentine
Gallery Pavilion, London, U.K.
2013
various materials
For Fujimoto, model-making is not
so much about representing a final
result as undertaking a process by
which to examine various notions
and concepts.
17 x 17 x 11cm
10 x 10 x 10cm
18 x 23 x7cm
5 x 5 x 5cm
10 x 10 x 9cm
13 x 13 x 8cm
13 x 12 x 8cm
13 x 13 x 10cm
11 x 12 x 8cm
9 x 9 x 6cm
15 x 18 x 8cm
12 x 11x 6cm
9 x 11 x 5cm
13 x 13 x 7cm
13 x 10 x 4cm
11
Presentation models
show the architect’s
ideas in the most direct
and representational
way. These can be
models of a building,
or a site plan or even
an entire city.
Exhibit 14
W. N. Chung Chartered Architect
(Chung Wah Nan Architects Ltd)
(Hong Kong) /
Chung Wah Nan (Hong Kong,
b. 1931)
Model of Peak Tower, The Upper
Terminal of the Peak Tramway
(1967-1972), Hong Kong
c.1969/2013
various materials
This photograph shows one of the
original models made during the
conception of the tower in the 1960s
that is now lost. The museum sought
the permission of the architect to
reproduce the model according to its
original drawings and plans, under
the supervision of the architect
himself and the original model
maker.
Exhibit 28
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) /
Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China,
1936)
Site model for Metroplan,
West Kowloon Reclamation
Concept, Hong Kong
1988/ 2013
acrylic and card stock
A striking example of visionary architecture for
Hong Kong, Metroplan, West Kowloon
Reclamation Concept was developed in 1988
by architect Tao Ho with architecture and urban
design students at the University of Hong
Kong. It was undertaken in response to a
request by the Hong Kong government for
alternative ideas for a proposed land eclamation
project in the area now roughly occupied by the
West Kowloon Cultural District site.
Instead of infill, Ho and his students called for
building an extended deck over the harbour,
supported by caissons and forming an arm
linking Yau Ma Tei with Tsim Sha Tsui. While
creating a central spine for transportation and
other services, the deck would support flexible
and modular commercial development
alongside cultural and recreational amenities.
The plan is reminiscent of Japanese
Metabolism–which in the 1960s had proposed
transformable, floating megastructures—as
well as vernacular waterfront architecture. In
seeking to create an iconic attraction while
supporting area land values, Ho’s proposal was
responding to the commercial and market
imperatives of Hong Kong at the time.
Exhibit 37.2
MAD (China)
Beijing 2050: Tian’anmen Square
2006
wood, plastic and paint
For its Beijing 2050 project, the Chinese architecture firm
MAD proposed three hypothetical scenarios for Beijing in
the year 2050, this model shows one of which that called
for turning Tiananmen Square and Chang’an Avenue into
a park and green boulevard, respectively,
12
Plans
Presentation models show the architect’s ideas in the most direct and representational way. These can be models of a building, or a site plan or even
an entire city.
Showing a series of
horizontal layers of the
layout of a building
from above, floor
plans are one of the
most common types of
drawings an architect
uses for working out
how rooms and spaces
relate to each other.
Exhibit 22.2
Wong Ng Ouyang &
Associates (Hong Kong)
Typical floor plan of Hong
Kong Adventist Sanitarium-
Hospital (1967-1971), Hong
Kong
1968
print on paper
Gift of the Architects
The first hospital design by Hong Kong firm Wong & Ouyang, the Hong
Kong Adventist Sanitarium-Hospital conformed to its hilltop site with a
novel circular tower. The building’s radial, panoptic plan reflects a humanist
medical planning approach that was gaining currency at the time; perimeter
wards ring the central nurses’ stations, minimising the need for support
spaces while allowing direct sightlines between caretakers and patients.
Exhibit 22
Wong and Threadgill Architects &
Engineers (Wong Tung
& Partners Ltd, Hong Kong)
4th-19th floor plan of Mei Foo Sun Chuen
(1965-1978), Hong Kong
1966
print on paper
Gift of the Architects
Upon its completion in 1978, the Mei Foo housing estate was the
world's largest housing estate and Hong Kong's first self-contained
residential community. One of the innovative were its double-
cruciform-shaped towers, accessed from the three-storey podium,
which employed “scissor stairs” that provided the multiple means of
egress required by building codes while using the minimal amount of
space.
A site plan is a top-
down view of a
building in its
surrounding context,
including other
buildings, streets,
plants, and driveways.
They are often used to
show the relationship
of the building with
other buildings and
facilities in the
neighbourhood.
Exhibit 26.1
Wong Tung and Threadgill Architects and Engineers (Wong Tung &
Partners Ltd, Hong Kong)
Comprehensive plan for Taikoo Shing (1972-1988), Hong Kong
1973
print on paper
Wong & Tung & Associates (Wong Tung & Partners Ltd)
Masterplan of Mei Foo Sun Chuen
1973
documentation print on paper
Image courtesy of Wong Tung & Partners Ltd
Mei Foo housing estate comprised 99 blocks of 20-storey apartment
buildings for over 80,000 residents, and was pioneering in terms of
its scale, scope, and planning concepts. It was then the world’s
largest private high-density housing development and Hong Kong’s
first self-contained residential community, in which accommodation,
transport, retail and recreational facilities were stitched together via
an elevated continuous podium, making it a “city within a city”.
13
Presentation materials and publication
Other presentation materials include publications and notes produced by the architects where they explain a design to an audience such as a client.
Exhibit 15.1
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) / Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China, 1936)
Publication portfolio for Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968-1977), Hong Kong
1981
31 photographic prints on cardboard
Documents
Other documents such as correspondence and paperwork reveal unknown aspects of the design and construction process that perhaps other
materials would not ordinarily address.
Exhibit 25
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) / Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China, 1936)
Five letters between Tao Ho and the Building and Lands Department on the Container Office (1989-1992)
1986-1989
print on paper
Gift of the architect
14
Newspaper Cuttings
Newspaper clippings about the project provide a different angle in which the project is represented and perceived.
Chinese and English media coverage of the Peak Tower in 1967.
Photographs
Photographs are used to document and present the architectural project. They can be used as a reference on the site condition, or to present the
completed building.
Photograph of the site during construction
of Peak Tower
Photographs of Chung Wah Nan’s Peak
Tower
Exhibit 47
Iwan Baan
Bird’s Nest #3
2007
C-print
Exhibit 29
Ian Lambot (England, b. 1953)
Aerial view from south-west of Kowloon
Walled City, Hong Kong
1989/ 2013
bubble jet print on Moab gloss art
paper and Perspex
15
Video documentation
Video recordings are another way to document the physical space as one explores it, and are often used for research and documentation purposes
Exhibit 30
Suenn Ho (United States, born
Hong Kong, 1961)
Research Footage of Kowloon
Walled City, Hong Kong
1991
video
Duration: 90’ 00’’
Loaned from Cole Roskam
A fourteen hours of video footage taken while Suenn Ho meandered through the densely-packed community in Kowloon Walled City as part of a “video mapping” exercise for her
research project. Ho’s route offers voyeuristic glimpses, interspersed with snippets of conversation with various shopkeepers, at a time when Kowloon Walled City’s occupants
were beginning to relocate prior to its demolition.
Digital renderings
Computer-generated renderings are often used to present a virtual rendition envisioned by the architect, or to reconfigure a lost structure in digital
format.
Exhibit 41.2
OPEN Architecture (China)
2nd Ring Beijing 2049
(2009-2011)
2011
Dual-screen video
Duration: 9’ 58”
OPEN architecture presents their Beijing 2049: 2nd Ring proposal with the digital
representation where the city’s congested Second Ring Road is transformed into a
“green lung”
Exhibit 36
Cao Fei (China)
The Birth of RMB City
video simulation
2007
Gift of Sigg Collection
16
Chapter 2 Crossing Boundaries: Exchanges and Connections
As architecture transcends geographic and cultural border, what does it mean to be “local” and “global”?
Architecture transcends geographic and cultural borders, morphing and
evolving as it shifts among them.
By looking at the discipline’s complex flows of ideas and influences—for
example, the impact of European and American modernism on Hong
Kong and Asia; its localised adaptations, as seen in Chung Wah Nan’s
Peak Tower and Tao Ho’s Hong Kong Arts Centre; and the
appropriation, in turn, of vernacular typologies by designers from abroad,
as exemplified by Paul Rudolph’s Wisma Dharmala Sakti —
one can begin to understand how a multiplicity of architectural narratives
has shaped our interconnected global condition
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION
Make a list of architectural works that were designed by architects not
native to Hong Kong. Are there any such examples in the part of the city
you live in? Do you think the nationality of an architect matters? Does it
imply anything when the nationality of an architect is or is not
emphasised?
Consider Case Studies 1-4 as examples of cultural exchange. Think in
terms of the context where these architectural projects took place, and
the education and professional background of the architects.
Connections and contacts between different cultures are natural
occurrences in architectural practice. Reconsider the concepts of “local”
and “global” in the field of architecture. What does it mean to be local vs.
international? Do you think it is necessary to make a distinction between
the two?
Do these case studies change your views on the nature of influence in
architectural practice between West and East? Do they disrupt the
common hierarchy of “international” over “local”, or is such a
distinction irrelevant?
FURTHER REFERENCE
“Does the quest to participate in the emerging global, imported context have to be at the
expense of local knowledge?” – Mark Hoisted, “A Global Context for Local
Architecture”, Reports on AIA Committee Visit, Places/Design History Foundation and
American Institute of Architects, October 2001,
<http://places.designobserver.com/media/pdf/The_American_I_350.pdf>
“Localization [is] the other face of globalisation … Localisation is closely associated with
the politics of identity” – Robert Adam, “Architecture and Globalisation” (June 2007),
Architects’ Review, February 2008, http://www.adamarchitecture.com/images/PDFs/RA-
Globalisation.pdf
17
Image courtesy of Imperial Hotel
About Imperial Hotel (1916-1923), Tokyo, Japan
In 1913, the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright began work on one
of the largest, most complex and significant projects of his career: a new
building for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Designing everything from the
building and its ornaments to the interiors, furniture and dinner sets,
Wright, who is considered a quintessentially American modern architect,
showed his inventive originality, but also his capacity for absorbing
outside influences; while not directly attributable, traces of Japanese and
other traditions can be seen in Wright’s work. With the Imperial Hotel,
Wright left an imprint on Japan. But it can also be said that Japan and
other cultures left an imprint on Wright.
About Frank Lloyd Wright (United States, 1867- 1959)
Best known for his projects including the Guggenheim Museum in New
York and the Fallingwater residence in Pennsylvania, Wright’s “Prairie
Style” architecture was influential to American modernism and urbanism
on numerous levels.
Wright was particularly known to be an admirer and avid collector of
Japanese art, especially Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, helping the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and other American institutions develop
their collections. When Wright made his first trip outside the United
States in 1905, it was not, as one might expect, to Europe, but instead to
Japan.
Frank Lloyd Wright and staff in front of Imperial Hotel, 1922
Case Study 1 / Exhibit 7
Frank Lloyd Wright
Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
18
Exhibit 7.5
Detail of ornamental stone carving for stairwell, Imperial Hotel (1916 - 1923), Tokyo,
Japan
c.1920
graphite and coloured pencil on tracing paper
In this drawing appear some handwritten lines of a Chinese poem at at the
corner, scribbled in non-native Chinese, probably by one of Wright’s
Japanese workmen or colleagues. Drawings reveal different aspect of the
design process as one look closer to the details.
DISCUSSION
What does the drawing reveal about the cultural ties and relationship
between the American architect and the Japanese team?
Wright is just one of countless examples of how trans-cultural influences
have long shaped architecture, a discipline that has only become more
global ever since. What makes architecture “local” or “global,” and what
does that distinction mean? Are the terms “local” and “global” really
contradictory in meaning as they might appear? Are these terms relevant
to a time when architectural practice is increasingly collaborative and
trans-bordered?
ACTIVTIY
Go out and sketch buildings in Hong Kong, whether modern or historic.
Are there elements in the buildings you have chosen that reflect
influences from other cultures? Who are the architects behind these
designs?
FURTHER REFERENCE
“Frank Lloyd Wright – Wright in Japan”, The Westcott House Foundation,
<http://www.westcotthouse.org/wright_in_japan.html>
Kathryn Smith, “Frank Lloyd Wright and the Imperial Hotel: A Postscript”, The Art Bulletin, <
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3050913>
19
Exhibit 7.1
Drawing for stonework, underside of eaves, Imperial Hotel (1916 - 1923),
Tokyo, Japan
c. 1922
graphite and ink on vellum
Exhibit 7.2
Diagram of soffit, Imperial Hotel (1916 - 1923), Tokyo, Japan
c. 1920
graphite and coloured pencil on tracing paper
Main entrance with frontal pond
Photo of the Theater
20
Exhibit 7.3
Drawing for ornamental block of the foyer fireplace, Imperial Hotel (1916 - 1923),
Tokyo, Japan
c. 1920
graphite and coloured pencil on tracing paper
Exhibit 7.4
Detail for ornamental block of the theatre balcony stone railing, Imperial Hotel
(1916 - 1923), Tokyo, Japan
c. 1920
graphite and coloured pencil on tracing paper
View of the promanade
View of the Banquet Halls
Garden View
21
About Wisma Dharmala Sakti (Intiland Tower) (1983 - 1985), Jakarta,
Indonesia
The Wisma Dharmala Sakti tower in Jakarta is an important example of
the American architect Paul Rudolph’s significant body of work in
Southeast Asia in the 1980s. It was during this period, when he was
facing professional difficulties in the United States, that the innovative
modernist also designed the Bond Centre (now Lippo Centre) in Hong
Kong and the Colonnade and Concourse in Singapore.
The building exemplifies the virtuosic forms, urbanistic concerns and
climatic sensitivities for which Rudolph was known. Its rotated floor
plates and deep, canted overhangs, borrowed from indigenous Indonesian
dwellings, shield offices from direct sunlight and provide terraces on all
floors while giving the tower its striking silhouette. Planters cascade
towards the forest of paired structural columns supporting the podium-
level atrium, making the building a vertical garden within Jakarta’s
central business district.
About the Paul Rudolph (United States, 1918 - 1997)
Paul Rudolph was one of the most prominent architects of the 1950s and
1960s whose complex interior spaces and brutal use of concrete helped
define the modernism of that period. Having gained renown for his home
designs early on while living in Florida, his best-known work is perhaps
the building for the Yale School of Art and Architecture (1964), where he
served as dean from 1958 to 1964. Among his students at Yale happened
to be Norman Foster. By the late 1970s, however, he turned his attention
to Southeast Asia, where his brand of modernism, and its suitability for
tropical climates, was embraced while his work had fallen out of favour
in the US. Significant projects in this region include the Wimsa
Dharmala Tower (1988), Jakarta, the Bond Centre (now Lippo Centre) in
Hong Kong (1988), and the Colonnade (1987) and Concourse (1994), in
Singapore. With their intricate, interlocking spaces and atria, these
buildings have influenced numerous other designs throughout the region.
Case Study 2 / Exhibit 12
Paul Rudolph
Wisma Dharmala Sakti (Intiland Tower), Jakarta, Indonesia
22
Exhibit 12.1
Exterior perspective of Wisma Dharmala Sakti (Intiland Tower) (1983 - 85), Jakarta,
Indonesia
1984
ink on vellum
Exhibit 12.2
Exterior perspective of atrium of Wisma Dharmala Sakti (Intiland Tower) (1983 - 1985),
Jakarta, Indonesia
c. 1983
coloured pencil on tracing paper
DISCUSSION
Paul Rudolph looks to local and
vernacular architecture for
inspiration for his designs. Why do
you think it is important to study
traditional architecture as a reference?
What can we learn from buildings
derived from a long history of design
and metamorphosis? Do you think an
architecture that reveal the culture,
history, or the identity of the place offer a deeper bonding with the people?
Can you think of other modern buildings that reference traditional
building design and features? Gather such examples and discuss whether
the merging of the traditional with modern design works. Think of the
intention of such approach, the function and aesthetic of the result.
< Perspective Drawing of Bond Centre (Lippo Centre)
Paul Rudolph’s buildings in Hong Kong have a
direct impact on the subsequent work of Wong
and Ouyang group, which was Rudolph’s local
design partner on the Bond Centre.
Compare the design of these two buildings. In
what ways do the designs reference Rudolph’s
style? Discuss your views on the cultural
exchange between foreign architects and those at
local firms. As architectural practice is
increasingly cross-boundary in nature, what does it mean to be labelled
“local” or “international”? Are these terms relevant nowadays?
Select an ancient building form that interests you most and study its
features. Think of new ways these features could be incorporated into a
new building in our contemporary era. Come up with your own design,
and present it with drawings, models or other materials. Explain how you
could learn from previous designs.
^Indonesian landed tropical villages
23
About Peak Tower, The Upper Terminal of the Peak Tramway (1967-
1972), Hong Kong
The now-demolished Peak Tower designed
by Chung Wah Nan was a key landmark of
Hong Kong, and one of the city's most
daring and highly engineered structures at
the time of its completion. While clearly in
the modern idiom, it was also designed to
evoke the watchtower of an ancient Chinese
wall, firmly anchored at its base but
seemingly floating at the top.
The news of its commissioned came about in
1967, providing a much needed boost and
discussion point for the city at a time when it
was politically and economically strained by
the Cultural Revolution occurring in China.
When it officially opened on 29 August
1972, the Tower’s ‘restaurants-in-the-clouds’
and indoor-outdoor observation decks
immediately made it not just a major tourist
lure but also a dramatic part of the Hong
Kong skyline. Reported to symbolise the
city's 'sky-high confidence in the future', the
Tower was celebrated by having its image
printed on the 500 HKD note.
About Chung Wah Nan (Hong Kong, b. 1931)
After graduating from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London in
1959, Chung started private practice in 1964 and later teamed up with
British architect Alan Fitch, one of the designers of City Hall, to form
Fitch & Chung. The partnership lasted until 1985. While working in the
modernist vein, Chung, who is also known for his writings on traditional
Chinese architecture and landscape design, has been influential in
attempting to infuse modernism with historical Chinese concepts.
DISCUSSION
What do you think of the design? Did you know the Peak Tower looked
like this? What are the similar elements between the Peak Tower and a
Chinese watchtower? Discuss how the architect has modernise the
ancient building type by adopt the features to its design of a viewing
tower. Why do you think he decide to reference and adopt such design
features?
Also refer to Hong Kong Arts Centre in Case Study 4 as another
comparative case study on this topic
What sort of impact does a high-profile building project have on a city?
Can you think of other buildings or architectural projects of similar
impact? What effects will they have on the city? What messages do these
projects, whether they are in the stage of merely being announced, in
construction or completed. Refer to media coverage of such architectural
projects, how are they described and represented?
Refer to p. 24 to 26 for newspaper cuttings of the announcement of the
building of Peak Tower in 1969 for the discussion.
Case Study 3 / Exhibit 14
W. N. Chung Chartered Architect (Chung Wah Nan Architects Ltd) (Hong Kong) / Chung Wah Nan
Peak Tower, The Upper Terminal of the Peak Tramway, Hong Kong, China
27
Chapter 3 Designing for the City: Constraints and Creative Solutions
What are the urban strategies – how do we respond to environmental and spatial constraints?
The city acts as a laboratory: social, economic and political forces
converge with land pressures and other variables to test the built
environment and its effect on how people and communities function,
interact and transform.
Urban strategies can manifest in any number of ways, whether highly-
planned, as with Wong Tung’s comprehensively-designed Mei Foo
Housing Estate; surgical, as with Urbanus’ speculative Urban Village
studies; or informal and extra-legal, as with the Kowloon Walled City.
They can also produce inventive approaches to infrastructure and spatial
efficiency, at scales ranging from Andrew Lee’s space-saving Scissor
Staircase to DLN’s “stacked” ATL Logistics Centre. On the other hand,
Tao Ho’s unauthorised Container Office helps illustrate the frictions that
sometimes arise between design and bureaucracy in a highly regulated
environment.
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION
Restrictions and constraints at times invite people to push boundaries and
think outside the box to come up with great design solutions. Discuss
your views on the notion of freedom and control in relation to creativity.
Would you prefer to respond to certain parameters as a way to stimulate
ideas, or would you rather have complete freedom in creating? Think in
terms of a number of creative fields including art, writing, and
performance.
When considering Hong Kong as a site for construction, what sort of
restraints do the unique features of the city impose? Refer to Case
Studies 3-6.
How do architects respond to our cityscape through their projects? How
do these finished designs reflect the living conditions of Hong Kong?
Consider elements of density, verticality and efficiency that are
distinctive of Hong Kong’s built environment as a response to regulations,
lack of space and resources. While natural or man-made, can some of
these restrictions be avoided through planning and consideration of land
allocation policy?
What is the architect’s role facing such restraints? How do they shape the
city in this regard? How can restrictions and challenges be transformed
into assets?
FURTHER REFERENCE
“Town Planning”, Planning Department, Hong Kong SAR Government, June 2013,
<http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/town_planning.pdf>
“Urban Design Guide for Hong Kong”, Planning Department, Hong Kong SAR
Government, November 2002,
<http://www.pland.gov.hk/pland_en/p_study/comp_s/udg/udg_es/udg_es_eng.pdf>
“Becoming a Planner: What Planners Do?”, American Planning association,
<http://www.planning.org/ncpm/pdf/UrbanPlannerExcerpt.pdf>
28
About Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968 - 1977), Hong Kong
Having been given only a small piece of reclaimed land measuring 30 m2,
Tao Ho managed to realise a vision of the centre for contemporary arts in
the city. The reclaimed land was too soft for construction, and the
reinforced-concrete building was finally constructed atop of a 2-metre
thick concrete raft supported by more than 300 piles.
Ho managed to pack and stack a 200-
seat recital hall, a 100-seat studio
theatre, a rehearsal room, a 463-seat
theatre, a sizable exhibition gallery
with sculpture terrace, spaces for
restaurants, a member’s club, artists’
studios, musical practice rooms, and
offices functioning as rentable spaces
to support the arts centre.
Sandwiched between two large
buildings, there is no access from two
sides. In response, Ho created a plan
with an L-shaped service core that
runs on two sides to accommodate
staircases, lifts, lavatories, mechanical
equipment, and storerooms. With this plan, an impressive vertical and
asymmetrical foyer was also created.
In this promotional book published by the Hong Kong Arts Centre, one
can find some of the elements that contributed to the design, along with
still shots of the building and its interior when it opened in the late 1970s.
About Tao Ho (Hong Kong, born China, 1936)
Dr. Tao Ho attended Williams College, majoring in art history. He went
on to pursue a master degree in architecture at Harvard University and
was once a personal assistant to Bauhaus founder, Walter Gropius. After
a decade of architecture practice in the US, he returned to Hong Kong and
became a lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, bringing the
design infrastructure and sophistication he found in the States to Hong
Kong. He also played a key role in the development of the Hong Kong
Institute of Architects (HKIA). In 1968, he founded Taoho Design, Hong
Kong’s first native multidisciplinary design studio. Moved among various
disciplines and thrived in combining an active public life with wide-
ranging personal interests, he is one of the world’s most renowned
architects as well has having been a prolific contemporary artist while in
Hong Kong.
Case Study 4 / Exhibit 15
Tao Ho Design (Hong Kong) / Tao Ho
Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
29
Exhibit 15.1
Publication portfolio for Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968 - 1977), Hong Kong
1981
Selected from 31 photographic prints on cardboard
ACTIVITY
Faced with the difficulties of a site with limited space and asked to design
a complex containing shops, galleries, theatres, studios rooms, and office
space, Tao Ho realised his innovative and ingenious design solution for
the Arts Centre that stacked up various spaces in this small corner
footprint.
Select a three-dimensional object and trace its form, viewing it from the
sides, on a piece of paper. Now consider the shape as the elevation of a
complex building.
Decide what the building’s function will be: a residential complex,
university, hospital, shopping mall or other. Use the sketch to create a
cross-section of the building.
Plan the use of space within the building. Think of what spaces will be
needed, how people will use them and the relation between different
spaces and the circulation of people.
30
Exhibit 15.1
Publication portfolio for Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968 - 1977), Hong Kong
1981
Selected from 31 photographic prints on cardboard
31
Exhibit 15.1
Publication portfolio for Hong Kong Arts Centre (1968 - 1977), Hong Kong
1981
Selected from 31 photographic prints on cardboard
ACTIVTIY
Tao Ho’s design references a Chinese pagoda in its stacking design.
Shown in his publication porfolio are references that inspired his design
for the Arts Centre.
Look for magazine spread with elements that interest you, and write
down what strikes you about the images.
Take an element and convert it into an idea for a structure.
Keep a scrapbook of ideas whenever you are designing and creating.
Ideas and inspiration often comes from the most unexpected places.
Refer to the Peak Tower in Case Study 2 for a comparison on how
architects look to traditional buildings as reference and inspiration.
FURTHER REFERENCE
Tao Ho Design Website, <http://www.taoho.com>
“Milestone, History of the Hong Kong Arts Centre”, Hong Kong Arts Centre,
<http://www.hkac.org.hk/en/milestones.php>
32
About Electric House ( Kennedy Road Substation) (1967 - 1970), Hong
Kong
Conceived by architect James Kinoshita and structural engineer Heinz Rust
of Palmer & Turner (now P&T Group), Electric House was an electrical
substation consisting of two piers supporting a horizontal building that
elegantly bridged a valley, with a stream running beneath. On top, two
parabolic hoods received and protected high tension cables coming from
the surrounding hills. Palmer & Turner (P&T Group) (Hong Kong)
During the building’s early stages of construction, directors of Hong
Kong Electric, the client, decided to move the company's headquarters to
Electric House, turning what was meant to be a purely pragmatic
switching station into a point of company pride.
Image courtesy of P&T Group
About James H. Kinoshita (Canada)
James H. Kinoshita is a Japanese Canadian architect and traveller, born in
Vancouver, Canada. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from the
University of Manitoba, and Master of Architecture from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked for three years in
America before setting off for Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, he got a job with Palmer and Turner, an established
international architectural engineering firm with a practice widely
respected in the South East Asia. He has been involved in projects in
Indonesia, Singapore, Hawaii, and Sydney. When China started to open
its doors in 1978, he became involved in China, recalling the firm's past
glory of the many buildings they designed along the Bund in Shanghai.
His significant projects in Hong Kong include the Hong Kong Hilton,
America International Assurance, Jardine House, the Hong Kong
Polytechnic University, and the Landmark. He is now retired and lives in
Hong Kong.
Image courtesy of P&T Group
Case Study 5 / Exhibit 18
Palmer & Turner (P&T Group) (Hong Kong) / James H. Kinoshita
Electric House (Kennedy Road Substation), Hong Kong
33
Image courtesy of P&T Group
DISCUSSION
What is the relationship between the form and function of a building?
Can you think of buildings that are remarkable for overcoming structural
and technical challenges while also being striking in their form?
ACTIVITY
Using two different cards, each person comes up with a building design
and a location. Imagine the type of building, as well. Will it be located in
a valley, in the middle of the ocean? Will it be a hospital, a school, a
residence? The sky is the limit.
Behind each respective card, jot down qualities of the location and the
building including site limitations, and specific building features.
Collect the two sets of cards and shuffle them.
Each person draws a card from each pile.
Design a building according to the location and the building type,
responding to the limitations set out on the back of the selected card.
FURTHER REFERENCE
P&T Group Website, <http://www.p-t-group.com/profile.php>
34
About Hollywood Terrace (1987- 1999), Hong Kong
The dense and textured fabric of Hong Kong’s Central-Western District
calls for a careful response to the urban environment, and an intricate
appropriation between private and public realms. A system of public
spaces is developed in the form of a series of landscaped gardens and
terraces that, together with the punctuating stairs and lifts, form an
elaborate twenty-four-hour pedestrian access connecting Queen’s Road
Central with Hollywood Road through and within the site. As the public
thoroughfare interweaves spatially with private pathways, movement
remains physically independent, connected only through an interesting
play of visual empathies.
Gift of the architects
About Rocco Yim (Hong Kong, b. 1952)
Rocco Yim is one of Hong Kong’s most prominent architects, known for
buildings that respond sensitively and inventively to the topographical,
urbanistic, and infrastructural conditions of their context, especially in
Hong Kong. Graduated from the University of Hong Kong, Yim initially
joined the firm of Spence Robinson before starting his own practice in
1979. Soon thereafter, in 1983, he earned international attention as one of
three first-prize winners in the competition to design the new Bastille
opera house in Paris.
Yim’s buildings are studies in geometry and spatial relationships,
evolving through addition and subtraction in response to programmatic,
aesthetic-compositional and urbanistic requirements. Strong volumetric
solids shift alongside voids; spaces become multi-layered, linked from
both within and without. Yim has also investigated the reconciliation of
his modern design vocabulary with historical Chinese practices and
references. His Bamboo pavilion of 2000, in Berlin, created a decidedly
contemporary expression of traditional bamboo construction. More
recently, he has explored courtyard typologies, as is the case with his
Distorted Courtyard House (2002) in Beijing, and metaphorical devices,
as seen in his Guangdong Museum (2010).
Case Study 6 / Exhibit 24
Rocco Design Architects / Rocco Yim
Hollywood Terrace, Hong Kong
35
Documentaiton prints of the site plan of Hollywood Terrace
DISCUSSION
What does public space really mean? Discuss this term from the
government, developers, and citizen’s perspectives. How could we strike
a balance between their views?
ACTIVITY
As a group, select a district in Hong Kong.
Visit the district and sketch an overview map. Consider choosing a
landmark as a starting point for exploration, and a central point for the
map.
As you wander the city, think of how public and private places are
connected and defined by the spatial and architectural designs. How are
different spaces “created” in a dense district?
Notice human activities as you visit, such as the circulation and
movement of people, and their interactions with the many spaces in the
area. What effects does spatial design have on human activities?
Evaluate and examine the planning of the district, is there room for
improvement?
36
About Mei Foo Sun Chuen (1965 - 1978), Hong Kong
When it was largely completed in 1978, the Mei Foo housing estate
comprised 99 blocks of 20-storey apartment buildings for over 80,000
residents, and was pioneering in terms of its scale, scope, and planning
concepts. It was then the world’s largest private high-density housing
development and Hong Kong’s first self-contained residential community,
in which accommodation, transport, retail and recreational facilities were
stitched together via an elevated continuous podium, making it a “city
within a city”. Also innovative were its double-cruciform-shaped towers,
accessed from the three-storey podium, which employed “scissor stairs”
that provided the multiple means of egress required by building codes
while using the minimal amount of space.
Image courtesy of Wong Tung & Partners Ltd
Image courtesy of Wong Tung & Partners Ltd
About Wong and Threadgill Architects & Engineers (Wong Tung &
Partners Ltd, Hong Kong)
Wong Tung & Partners was founded in Hong Kong in 1963 by Shanghai-
born Americans, Bill Wong and Albert Tung. It has affiliated practices
around the globe. The company made its mark internationally in the late
1960s when it was commissioned to create a master plan and design for
the Mei Foo Sun Chuen housing estate (1965 - 1978).
Case Study 7 / Exhibit 22
Wong and Threadgill Architects & Engineers (Wong Tung & Partners Ltd, Hong Kong)
Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Hong Kong
37
Masterplan of Mei Foo Sun Chuen
1973
documentation print on paper
Image courtesy of Wong Tung & Partners Ltd
DISCUSSION
Why it is important to consider the context in which a building will be
built? How does urban planning affect people’s daily lives?
ACTIVITY
A building is not an island, but should be considered in terms of its
context and surrounding community.
How does your home or estate relate to what's around it? Draw a map of
your neighbourhood to understand these relationships. Start by visually
tracking your daily routines on the map.
Look at what makes up this particular neighbourhood and evaluate your
neighbourhood from the point of view of urban planning by making notes
of how the roads, shops, houses and other facilities are planned.
What makes an environment comfortable and what annoys you? What is
ingenious and what leaves you unimpressed? Is there room for
improvement? What suggestions can you make?
38
Exhibit 22
4th-19th floor plan of Mei Foo Sun Chuen (1965 - 1978),
Hong Kong
1966
print on paper
Gift of the Architects
DISCUSSION
The double-cruciform-shaped floor plan design allows each residential
unit to have at least two or three sides that open out, allowing circulation
and access to daylight. It also places service facilities including stairs,
elevators, and garbage collection at the centre of each cross, eliminating
the need for wasteful narrow corridors that were common in previous
residential building designs.
This design solution is a direct respond to the dense living condition of
Hong Kong by creating a more effective use of space. Such examples of
creative solutions are all around us. Look for any kind of such gestures,
small or large, that improve our way of life.
Refer to the Kowloon Walled City in Case Study 6 for comparison on
such urban strategies. Think about intention and unintentional design
solutions, and the planned and unplanned organisation of communities.
39
\
About Kowloon Walled City
Due to a historical anomaly, the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City
existed under the full jurisdiction of neither the Chinese nor British
colonial governments. This made it an extraordinary enclave, known for
its lawlessness and unregulated development—but also for its vitality as a
community of migrants, refugees and others inhabiting what was thought
to be the most crowded piece of land in the world. The Kowloon Walled
City was one of the most remarkable architectural and urbanistic
developments, informal or otherwise, to have been part of Hong Kong’s
built environment.
ACTIVITY
Interview members of your family’s older generation regarding their
impressions of the Kowloon Walled City. Ask them about the reputation
of the place, and what the place was like.
Draw your impression of the Walled City according to what you have
heard and seen. What is your impression of the famous Kowloon Walled
City?
Refer to the photograph by Ian Lambot (Exhibit 29) and video by Suenn
Ho (Exhibit 30) and compare how you imagined the place with the
documentation materials.
What is the importance of these documentation materials? If these
materials did not exist, how else could we perceive the demolished city?
Is it important to keep records of places like the Kowloon Walled City?
While there is a need to develop and regenerate the city, whether for
regulatory or economic reasons, what factors must be considered when
deciding to tear down buildings and structures that might have historical
and cultural value?
Case Study 8 / Exhibit 29-30
Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
40
Exhibit 29
Ian Lambot (England, b. 1953)
Aerial view from south-west of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
1989/ 2013
bubble jet print on Moab gloss art paper and Perspex
About Aerial view from south west of Kowloon Walled City ( 1989), Hong
Kong
Beginning in 1988, the photographer Ian Lambot spent four years
documenting Kowloon Walled City, an enclave in Hong Kong that was
claimed by both the British colonial and Chinese governments and
consequently existed under the actual jurisdiction of neither. Accordingly,
it became known for its lawlessness and unregulated development—but
also for its vitality as a community of migrants, refugees and others
inhabiting what was thought to be the most crowded piece of land in the
world. Lambot’s aerial view captures Kowloon Walled City’s dense,
informal development before its demolition began in 1993.
About Ian Lambot, (England, b,1953)
Ian Lambot is a British-born architecture photographer who originally
trained as an architect. He moved to Hong Kong in 1979 and remained in
the city for 20 years. During his time here, he worked for Norman Foster
and Partners on the early stages of that firm’s design of the HSBC
building, and set up an architectural model-making studio before
becoming a freelance architecture photographer. In his latter role, he
documented the construction of the HSBC building extensively.
Collaborating with Greg Girard, he spent four years exploring the
Kowloon Walled City before its demolition, and published the book City
of Darkness: Life in Kowloon Walled City, which features 320
photographs, 32 extended interviews, and an essay on the City’s history
and character.
DISCUSSION
The vertical village structure of the Kowloon Walled City manifested
organically as the tenants and landlords altered and shaped their living
environment as a natural response to the high level of living density that
the place was famous for.
Think of growth in terms of a city: cities grow and adapt to changes to
suit various needs of the community and society. Straddling a position
between chaos and order, what can an architect learn from an exceptional
case of organic growth that is the Kowloon Walled City?
41
Exhibit 30
Suenn Ho (United States, 1961)
Research Footage of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong
1991
video
Duration: 90’ 00’’
Loaned from Cole Roskam
About Research Footage of Kowloon Walled City ( 1991), Hong Kong
While as a Fulbright Scholar in 1991- 1992, the architect Suenn Ho
undertook a 10-month research project studying Kowloon Walled City.
Included was over fourteen hours of video footage taken while Ho
meandered through the densely-packed community as part of a “video
mapping” exercise. Ho’s route offers voyeuristic glimpses, interspersed
with snippets of conversation with various shopkeepers, at a time when
Kowloon Walled City’s occupants were beginning to relocate prior to its
demolition.
About Suenn Ho (United States, 1961)
Suenn Ho, an American architect and urban designer, received her
Bachelor of Arts from Williams College and her Master of Architecture
from Columbia University. Ho was the designer and public outreach
coordinator who helped redo Old Town/Chinatown along 3rd
and 4th
Avenues in Portland. In 1995, Ho received a research grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts to investigate the distinct physical and
visual patterns of historic urban Chinatowns in Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. As one of the founding
members of Northgate Group LLC, she was actively involved in the first
Asian-friendly senior housing project in Portland's Chinatown Pacific
Tower. She has also served on the board of the Portland Classical
Chinese Garden and was a board member of the Chinese American
Citizens Alliance as well as Transition Project Inc. In 2004, she joined
MulvannyG2 Architecture as a Senior Architect. Besides her roles as an
architectural and urban designer, Ho has also taught architecture at
Columbia College, and the University of Hong Kong, University of
Oregon, and Portland State University.
DISCUSSION In the preface to her research publication, An architectural study on the
Kowloon Walled City: Preliminary findings, Ho notes her interests in
studying “the interrelationship between the Walled City’s architecture
and its inhabitants”1, a reminder of the people who live there that gave
vitality to the place, and who shaped the environment.
What stories have you heard about the Kowloon Walled City? What are
your impressions of it as a “non-designed” place? In what ways do you
shape your own environment? Please write down and share examples of
other spaces that are used in ways that are perhaps unintentional.
1 Suenn Ho, An Architectural Study on The Kowloon Walled City Preliminary Findings,
Hong Kong, 1993
42
Extra notes:
Twenty years after its demolition, the Kowloon Walled City has been, and still remains, a
fascinating architectural and urban phenomenon that continues to captivate architects,
designers and others around the world. During the early 90s, different people have tried to
document and study the intriguing structure and spatial development, as well as its
community.
Recently, there have been various attempts to represent and recreate the city (The South
China Morning Post published a feature on the Kowloon Walled City in 2013, 20th
anniversary of its demolition2; while an arcade in Japan was created modelled on the
Walled City3). Can you look for more of such re-creations and adaptations? What do you
think of these re-presentations of a lost space? Consider the intention and accuracy of
such representations
2 “Kowloon Walled City: Life in the City of Darkness”, South China Morning Post, Hong
Kong, 16 March, 2013. 3 “Arcade brings Kowloon Walled City back from the dead… in Japan”, South China
Morning Post, Hong Kong, 1 October, 2013,
<http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1321559/arcade-brings-kowloon-walled-city-
back-dead-japan>
FURTHER REFERENCE
“3D 九龍城砦 kowloon walled city”, We are making 3D model of Kowloon Walled City,
5th Oct 2013, <http://3d.kowloon-walled-city.info/top/en>
"MulvannyG2 Architecture Welcomes Suenn Ho as Senior Designer", MulvannyG2
Architecture website, <http://www.mulvannyg2.com/en-
us/ink/NewsItem.aspx?From=Archive&Category=1&ItemID=125>
“Suenn Ho Champions Old Town Chinatown”, Old Town Chinatown Crier: The Crier,
Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association, Fall Edition, 2005,
<http://www.oldtownchinatown.org/pdf/newsletter-2005-fall.pdf>
Barbara Basler, “Hong Kong Journal; The Walled City, Home to Huddled Masses, Falls”,
The New York Times, 16th Jun 1992, <http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/16/world/hong-
kong-journal-the-walled-city-home-to-huddled-masses-falls.html>
EDW Lynch, “Photos of the Final Years of Hong Kong’s Notoriously Overcrowded
Kowloon Walled City”, Laughing Squid, 24th Sept 2013,
<http://laughingsquid.com/photos-of-the-final-years-of-hong-kongs-notoriously-
overcrowded-kowloon-walled-city/>
Rebekah Rhoden, “Kowloon Walled City Photographed by Greg Girard and Ian Lambot”,
Lost At E Minor, 27th Sept 2013, <http://www.lostateminor.com/2013/09/27/kowloon-
walled-city-photographed-by-greg-girard-and-ian-lambot/>
Julian Ryall, "Arcade brings Kowloon Walled City back from the dead … in
JapanKowloon's infamous slum is recreated in an amusement park in Kawasaki - from its
eerie, narrow corridors right down to the rubbish", South China Morning Post Publishers
Ltd., 1st Oct 2013, <http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1321559/arcade-brings-
kowloon-walled-city-back-dead-japan>
43
Chapter 4 Making Iconic Buildings: Conception and Representation
How is an “image” of a building created, and used?
Architecture and locality exist in a state of tension, with each defining the
other through a range of complex mechanisms.
In its iconic, highly-mediated form, architecture plays a central role in the
image-making of a city, as contemplated in Andreas Gursky’s photograph
of the HSBC building and Iwan Baan’s image of Beijing’s Bird’s Nest
stadium. Architecture also draws, and sometimes improvises, on
indigenous materials, typologies and techniques—for example, Rocco
Yim’s Bamboo Pavilion, Urbanus’ Urban Tulou, and Ai Weiwei’s
Caochangdi Home and Studio – while providing responses to the
immediacy of a localised situation; Jiakun Architects’ Rebirth Brick
project was a rapid reaction, using the materials at hand, to the 2008
earthquake in Sichuan province.
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION
How is an image of a building created through photographic
representation? How are elements emphasised and for what purpose?
How does architecture represent and shape the identity of a city?
Consider the qualities that various iconic buildings are designed to
embody and represent of their place. Why are some buildings more
“iconic” than others?
What are other reasons for creating an impact with architectural projects?
Are there different ways of telling the stories of architecture? Are there
other purposes that the making of architectural “images” can serve? Refer
to the Rebirth Brick Project in Case Study 11.
ACTIVTIY
Pick a well-known building. Present the building to others with a
selection of five images. Focus on why you have selected these particular
five images to represent the building. How do you think they best
represent the building?
How does a photograph present an architectural building as an object, as
part of a city, on its own, and in terms of utility? Focus on the viewing
distance, the presence or absence of human activity, how the photograph
is framed etc.
FURTHER REFERENCE
Dear Deyan, “Can we still believe in iconic buildings?”, Prospect Publishing, 26th Mar
2005,
<http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/canwestillbelieveiniconicbuildings/#.Usm
mR9IW18E>
Rich Heap, "Iconic Buildings: Only We Can Decide", The Global Community for 21st
Century City Decision Makers, 14th Jun 2013,
<http://www.ubmfuturecities.com/author.asp?section_id=242&doc_id=525200>
Dessen Hillman, "How To Make Architecture, Not Art", ArchDaily, 1st Mar 2013,
<http://www.archdaily.com/337603/how-to-make-architecture-not-art/>
Fred Kent, "Toward an Architecture of Place: Moving Beyond Iconic to Extraordinary",
Project for Public Spaces, <http://www.pps.org/reference/toward-an-architecture-of-
place-moving-beyond-iconic-to-extraordinary/>
44
Extra notes:
Can you name these iconic buildings and the cities they belong to:
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Louvre Museum, Paris,
Empire State Building, New York
Eiffel Tower, Paris
Taj Mahal, Agra
The Coliseum, Rome
Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur
Palace of Westminster, London
Sydney Opera House, Sydney
CCTV Headquarters, Beijing
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
45
Iwan Baan’s architectural photographs approach even the most iconic
building as not isolated and detached objects, but as sites of human
activity. Baan’s images of two of the most famous examples of
contemporary architecture in China – Herzog & de Meuron’s “Bird’s Nest”
stadium in Beijing and Zaha Hadid Architects’ Guangzhou Opera
House—attest to Baan’s observational acuity, capturing the sometimes
disjunctive relationship between architectural ambition and reality.
Exhibit 48
Guangzhou Opera House #1
2010
C-Print
About Iwan Baan (Netherlands, b. 1975)
Iwan Baan is perhaps the most prominent and sought-after architectural
photographer of his generation. Instead of approaching buildings as
isolated and detached objects, he established a technique that positions
even the most iconic examples of architecture in their human and spatial
contexts. Working frequently for architects from Wang Shu and Ma
Yansong to OMA/Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron, and
Steven Holl, Baan has, perhaps more than any of his peers, documented
the astonishing development of architecture in China, and in other parts of
the world, at the turn of the 21st century.
DICUSSION
Baan has also taken photographs of the same building without the
audience. Search for the image and compare the two. Discuss the
differences in styles and messages presented. Take a photo of the same
building at varying distances with and without people, and then compare
the differences.
How do scale and the relation between the human and the building affect
the feel of the photograph?
Have you ever considered why photographs of buildings are often devoid
of people and human activity? What difference does it make?
Do you prefer the grandeur of the architectural object glorified by the
photographic medium, or the real life stories that are associated with the
building revealed through the mediated lens of the photographer? What
different purposes do these two approaches serve?
ACTIVITY
Study the people in the image. What do you suppose these people are
thinking? Think of how they might react to the design of the space. Write
a script of their thoughts and act it out.
Case Study 9 / Exhibit 47-48
Iwan Baan
Bird’s Nest #3 and Guangzhou #1
46
Exhibit 47
Birds Nest #3 2007
C-print
Iwan Baan is known for revealing the multiple and layered stories of
architecture in his images of buildings and cities. This photograph of the
Bird’s Nest stadium, taken while it was still under construction for the
2008 Beijing Olympics, shifts attention from that famous structure to the
workers who are building it. In this way, Baan gives pause for reflection:
largely anonymous, invisible and forgotten, the labourers can be seen
watching television, taking a break from erecting an iconic building that is
itself being built, in large part, for media consumption.
DISCUSSION
Search for other representations of the Bird’s Nest and compare it with this
image. What are the similarities and differences? What different stories
does each image tell of the same building?
Through his lens, the photographer invites you to look at buildings
differently. What are the stories of these construction workers? Who are
the other behind-the-scenes people who make buildings like the “Bird’s
Nest” possible? Imagine what they think of the building that they are
constructing. Does considering their roles make you think about buildings
differently?
Putting the focus on different types of audiences, to whom do you think
the image of these iconic buildings are “made” for?
Focus on a number of high-profile building projects. Discuss the nature of
image-making, and the impact it has on architural practice, nowasdays.
What do you think of the nickname “Bird’s Nest”? What other buildings
have nicknames? Can you think of any? How do they help create an
image of the building? For example, The Absolute Tower in Case Study 15
was nicknamed "Marilyn Monroe" tower due to its curvaceous, hourglass
figure. Think of other buildings with which you can associate with
something else.
FURTHER REFERENCE
Iwan Baan Website, Preview of the construction of the National Stadium - The Main
Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing,
<http://iwan.com/photo_National_Olympic_Stadium_Beijing_2008_Herzog_&_de_Meuro
n.php>
Karen Burshten, “Top 13 Nicnames for Iconic Buildings”, The Daily Traveller, 18 May,
2012, <http://www.cntraveler.com/daily-traveler/2012/05/architecture-buildings-best-
nicknames>
47
Exhibit 50
Andreas Gursky
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank 1994
1994
C-print
About Hong Kong Shanghai Bank (1994), Hong Kong
The renowned photographer Andreas Gursky’s image of the HSBC
building in Hong Kong inverts that architectural icon by capturing it at
night. The innovative structural system that makes the building instantly
recognisable becomes lost in the shadows, supplanted by its grid of
windows, which are lit from behind to reveal the activities inside. Taken in
the large format for which the artist is known, the photograph points to
Gursky’s rigorous approach and interests in sites of globalisation.
About Andreas Gursky (Germany, b.1955)
Andrea Gursky is a visual artist who currently lives and works in
Dusseldorf, Germany. Gurksy studied photography in Folkwangschule in
Essen under Otto Steinert between 1978 and 1981, then at the
Kunstakademine Dusseldorf in Germany from 1981 to 1987 under Hilla
and Bernd Becher. Andreas Gursky has participated in numerous solo and
group exhibitions at major cultural institutions including “Andreas Gursky”
at the Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast (Dusseldorf, 2012), “50 Artists, 50
Years” at the MOMA (New York, 2012), “The Inverted Mirror” at the
Guggenheim (Bilbao, 2012), “Postmoderism: Style and Subersion, 1970 to
1990” at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 2012), Venice
Biennale in 1990 and in 2004, the Biennale of Sydney in 1996 and 2000.
He is exhibiting two solo shows at the National Art Center in Tokyo (2013)
and at the National Museum of Art in Osaka (2014).
DISCUSSION
What new perspectives and impressions does this photograph of one of
Hong Kong’s iconic buildings provide you?
With his play of light and darkness, the photographer distils the building,
which is often represented it its iconic skeletal form, to an abstraction that
highlights its interior activities. Take photographs of other iconic buildings
in your part of the city from unexpected angles or with unusual
composition to produce images that differ from the usual representation of
the building. Think of what you are emphasising beside the architecture.
Are there stories and messages you want to tell others with this image?
Case Study 10 / Exhibit 50
Andres Gursky
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank 1994
48
About Rebirth Brick (2008 –)
The Rebirth Bricks project started as a response to the 2008 Wenchuan
earthquake in Sichuan province. Developed to assist the rebuilding effort,
especially in rural areas, the project allowed for the onsite making of new
bricks by mixing debris from collapsed buildings – which had often been
of substandard construction – with wheat branches and concrete. In
attempting to decentralise the means of production, the project invokes
multiple suggestions of renewal that extended beyond its recycling of
materials. Since the earthquake, Rebirth Bricks has continued, though
using rubble from demolition sites.
About Liu Jiakun (China, b. 1956)
Liu Jiakun is the Founder and Chief Architect at Jiakun Architects. His
projects have been selected in world-wide exhibitions including “Chinese
Young Architects’ Work Exhibition” in Germany, “Chinese Contemporary
Architecture Exhibition” in France, “NAI China Contemporary
Architecture”, “International Architecture Exhibition in Russia”, and
“International Architecture Exhibition” at the Venice Biennale. He won the
Honor Prize of the 7th ARCASIA, Chinese Architecture & Art Prize 2003,
Architectural Record Magazine China Awards, Far East Award in
Architecture and Architectural Design Award from Architectural Society of
China, Audi Arts Design Award. His projects have been published by
architectural magazines such as A+U, AV, Area, MADE IN CHINA, and
AR. He has lectured at MIT, the Royal Academy of Arts, Palais de Chaillot
in Paris and many universities in China.
DISCUSSION
How do we pick up the pieces from ruins resulting from natural disasters?
When do homes become ruins? Can we find elements that can help form
homes from ruins?
How can architects re-evaluate their roles under unfortunate circumstances
such as natural disasters?
Think of other examples of architectural responses to natural or man-made
disasters.
FURTHER REFERENCE
Jiakun Architects Website, “Rebirth Brick Proposal”, May 2008, <http://www.jiakun-
architects.com/projects/11rebirth_brick_proposal>
OFFICINA ALESSI Website, <http://www.alessi.com/en/1/435/jiakun-liu>
Andrea Chin, "venice architecture biennale 08: 'rebirth brick' in the chinese pavilion",
designboom, 15th Sept 2008, <http://www.designboom.com/architecture/venice-
architecture-biennale-08-rebirth-brick-in-the-chinese-pavilion/
Richelle db, “liu jiakun: rebirth brick project”, designboom, 12th Dec 2011,
<http://www.designboom.com/architecture/liu-jiakun-rebirth-brick-project/>
Case Study 11 / Exhibit 58 Jiakun Architects / Liu Jiakun
Rebirth Brick
Bird’s Nest #3, 2007 and Guangzhou #1, 2010
49
Chapter 5 Critical Futures: Imaginations and Suggestions
What are the purpose of putting forward imaginary architectural proposals for the future?
The future has a long history in architecture – as an attempted reality, in
the imagination, and as a utopia and its dystopian opposite.
Fluctuating between fictive and real, and progressive and subversive,
many architectural propositions reflect on the present by projecting into
the future. MAD’s Beijing 2050 and OPEN Architecture’s 2nd Ring
Beijing 2049 envision radical changes to China’s capital at a time of
mounting social, environmental and other problems. Steven Holl’s
Linked Hybrid complex and Turenscape’s Shenyang Architectural
University Rice Campus offer their own, differing visions of idealised
scenarios – though enacted in the present. Meanwhile, critical
observations like MAP Office’s Homes for China and Homescapes and
anothermountainman’s Lanwei photographs show how architecture can
emblematise both aspiration and overreach.
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION
What was housing like in various time periods in history? Research
typical shelters and building types from as early as the Stone Age. What
types of housing is built today? What will tomorrow’s dwellings look like?
Why do you think styles and trends changes through time? Technological
advances might be a reason for such change in style. Refer to Chapter 6
for more on this topic.
Architects do not just design and build cities; they also re-imagine them.
In doing so, they expand the limits of what is possible while offering
visionary ideas and, sometimes, critiques and provocations.
Consider Beijing 2050 and the 2nd Ring Road in Case Studies 12 and 13.
How and why do you think the architects decided to come up with such
proposals and urban solutions for China in 2050? What aspects of the
current situation do you think the architects are commenting?
ACTIVITY
How has the future imaged by others besides architects? Look for other
representation of the future in other fields and discipline such as movies,
art or writings. Which one is the most convincing to you? Share with
others these examples and why they are convincing scenarios.
FURTHER REFERENCE Rachel Nuwer, “Will we ever... live in underwater cities?”, BBC, 30th Sept 2013,
<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130930-can-we-build-underwater-cities>
“Life in 2050: How much space will you have to live in?”, BBC, 29th May 2013,
<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130529-how-living-space-changes-by-2050>
Postcards From The Future Website, <http://www.postcardsfromthefuture.co.uk/>
50
About Beijing 2050 (2006), Beijing, China
Beijing 2050 proposes three hypothetical scenarios for China’s capital in
the year 2050: a network of cloud-like structures hovering above the
Central Business District; the transformation of Tiananmen Square and
Chang’an Avenue into, respectively, a park and green boulevard; and the
insertion of “bubbles,” housing public facilities and amenities, throughout
the city’s historic hutong alleyway districts. Evolving from a project that
MAD co-founder Ma Yansong began as a graduate student at Yale, Beijing
2050 is a speculative take on the future based on a critical awareness of
both historical and contemporary social, structural and ideological
developments in Beijing. In 2009, a fully functioning, full-scale “bubble”
was constructed in a traditional courtyard house in the city.
Exhibit 37.1 Beijing 2050: Floating Island over the Central Business District 2006
wood, plastic and paint
About MAD (China)
Beijing-based MAD is one of China’s most widely recognised, leading-
edge contemporary architectural practices. It was founded in 2004 by Ma
Yansong, a graduate of the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and
Architecture who later received his Masters in Architecture from Yale
University. Having worked for Zaha Hadid, Ma is known for employing
daring and wildly futuristic forms in exploring contemporary
interpretations of Eastern notions of nature. His firm often employs
conceptual methodologies that can be critical of its current-day Chinese
context.
In 2006, MAD became the first Chinese firm of its generation to notably
win an international design competition when it was commissioned to
build the Absolute Tower, in Mississauga, Ontario, the success of which
prompted the addition of a second tower. The firm has been published
and exhibited extensively, including at the 2008 Venice Architecture
Biennale. In addition to the Absolute World Towers, its built projects
include a museum in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and the Hutong Bubble 32
in Beijing.
ACTIVITY
What will your home look like in the future? Re-imagine your home and
think about how you will live in the future. Will houses float in the air, be
unusual in shape or require rooms for alien visitors and hover-cars?
Draw or make models of houses, buildings or cities that fit with your
vision of the future. Picture yourself in the future you envisaged. What is
your daily life like in this future and how is the built environment differ
accordingly? Why do you think the future will look like this?
Case Study 12 / Exhibit 37
MAD
Beijing 2050, Beijing, China
51
Exhibit 37.2
Beijing 2050: Tian’anmen Square
2006
wood, plastic and paint
Exhibit 37.3
Model for Beijing 2050: Hutong Bubble
2006
wood, plastic and paint
DISCUSSION
While it’s unlikely such proposals will be realised—though one of
MAD’s “hutong bubbles” was, in fact, constructed in 2009—what is the
value in putting them forward?
< Hutong Bubble 32, Beijing
FURTHER REFERENCE
MAD Architects Website, <http://www.i-mad.com/>
leeji choi, “MAD architects: 'hutong bubble 32', Beijing”, desingboom, 23rd Aug 2009,
<http://www.designboom.com/architecture/mad-architects-hutong-bubble-32-beijing/>
Sarah Housley, "Hutong Bubble 32 by MAD", Dezeen, 14th Sept 2009,
<http://www.dezeen.com/2009/09/14/hutong-bubble-32-by-mad/>
Brendan McGetrick, "Hutong Bubble", ICON, November 2009,
<http://www.iconeye.com/read-previous-issues/icon-077-%7C-november-2009/hutong-
bubble>
Nicole Saieh, “Beijing Hutong Bubble / MAD”, ArchDaily, 24th Feb 2014,
<http://www.archdaily.com/50931/beijing-hutong-bubble-mad/>
52
About 2nd Ring Beijing 2049 (2009 - 2011)
Beijing 2049: 2nd Ring calls for the transformation of the city’s
congested Second Ring Road into a “green lung” by the year 2049, the
prospective centennial of the People’s Republic of China. Traffic would
be diverted underground, replaced by a linear network of parks and
cultural, recreational and athletic facilities. The Second Ring Road
follows the former path of Beijing’s historic city walls, which were razed
soon after the 1949 establishment of the PRC. Though not explicitly,
OPEN's proposal evokes the Chinese architect Liang Sicheng's well-
known, but unsuccessful, effort at that time to preserve the walls as a park.
Exhibit 41.1
2nd Ring Beijing 2049 (2009-2011)
2011
digital print on paper
About the OPEN Architecture (China)
OPEN Architecture is a Beijing-based firm founded in 2006 by Li Hu and
his wife, Huang Wenjing. A graduate of Tsinghua and Rice universities,
Li was previously in charge of the New York architect Steven Holl’s
Beijing office, overseeing high-profile projects including the Linked
Hybrid (Grand MOMA) in Beijing, the Vanke headquarters in Shenzhen,
the Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing, and Raffles City in Chengdu. At the
forefront of its generation of contemporary Chinese practices, OPEN is
known for its experimental typologies that promote progressive urbanism
and the social and sustainable potential of architecture. Widely published,
the firm’s notable projects include the Gehua Youth and Cultural Center
in Qinghuangdao, a planned ocean research centre for Tsinghua
University, and a forthcoming high school outside Beijing.
Exhibit 41.2
2nd Ring Beijing 2049 (2009-2011)
2011
Dual-screen video
Duration: 9’ 58”
Case Study 13 / Exhibit 41
OPEN Architecture
2nd
Ring Beijing 2049
53
Chapter 6 Digital Tools: Virtual and Reality
How have technological advances impact the design, representation and construction of buildings?
The digital age has transformed architecture, not only in practice, but also
in how it’s conceived, consumed, produced and conceptualised.
Computer-aided design has made possible forms that previously weren’t
achievable, such as the undulating curves of MAD’s Absolute Towers,
while generating new architectural meanings, as with the barcode- and
circuit board-evoking Digital Beijing by Studio Pei-Zhu and Urbanus.
Elsewhere, digital fabrication techniques have combined with online
platforms to redistribute architectural expertise and production, as can be
seen with davidclovers’s Immuring. The digital construction of space has
also produced entirely virtual cities, whether they be analytical tools – as
with Hong Kong’s 3D Spatial Data – or fictional, simulated realities like
Cao Fei’s RMB City.
INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION
How does digital technology affect the design, representation and
construction of buildings nowadays? Why do you think it is important to
continue exploring new boundaries? How do you think the role of
architects, their craftsmanship and professional skills shifts according to
these changes in technology?
Computer-generated visualisation is one of the commonest means of
presenting designs to clients, planning committees and the media. While
initially developed by the military, computer-aided design (CAD) was soon
extended to replace drawing boards in most architectural offices as they
enable better organisation and updates of the thousands of documents in
large projects. While model-making and hand-sketching are still important,
CAD has almost completely taken over the production of the working
drawings phase of architectural design.
Some would lament the loss of hand-drawing skills in light of such
changes. What are your views? At the same time, why do you think
sketching and model-making are still taught in architectural schools?
ACTIVITY
Technological advances constantly break through ideas which were once
considered impossible. What do you think architectural practice will look
like in the future? How can an architectural design that may be impossible
nowadays be designed, presented and constructed in the future? Share with
other your version of what it will be like to be an architect in the future.
FURTHER REFERENCE Matthew Allen, “Archeology of the Digital”, Domus, 15th May 2013,
<http://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/2013/05/15/archaeology_of_thedigital.html>
Timothy Carter, "Smart cities: The future of urban infrastructure", BBC , 22nd Nov 2013,
<http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131122-smarter-cities-smarter-future>
Emilie Chalcraft, "In the future we might print not only buildings, but entire urban
sections", Dezeen, 21st May 2013, <http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/21/3d-printing-
architecture-print-shift/>
“Archaeology of the Digital, 7 May to 27 October 2013”, The Canadian Centre for Architecture
(CCA) website, 2013, <http://www.cca.qc.ca/en/exhibitions/1964-archaeology-of-the-digital>
54
About Immuring( 2008 - 2010)
Immuring is an explorative prototype for the cladding system of Lunar
House, a 2,300 square-foot speculative house sold through Hometta.com.
Users can purchase plans, as well as other aids for building the home,
online. Embedded with dense networks of LED-lit, computer-generated
lines, Immuring's three full-scale Corian panels for Lunar House reflect
the architects’ interest in examining the threshold between two-
dimensional and three-dimensional forms via digital design and
fabrication.
Exhibit. 38
Immuring
2008-2010
three full scale façade prototypes for Lunar House; etched and embossed
Corian®, LED lighting
Project credits: Immuring was developed and created with support from: DuPont China Ltd and SpeedTop Ltd
(Hong Kong). Collaborators include: E-Grow (Shanghai), William Koh and Associates (Los Angeles), Inhabit
(Hong Kong), AHL Lighting and Media Facades (Shenzhen) and Tortoise Industries (Los Angeles)
About davidclovers (Hong Kong)
davidclovers was founded by David Erdman and Clover Lee in 2007 in
the United States. They have collaborated in designing and completing
residential homes, interiors and exhibitions. As both academics and
practitioners, their projects emphasise architectural massing and its
material effects. The way they work and develop projects reflects both the
thoughtful research of their academic backgrounds and their fastidious
innovative capabilities as a practice. Combining digital modelling,
prototyping and fabrication with standard construction methods each
project integrates basic elements including ceilings, windows, lighting
and structure in unique ways affecting space and inhabitation.
In 2009, davidclovers relocated to Hong Kong where they have since
completed a number of projects. David and Clover have lectured widely
and have been published in numerous architectural journals, newspapers
and books throughout Asia, Europe, and the US. Their work has won
several international awards, and has been exhibited at leading arts
institutions and in significant group exhibitions including the Venice,
Beijing, and Korean Biennales.
FURTHER REFERENCE David Clovers Website, <http://www.davidclovers.com/>
Case Study 14 / Exhibit 38
davidclovers with C.E.B Reas
Immuring
2nd
Ring 2049, 2009-2011
55
About Absolute Tower (2006 - 2012), Mississauga, Canada
Led by Ma Yansong (China, b. 1975), Beijing-based MAD first earned
widespread attention in 2006 when it won an international competition to
design a condominium tower in Mississauga, near Toronto. Eventually
consisting of two highrises, the Absolute Towers exhibit the organic,
curvaceous forms that have continued to make MAD one of the most
prominent experimental architecture firms in China.
Image by Iwan Baan, courtesy of MAD
About MAD (China)
Beijing-based MAD is one of China’s most widely recognised, leading-
edge contemporary architectural practices. It was founded in 2004 by Ma
Yansong, a graduate of the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and
Architecture who later received his Masters in Architecture from Yale
University. Having worked for Zaha Hadid, Ma is known for employing
daring and wildly futuristic forms in exploring contemporary
interpretations of Eastern notions of nature. His firm often employs
conceptual methodologies that can be critical of its current-day Chinese
context.
In 2006, MAD became the first Chinese firm of its generation to notably
win an international design competition when it was commissioned to
build the Absolute Tower, in Mississauga, Ontario, the success of which
prompted the addition of a second tower. The firm has been published
and exhibited extensively, including at the 2008 Venice Architecture
Biennale. In addition to the Absolute World Towers, its built projects
include a museum in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and the Hutong Bubble 32
in Beijing.
FURTHER REFERENCE “MAD architects: absolute towers completed”, designboom, 12th Dec, 2012,
<http://www.designboom.com/architecture/mad-architects-absolute-towers-nearing-
completion/>
Case Study 15 / Exhibit 40
MAD
Absolute Towers, Mississauga, Canada
2nd
Ring 2049, 2009-2011
56
Exhibit 36
The Birth of RMB City
video simulation
2007
Gift of Sigg Collection
About RMB City (2007)
Launched in 2008, RMB City is a virtual city created by the artist Cao Fei
in the online world of Second Life. Examining the relationship between
the physical and virtual realms, users and their avatars interact in this
digital manifestation of China’s hyper-development, populated by
dystopian versions of well-known buildings and landmarks from
throughout the country.
About Cao Fei (China, b. 1978)
Cao Fei's photography, video installations and new media works look at
aspects of role play, fantasy and simulated reality within today's media-
saturated society. Her artistic practice poignantly captures the ways in
which others imagine themselves amidst the hyper-transformative and
often disillusioning context of contemporary China. Her recent project
RMB CITY (2008 - 2011) has been exhibited in Deutsche Guggenheim
(2010), Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2009), Serpentine Gallery,
London (2008), and Yokohama Triennale (2008). Cao Fei also
participated in 17th & 15th Biennale of Sydney (2006/2010), 52nd
Venice Biennale (2007), Chinese Pavilion, Moscow Biennale (2005),
Shanghai Biennale (2004), 50th Venice Biennale (2003). She also
exhibited video works in Guggenheim Museum (New York), the
International Center of Photography (New York), MoMA (New York),
P.S.1 (New York), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Musee d'Art Moderne de la
ville de Paris (Paris), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo). She was the finalist of
Hugo Boss Prize 2010, and won the 2006 Best Young Artist Award by
CCAA (Chinese Contemporary Art Award).
FURTHER REFERENCE
Cao Fei Webpage, <http://www.caofei.com/>
Case Study 16 / Exhibit 36
Cao Fei
RMB City
2nd
Ring 2049, 2009-2011