Photographer: Pier Alessio Rizzardi | ArchDaily

Zhu Pei Named Dean of School of Architecture at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing

Collin Abdallah — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 14:00:00 +0000

The Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, China, has tapped award-winning Chinese architect Zhu Pei as its next dean of the School of Architecture. Zhu Pei founded his firm Studio Zhu-Pei in 2005 known for its cutting-edge integration of cultural roots and contemporary innovation in design. Zhu Pei has taught at Harvard GSD and Columbia University GSAPP, two of the leading graduate programs in the world.

An Interview with Xu Tian Tian, DnA Design and Architecture

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 09:30:00 +0000

"In China there’s history but there’s no existing context. All the contexts are made for the future. Most of the designs, most of the buildings are only designed for a planning scenario lasting five or ten years. And in that case, first of all, you need to accommodate functions for the future, for the planned purpose. I’d say even though the current project is in a very rural area, it could soon, let’s say in just one or two years, become a populated area. So that’s a different challenge here when you are designing in China."
- Xu Tian Tian, Beijing 2013

An Interview With Zhang Bin, Atelier Z+

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:30:55 +0000

"It’s really easy to build a building. From the very beginning to the realization; it’s very easy! You just give it an interesting form and you get approved. But the real issues are how to make it user-friendly and to enhance the quality of the life of the people trying to escape the influence of the “system”. That’s the challenge. In my experience […] I’ve learned that for architects, both Chinese and foreign, the use of form to create an object is easy but how to do the right thing is very challenging."
- Zhang Bin, Shanghai, Sept 2013

An Interview with Lu Wenyu, Amateur Architecture Studio

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Wed, 13 May 2015 09:30:53 +0000

“Every couple of years a new manifesto appears, but how long can it last? We need more people doing instead of talking. [At Amateur Architecture Studio] we spend an enormous amount of time experimenting, trying to resurrect the craftsmanship that is almost lost. We use a method that is passed on, hand-to-hand, to re-establish tradition instead of talking about abstract but empty concepts.”
- Lu Wenyu, Hangzhou, 2013

An Interview with Zhu Pei, Pei-Zhu Studio

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 10:30:57 +0000

“If we look at architecture from a cultural point of view, we see we are in a special moment where we are trying to figure out our identity. I think we are too focused on how to transform old Chinese architecture into contemporary architecture; but in no way can you transform it, you can see it with your own eyes. For instance you cannot transform a Roman building into today’s buildings! Sometimes you have to forget about history to create contemporary and unique architecture.”
- Zhu Pei, Beijing, 2013

An Interview with Liu Xiaodu, Urbanus

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:30:39 +0000

“If you don’t know or really didn’t study the local culture, do universal design. That’ll keep the quality. If you want to do something that you don’t know, there is a big chance that it’s going to fail and have a bad impact on the city and the people here. Do it in your own way. If you do something good and beautiful back home, you should do exactly the same type and put it here. That’s also a good contribution because you show good architecture quality… Do something universal!” - Liu Xiaodu, Shenzhen, 2013

TCA Think Tank Creates "Parasite Pavilion" With Five-Day Workshop in Venice

Evan Rawn — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Casting complex shadows and engulfing visitors in a series of maze-like spaces, the Parasite Pavilion was constructed as part of the Synergy & Symbiosis event at the 2014 Venice Biennale, which showcased the best of the UABB Shenzhen and Hong Kong Biennale from 2005 to 2014. Based on the Bug Dome pavilion, a similar experiment from Hong Kong 2009, constructed by Weak! Architects as an icon of "illegal architecture," this new pavilion is the product of an intensive five day workshop, with the cooperation of architects and students from Europe, Australia, and China. Read on after the break to learn more about the Pavilion and Workshop.

Interview with Qi Xin of Qi Xin Architects and Engineers

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Architecture is not important. You can make a microclimate or situation, but you cannot have more influence about life or the urban situation, it’s just a very small operation you are working on, and you cannot control the situation of the city.. But even if you are just working on a single object here, you can always try to have more or less a positive influence on the city, you can always contribute in your way to the city, to the citizens. But in a larger view it’s not that important; it’s you or somebody else. The people are happy or not, their happiness is not relying on your architecture.” - Qi Xin, Beijing, 2013

China's "City-Making Process": Investors' Power in the People's Republic

Pier Alessio Rizzardi — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 01:00:00 +0000

The world is looking at the urban machine of Chinese cities, at the newly founded theme-cities and at the new urban economic investment areas around the cities. The buildings are repetitive, the areas are sometimes uninhabited, but the thing that leaves urban planners, architects and the public amazed is that these buildings are often completely sold out even before they are completed.

An Interview with MAD Architects' Ma Yansong: Constructing Icons, Identity & China's Future Cities

Pier Alessio Rizzardi & Zhang Hankun (TCA Think Tank) — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 01:00:00 +0000

I look into myself, trying to express myself. I think sometimes maybe you have an idea from a dream. It sounds ridiculous but you draw something out of your dream. Where does this dream come from? It must somehow relate to some situation. So what I'm interested in is to keep discovering what is really inside of me. I'm not a genius that from the first moment I already know what I want. - Ma Yansong -

An Interview with Yung Ho Chang, Atelier FCJZ

Pier Alessio Rizzardi & Zhang Hankun (TCA Think Tank) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 01:00:00 +0000

"When you find a piece of stone which is three or four hundreds years old, then you understand the notion of time as more than what we can experience as human beings. At that moment the old thing might be beautiful, it might be ugly. It doesn't matter, but it gives you a sense of profound time, and then you understand your history and ancestors that lived in a different world, different from the one we are in now."-Yung Ho Chang