BUILDING CHINA
FIVE PROJECTS, FIVE STORIES
CENTER FOR ARCHITECTURE
537 LAGUARDIA PLACE | NEW YORK
FEBRUARY 26 THROUGH MAY 31, 2008

The opening of the BUILDING CHINA exhibition was a complete success! On view until May 31st, people's architecture invites everyone to go visit the exhibition and the concurrent CO-EVOLUTION exhibition downstairs.
 
The People's Republic of China is undergoing a phenomenal transformation. Since 1978, with the adoption of the open-door policy, the country has developed a thriving market economy out of which existing and new cities are experiencing rapid and aggressive growth. A new generation of architects is active in the vanguard of this construction, developing their own architectural identity.

BUILDING CHINA: FIVE PROJECTS, FIVE STORIES features five unique architectural case studies that were conceived, designed, and recently completed by Chinese architects. Located throughout China, many of these buildings, being exhibited in the U.S. for the first time, offer the public insight into China's ever-changing landscape. Through the stories of these five projects, themes emerge: Production of Contemporary Culture, Reinventing Urban Fabric, Making the Private Public, Reinterpreting Traditional Design Philosophy, and Hybrid Development Models. These case studies of contemporary architecture introduce critical voices from the People's Republic of China, challenging the West's stereotypical interpretation of China as a homogeneous society. More info >>

And for more information on the accompanying MADE BY CHINA symposium at the Center for Architecture, please visit our website >>
 

 
THE 809 INTERNATIONAL NEW IMAGE ART FESTIVAL
CALL FOR ENTRIES
DEADLINE: MAY 01, 2008

The 809 International New Image Art Festival (the 809 INIAF) is holding a call for entry, entitled “Arts and Environment”. The 809 INIAF is the first event and will be held from July 25 to August 05, 2008 at the 809 International Art District (Village) in the Three Gorges area, China. The 809 INIAF Judging Committee will invite more than 60 national and international visual artists to take part in the following art forms: photography, video, short film, documentary (film/video/photo), new media, performance art, multimedia installation, and interdisciplinary art. Applications open for international artists from across the world. Deadline is May 01, 2008. More info >>

Also, the 809 has free artists' studios available for national and international artists residencies. For an entry form or further information please visit this link >>
 

 
CHINA DESIGN NOW
MARCH 15 THROUGH JULY 13, 2008
VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM
SOUTH KENSINGTON | LONDON

China is huge. China is becoming topical. Yet China remains mystery to most people in the West. ‘Made in China’ has become a familiar tag, but the spectacular creative energy in modern China is barely known. During the last twenty years, the Chinese have rediscovered their pre-socialist past and begun to combine their own traditions with global influences to produce a cultural rebirth. At the heart of this lies a new culture of design.

This exhibition will take you on a journey along China’s coastal cities to experience the country’s creative landscape. The journey starts in the far south, where graphic designers in Shenzhen began to explore new directions in the early 1990s. Next we move up to Shanghai. Here consumerism and urban culture have combined to produce astonishing fashion and lifestyles. Finally, we travel to Beijing, where monumental architecture for the Olympic Games is transforming the skyline of this ancient capital.

CHINA DESIGN NOW explores China’s dreams and hopes over the last two decades, from individual designers to the nation as a whole. It is our hope that this exhibition will bring contemporary China closer to you. More info here, here, and here >>
 

CHINA CHINA CHINA !!!
CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART BEYOND THE GLOBAL MARKET
MARCH 21 THROUGH APRIL 05, 2008
CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY CULTURE STROZZINA 
FLORENCE | ITALY 

CHINA CHINA CHINA!!! will present the work of 18 contemporary Chinese artists from three different cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou - who are all seeking to define a new cultural identity unfettered by the rules of the global market. A publication (published by Silvana Editoriale) and a series of lectures are planned with the exhibition. This event ties in with the exhibition on the first floor of Palazzo Strozzi, devoted to the Tang dynasty, universally recognized as a high point in Chinese civilization and central to the Chinese Renaissance.

The aim of the CCCS, under the direction of Franziska Nori, is to approach the much discussed "China phenomenon" from a different point of view. That's why the project is entrusted to three young Chinese curators:
- Davide Quadrio, founder and director of BizArt in Shanghai, the first and only self-supported and non-profit cultural organization in China, also active in The In-Between, a network of alternative art spaces in Europe and Asia;
- Li Zhenhua founder of the independent Art Lab in Beijing, artist and promoter of the new media art in China;
- Zhang Wei director of Vitamin Creative Space Contemporary Art in Guangzhou.

They are all based and operate in different parts of China, sharing a commitment to consolidate an independent critical platform supporting artistic production in China. They want art going beyond official boundaries and not bounded by the art market rules. Art that represents the complex reality of a contemporary China in the complex process of an historical change and cultural transformation. The exhibition presents a lively interchange between the curators three sections, representing three distinct but complementary attitudes and perceptions. More info >>
 

 
FOREIGN ARCHITECTS ENGAGING CHINA : BRAZEN

In this article in the Times Online, Herzog and de Meuron stand up for Beijing and take a swipe at the Steven Speilberg bandwagon of current China criticism. Along those lines, Daniel Libeskind’s boycott of work in China on ethical grounds was quickly slammed as a publicity stunt by leading Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, with the following quote: “Ideologising architecture is wrong; you overestimate its power”.

 
FOREIGN ARCHITECTS ENGAGING CHINA : BIGGER

Norman Foster does a really big airport terminal. Not to be outdone, Stephen Holl does a really big block. Foster’s Terminal 3 at the Beijing Capital International Airport is the world’s largest airport building, covering more than a million square meters and designed to accommodate an estimated 50 million passengers a year by 2020. Stephen Holl’s “Sliced Porosity Block” in Chengdu is a large mixed-use complex recently commissioned by CapitaLand China. Slated to open in 2010, this 105,000 square foot site is being developed to maximize public open space and stimulate micro-urbanism.

 
THE NEW CHINESE ARCHITECTS
The Guardian features an article on rising new Chinese architects. Focusing on architects such as Zhu Pei, Zhang Ke, and Wang Hui the author takes us on a tour of some of their current projects, and then on a detour into Thames Town. Also featuring an audio slide tour.

 
ORDOS 100

The scope of the project is to Develop 100 hundred villas in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, for the Client, Jiang Yuan Water Engineering Ltd. FAKE Design, Ai Wei Wei studio in Beijing, has developed the masterplan for the 100 parcels of land and will curate the project, while Herzog and de Meuron have selected the 100 architects to participate. The collection of 100 Architects hail from 27 countries around the globe. The project has been divided into 2 phases. The first phase is the development of 28 parcels while the second phase will develop the remaining 72. Each architect is responsible for a 1000 square meter Villa. More info here and here >>
 

AGRO-HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN CHINA

Winning the 2nd International Architecture Competition for Sustainable Housing, the Agro-housing concept submitted by Knafo Klimor Architects offers a China-specific new “urban an social vision that will address the problem of chaotic urbanization”. Taking their impetus from a UN report that predicts that 50% of the population in China will reside in cities by 2010, the project seeks to blend urban and rural living by creating greenhouse space within high-rise apartments. The Agro-housing concept enables tenants to produce their own food, reducing commuting needs and providing a green community. More info here >>.

 
KUNMING SILT POWER

A new development in alternative energy sources, farmers who burn silt from Lake Dianchi in Kunming have inspired the City’s power station to study this as a possibility in generating power. While not as efficient as burning coal or hydro-power plants, plant officials are nonetheless excited about the prospect of not only releasing pollution from the lake, but to create a sustainable approach to development. China Digital Times provides more info >>


HUANGBAIYU : A [NOT SO] MODEL VILLAGE

The village of Huangbaiyu in rural northeast China was intended to be a model for sustainable design on a master planning scale. The development, a collaboration between U.S. architect William McDonough and the Chinese, was to build 400 sustainable homes for the local villagers. The project completed some time ago, the development currently sits empty with very few of the local people desiring to relocate there. FRONTLINE / Word discusses the reasons why, in a three part video series.
 

 
DUSHU

The New Left Review features an article by Zhang Yongle on DUSHU, most likely China’s leading intellectual- and most controversial- journal of the past decade. Tracing the origins of the magazine and its subsequent remaking as chief editors changed hands, this article offers an informative glimpse into China’s social and academic landscape over the past 30 years.

SUPERCITIES ON THE RISE

Shifting China’s model of urbanization to favor huge supercities could boost per capita output, improve energy efficiency and help contain the loss of arable land, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) said on Monday. Rapid urbanization has been a major driver of Chinese growth over the past two decades and will become more so over the next 20 years; cities will account for 95 percent of China’s gross domestic product by 2025, up from 75 percent today, MGI said. But the institute, the economics research arm of consultants McKinsey & Co, said in a report that China could reap even greater economic benefits by adopting a more concentrated pattern of urban growth. More info, via China Digital Times and Reuters >>