本帖最后由 董羽天 于 2010-5-2 17:11 编辑
born in beijing, china in 1962, pei zhu founded studio pei-zhu,
a platform for researching the relationship between chinese
philosophy and contemporary architecture, an experimental
practice dealing with future and tradition in 2005.
educated at tsinghua university and UC berkeley,
pei zhu has given lectures at tsinghua university, beijing,
columbia university in new york,
and rhode island school of design in providence,
USC in los angeles etc.
studio pei-zhu won many important international designs,
such as guggenheim art pavilion at abu dhabi,
guggenheim museum beijing,
first place for the control center of beijing olympic 2008.
studio pei-zhu was also awarded the design vanguard award
from architectural record in 2007, china award from architectural
record in 2005, WA china architectural prize in 2004,
and chinese architecture award in 2003, DFA grand award
and special award for culture, hong kong, in 2008,
award of special merit from UNESCO.
pei zhu was invited to participate in many important exhibitions. chinese gardens for living - illusion into reality, dresden, germany; exhibition of chinese contemporaryarchitecture, paris;
china design now, victoria and albert museum, UK;
chinese contemporary architecture, rotterdam;
1st biennale of the architecture and art of the canary islands,
spain, biennial sao paulo, brazil;
alors, la chine, centre pompidou, paris.
http://www.studiopeizhu.com
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we met pei zhu in beijing on november 4th, 2009.
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what is the best moment of the day?
its after 3pm until around 9pm. I think that's my best moment.
normally I work quite late. during the day I usually discuss
work with my team to see the progress and if we have
achieved a good result.
what kind of music do you listen to at the moment?
when I was a student I use to like michael jackson, ...
you know - a lot of pop music. at that time china opened up
to the western world. now? nothing in particular. sometimes
classical, sometimes rock, really everything.
not at work though.
do you listen to the radio?
only in the car.
what books do you have on your bedside table?
right now I'm reading a book about chinese cultural values
in the conceptualization of forgiveness. this book is quite
interesting, as far as I know it has not been translated
into english.
do you read design / architecture / fashion magazines?
I should really read them but the majority of the time I just
flip through really quickly.
I assume you notice how women dress.
do you have any preferences?
in general I like women who dress casual, who show
their character.
what kind of clothes do you avoid wearing?
purely black. I think too many designers and architects
wear totally black. actually all of this
(points to what he's wearing) is not black.
I also don't like wearing suits or ties.
do you have any pets?
no
when you were a child, did you want
to become an architect?
no. I didn't know that architecture was a profession.
I wanted to be an artist. I had a teacher who was an artist,
but he encouraged me to walk away from painting to study
architecture. I listened to his advice.
where do you work on your designs and projects?
most of the time in the studio and visiting the building sites.
most of my inspiration I got from the places since I really
respect nature. well, .... to be honest most of the time
my ideas come when I'm not working.
what project has given you the most satisfaction?
so far none. I always feel a sort of disappointment with
my projects, especially when the design is not achieved
in the way we wanted it. this happens already during
the process, most often during the construction.
we feel there's something going wrong, we see the
mistakes made by manufacturers, contractors.
sometimes it's the relationship between client and architect.
good is that each time we learn some lessons,
its a big challenge. I think to myself there should be
no excuse - I mean, I can do better.
do you discuss your work with other architects?
I discuss our work with people from other fields,
most often artists. you can learn alot of things from people
who have different experiences. I am very busy, I think right
now the only chance for me to discuss with other architects
is on a panel, where the audience is exposed to various
viewpoints at the same session. in private I sometimes
discuss with architecture colleagues, but not in a serious
manner. we rather just joke or chat.
describe your style, like a good friend of yours
would describe it.
I wish to reconnect modern urban china to its roots,
reinterpreting the vernacular in a contemporary context.
today, architects identify 'sustainability' as
the most important change...
whatever you do in some way is harming our environment.
as an architect, you build an object for society, or an
individual, based on your understanding of this world.
'nature' in many ways influences the form of our project
for buildings. we put a lot of effort into thinking about
sustainability and natural ventilation and how we could
save energy not relying on technology. we're looking for
a natural idea, because I think that's the real ecological way.
I think architecture is a very good way of bringing people
together, to better communicate with the environment.
how do you bring modern architecture closer to people?
I don't like the current insensitive development that has
disrupted the traditional hierarchy of the chinese city plan.
the government favors large, iconic buildings.
my preference is for contemporary structures that leave
only a light mark on the cityscape. we have done a few
'invisible' buildings, almost floating. installed on the construction
site without any damage to the ground. we try to meticulously
preserve the existing structure, the quintessentially chinese
of traditional buildings.we try to reconfigure these classic
principles in a contemporary manner by stripping
ornamentation back to its purest lines. courtyards, gardens
and landscaping, ... the chinese form is at once an
architecture of enclosure and an architecture of the
natural world.
please describe an evolution in your work,
from your first projects to the present day.
it's not a question of scale.
my first project was actually quite big, and when I became
more influential in china, initially I refused other big projects.
I wanted to test my ideas also on small scale projects.
what changed? now, actuality I choose clients not a project
type. it doesn't matter if big or small, housing projects or
a museum... I don't mind as long as the client and I share
similar goals.
who would you like to design something for?
right now? a factory or a space for machinery, or an airport.
I'm interested in movement, accommodating large groups
of people. something related to transportation.
is there any designer and/or architect from the past,
you appreciate a lot?
le corbusier is probably one of the most influential, since
he had a lot of thoughts related to the transformation of
architecture from the industrial system into the more
cultural form within nature.
and those still working / contemporary?
toyo ito, rem koolhaas. to name a few.
I think they have strong ideas.
can I cite an artist? I like richard serra.
his work is close to what we are doing right now.
and chinese artists cai guo qiang, su bing ...
since they are all my clients and my friends.
what advice would you give to the young?
the younger generation in china should know more about
our traditional chinese culture and philosophy.
since most of our projects are located in china,
we need to deal with its people, but most young architects
lack a cultural vision. in the last 20 years too many architects
just focus on the problem of urbanization, the physical
infrastructure. they resolve the problem with a collage
of ancient styles on the one hand and stupid imitation of
western experimentalism on the other.
instead I would like them to provide some soft,
enjoyable, poetic vision within the project .
therefore I'm suggesting to study history and chinese
philosophy. our heritage is so different to that of western
cultures. we should look at things from a different angle.
what are you afraid of regarding the future?
there is too much pressure for the big scale and the artificial
dominate this world. technology and industry.
I just fear that industries will make technology very powerful.
our conception of the value of people is getting smaller and
smaller. we have already lost too much of nature, too many
valuable things in our daily lives. for example - right now
- every chinese city is getting bigger but actually peoples
minds are getting smaller.
the rush to modernize, chinese cities are becoming
homogenized and losing their distinct identities.
people are frustrated with their everyday work.
they work and then go to sleep, without enjoying the place
in which they live in. |