Shanghai is a city with many hidden architectural gems - not
just the old buildings that we so often hear about, but the new
structures that epitomize modern design and make for better
living.
A judging panel of internationally known architects visited
Shanghai last week to tour five of the best examples of excellently
designed buildings by Chinese mainland architects.
The experts were judging the Taiwan-based 2007 Far Eastern
Outstanding Architectural Design Award, in cooperation with Tongji
University's Urban Planning and Architecture Institute.
The award has traditionally honored Taiwan-based architects -
this year for the first time it included Shanghai. The prize has
been awarded for seven years by the Far Eastern Group Memorial
Foundation and aims to promote young Chinese architects, encourage
the best in modern architecture for better living.
At an awards ceremony in Taipei Saturday night, two first-place
honors went to architects in both Taiwan and Shanghai. The first
prize is 250,000 yuan (US$34,000); the second prize is 125,000
yuan.
The first-place Shanghai award went to Liu Jiakun for the
Exhibition Center of Qingpu District New Town. Second place went to
Miao Pu for the Minhang Ecological Garden. Taiwan's top honor went
to Jay W. Chiu, designer of the 921 Earthquake Museum of
Taiwan.
"This is the first time we have included architecture in the
Chinese mainland for the award," says Morton Maote Huang, special
assistant to chairman of Far Eastern Group, organizer of the award.
"Taiwan is too small and limited for great architectures and that's
why we want to expand the award to the Chinese mainland."
Former Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi persuaded the Far Eastern Group
to recognize distinguished Chinese mainland architects in Shanghai,
a city of mushroom architecture of all kinds.
Judges visited the buildings in person - not through Powerpoint,
paper and photos - and talked to the architects.
"Our award focuses on buildings designed solely by Chinese
architects," says Huang. "At present Taiwan architect candidates
outnumber those in Shanghai because most big projects in Shanghai
involve cooperation with foreign architects."
This will take time, but eventually Shanghai will have more
outstanding architecture designed by Chinese, he says.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday the panel of judges with strong
international backgrounds visited the five architecture candidates,
chosen from among 22 buildings and urban designs in Shanghai.
The pane lists include Professor Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of the
Graduate School of Design in Harvard University; Masao Furuyama,
vice president of the Kyoto Institute of Technology in Japan,
Edward Huang, senior planner of the Downtown Region for the
Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, and Cui Kai, vice
president, chief architect and national design master of China
Architecture Design and Research Group.
Photos and descriptions of the top candidates' works will be
compiled into a book.
Winner - Exhibition Center of Qingpu District New Town,
by Liu Jiakun
The winning Exhibition Center for New Town Construction is
consistent with the surrounding large-scale square, lake, TV tower,
avenue and playground, which form a boundary with Xiayang Lake.
It is divided into three functional areas - south, middle and
north. The south part is Qingpu Urban Planning Department; north is
for New Town administration offices; the center's ground floor is
an exhibition hall, upper floors are for entertainment and
shopping.
From the road to the building, there are trees, pools,
platforms, terraced greenery, brick courtyards and spaces embraced
by some parts of the building. It expresses the gradual change from
city traffic space to the interior of the buildings with gray and
black facades.
Second place - Minhang Ecological Garden, by Miao
Pu
The Ecological Garden lies in a dense residential and industrial
area. The 4,400-square-meter project is comprised of the park
administration and two reception facilities.
Architect Miao says that the standard Western solution for such
a project could be three free-standing buildings surrounded by
lawns. But he went with China's courtyard tradition, decentralized
the building mass and internalized outdoor space as courtyards.
Walls separate the center from the park and the three parts from
each other. This allows users to have privacy while enjoying the
nature.
The Edge Garden, Qingpu District, by Ma
Qingyun
The renovation of Winding Water Garden, now known as Edge Park
in front of Chenghuang Temple in Qingpu, introduces urban public
space into traditional landscape gardens.
By integrating and juxtaposing the old and the new, their
materials and structures, the project strengthens the inherent
qualities of both historical and modern space.
The architect says that when one enters a garden, it should be
like entering a different reality.
Edge Park is special in the way it employs walls to both engage
and conceal the surrounding environment. The flood-control canal
both physically and symbolically separates the garden and Taoist
temple from the surrounding commercial area. Water, as the "great
purifier," provides an ideal transition to and from the site.
The Renovation Project of No. 8 Middle School East
Teaching Building, Huangpu District, by Zhang Ming
The teaching building, containing a library and an auditorium,
adjacent to the excellently preserved historic No. 8 Middle School.
The new architecture continues and regenerates traditional spirit
in a modest way.
"This project is not fashionable or avant-garde," says architect
Zhang Ming. The 2,000-square-meter East Building is inserted into
the historical landscape district of No. 8 Middle School, with a
gentle yet modern attitude. The minimalist modern architecture
echoes traditional Chinese lines.
Shanghai Xiayu Kindergarten, Qingpu New Town, by Liu
Yichun, Zhuang Shen and Chen Yifeng
On the edge of the Qingpu New Town,the kindergarten contains 15
classrooms, each with a living room, dining room, bedrooms and
outdoor playgrounds.
The architects cluster classrooms, teachers' offices and other
facilities into two curved clusters. All living rooms are on the
first floor, brilliantly colored bedroom boxes are on second
floor.
The architects use black stone throughout, treating it
differently in different settings so that it almost seems like
different materials.
(Shanghai Daily December 17, 2007)
