In a crowded and noisy city, how can the relationship between people and buildings, individuals and communities be adjusted to make urban life more livable and enjoyable? How can humans and man-made objects achieve a more harmonious and sustainable integration and coexistence with plants and animals, as well as the ecosystem of water, air and soil that surrounds the city? The 9th Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture attempts to re-examine the modern urban architecture and community creation model from a new perspective, reconstructing the relationship between human and city, human and nature, and exploring a new path of future urban development and lifestyle through the exhibition of modular architecture, shared community, urban landscape, new building materials, and stray animal shelter.
The future of architecture into nature
How to Play the Garden - Finding the Lalaja in Everyone's Heart, by Wang Kai Wang Lingjie Hao Jingfang, photography by Wen Yang Yang
"A city as light as a kite, as transparent as a mosquito net ......" Calvino's fictionalized light city of Laraje in The Invisible City became the inspiration for architect Wang Kai and artists Wang Lingjie and Hao Jingfang to create "How to Play with Gardens -They tried to heal the heavy and tired city with a light garden landscape. In the future city they envision, buildings appear in sporadic dots in the natural landscape, with woods and grasslands replacing the urban network. The work visualizes this vision in a 4-meter diameter circular sandbox: the sandbox is filled with plants and erected with multiple silver matte irregular structures, symbolizing a giant city in a garden; the transparent spheres dotted with small buildings and plants are filled with artificial mist to add a sense of haze and interest, like Khan's dream city. "Plants are the window of communication between man and nature, and gazing at them is like gazing into the eyes of nature, having a silent dialogue." A plant garden in the city can help urbanites develop more personal space for dialogue with themselves and release stress.
Construction in the opposite direction" exhibition, by Lu Yichen, Link-Arc Architects
Natural crops grow, but buildings do not. If architecture is empowered with "growth", can it bring a different perspective? Architect Lu Yichen attempts to change people's conventional perception of architecture and time by constructing a "living" installation that can grow freely and reveal a hidden and sustainable ecosystem through the ecological installation "Construction in the opposite direction". This reverse installation is composed of hanging mushroom bricks. The inverted pyramidal porous structure is a subversion of traditional human-centered structures, expressing an anti-iconic attitude while maximizing rainwater collection at its top and providing ample shade below. The pond underneath the installation creates a humid microclimate, providing ample conditions for "growth". The main material of the installation is a new eco-material mushroom block, which uses crop waste as the medium and adds specific mycelium, allowing it to grow naturally while curing all the raw materials together to form a lightweight material with structural strength. At the end of the exhibition period, the medium blocks will be reprocessed into building materials.
Rain House, by Li Tianying, Zhang Haotian (FrankanLisa), photo by UABB, photography by Hu Kangyu
While water is a nutrient for natural organisms, in architecture it is a symbol of external danger. Modern architecture seeks to stabilize the internal environment by isolating the natural environment from the interior. How should architecture strike a balance between this "careful control" and closeness to nature? What is the standard of comfort? Architects Li Tianying and Zhang Haotian found that people from different regions and cultures have different standards of comfort in terms of indoor humidity. This is how "Rain House" was born. Rainwater", which is usually isolated from the building, is introduced into the wall in reverse, as if "nature" is encapsulated in the partition wall. The work is made of plastic film and light steel keel to simulate walls, and the installation is equipped with a circulation system consisting of pumps, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, pipes, etc. The exchange of water flow between the interior and exterior becomes a visible flow inside the plastic "wall", and the change of humidity inside the room brings about a change of comfort. At the same time, the creative team hopes to use "plastic film" as the main material of the wall to explore the value of plastic again. In their view, plastic is considered "environmentally unfriendly" because people see it as a disposable item, when in fact it is a recyclable material. "If plastic is being used consistently, then it's not a burden on the environment."
Modularity creates community sharing
Shared courtyard scene of Urban Village Project, Photo by SPACE10
"Worldwide, by 1.5 million people move from rural areas to cities every week. Many are in turn pushed to the urban fringe, away from jobs, education and public services, because they cannot afford to buy a proper home." Simon Caspersen, co-founder of IKEA's Future Living Lab SPACE10, believes that the lack of affordable housing in cities, growing social disparities, a high carbon emission construction industry, and a noisy, stressful, and unsocialized urban life are negatively impacting the physical and mental health of residents. In response, SPACE10 and Danish architecture firm Effekt Architects have joined forces to develop The Urban Village Project, a new approach to shared urban living that is livable, sustainable and affordable through a blend of shared living, sustainable materials, prefabrication, modular design systems and progressive ownership models.
"Sharing reduces the cost of living and provides access to more space and resources." Simon Caspersen said the Urban Village project envisions intergenerational shared living communities in cities with built-in common areas for daycare, urban agriculture, fitness, shared transportation, etc. Residents use the facilities on a subscription payment basis and can also live sustainably with integrated features such as water harvesting, clean energy production, recycling, local food production and in situ composting, with the above features viewable through an app and Participation. In the face of a rapidly growing urban population and urban sprawl, the project also introduces the concept of assembly, using sustainable natural materials to design modular construction systems and Lego-like assembly buildings that can be configured for single living, roommate living, and multi-generational family living, making them easy to retrofit, disassemble, and reuse, more sustainable, less expensive, and more affordable for residents.
Sunshine Kitchen Project, by Jiang Shan Lai Le Yuan, photo by Dong Wen Han
The courtyard, a space that combines the functions of living, production and social interaction, has been used in China since ancient times. Curator Jiang Shan and architect Li Leyuan attempt to reshape the form of urban "courtyard" by using "Yang Kitchen" as a guide. The "Yang Kitchen" is a space that combines the functions of a balcony and a kitchen. Under certain circumstances, such as when urban youths share a house, the balcony and kitchen are the smallest units of common space. The ideal vision of the "Yang Kitchen" project is that residents observe nature and grow fruits and vegetables on their balconies, and then share the harvest with their neighbors in the kitchen. Here the acts of production and sharing intersect, and the produced goods connect the neighborhood. The Yang Kitchen Project installation in the exhibition mimics this spatial form, bringing together production and sharing mechanisms to catalyze human connections through the medium of food and knowledge exchange about food. In the installation, modular customized components can be assembled into movable furniture with different functions, such as carts, planting boxes, folding tables, and operating tables. The "Yang Kitchen" furniture can flexibly "invade" existing spaces or be temporarily reorganized when neighbors "drop in" and become part of the social scene.
Building animal-friendly cities
Humans are not the only inhabitants of the city, where tens of millions of stray animals also live. How can we help these animals adapt to the human social environment? The "Home for Stray Animals" unit attempts to design a low-cost way for stray animals to live in the city, calling on the public to participate in the protection of animals and the environment. "This unit reflects the change of concept from 'humanism' to 'equality of all things'. Designing more space for animals may allow people to see a different urban picture from the current one." When designing the Cat Sucking Device, architect Zhang Zhiyang's first principle was "catism", making a design that is most comfortable for cats to use, rather than making them feel cool. The work consists of woven rattan cylinders, which are non-slip, wear-resistant and lightweight, making it easy for stray cats to sharpen their claws and climb, and more suitable for outdoor use in subtropical cities such as Shenzhen. Each rattan tube is an independent space and can be assembled in single hanging, double picking and multi-piece assembly. It can be placed on top of tree branches to create a more secure residence for cats who are good at climbing trees, or placed at the root of the wall of a building to facilitate residents to put food. "The beautiful picture of people and stray animals living together in harmony is a sign of urban civilization." Zhang Zhiyang said the natural material of rattan can visually add a natural element to the concrete city and create an emotional link that evokes rural memories. The stacked placement of rattan tubes echoes the stacking of cement pipes in the city, reminding people of the impact of urban development on animal survival and the natural environment.
Most urban residents keep pets for emotional needs, but pet abandonment occurs from time to time. If the emotional needs can be met from stray animals, can we effectively reduce pet buying and abandonment behavior? The inspiration for "Home for Stray Pups" came from the personal experience of architect Zhong Zixun: his children often went to pet stores to observe cats because they wanted to have pets. One day, after seeing a small stray cat downstairs, the child went downstairs every day to have a "date" with the cat. At the same time, he also noticed that a large amount of used clothing is thrown into the garbage every year, making it one of the most wasted materials in the consumer era. With this in mind, "The House of Pups" is composed of waste denim fabric and finished metal scaffolding, with denim fabric having excellent wear resistance and warmth. The denim fabric has excellent abrasion resistance and warmth, while the water-based coating added to the denim fabric can harden the fabric, solidify the form of the device, and have certain waterproof, fireproof and heat preservation effects. The combination of the two forms "platforms" of different heights and climbable pants, in which stray cats can shuttle and jump, as well as sharpen their claws, escape from the wind and rain, and interact with residents.
The multi-dimensional economic, ecological and social conflicts arising from rapid urbanization are a common challenge worldwide. The works on display respond to this challenge from a variety of perspectives: buildings that grow, buildings that blend into nature, communities that share life, and cities that allow animals to live more freely. ...... works present a cross-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and cross-cultural form of integration, with a common core philosophy: giving life to buildings and communities, striving to explore a new The core concept is the same: to give life to buildings and communities, to try to explore a new way of life, to shape a better future where people and nature live together in harmony, and to create a new vision of a city of integration and sharing. This is also the theme of this year's Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture, "The City Lives On".
Article Source:艺术与设计
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