bricworks3 the watercube post-olympics ai weiwei - ARCHILEPSY ...

Rolling like the locals on my new
three-wheeler
> Deliciously spicy mapo doufu gong bao ji
die qiezi rou, Chengu, Sichuan Province
> The spectacular Potola Palace
in the Sacred City of Lhasa
guest editorial
different scales, subway stations,
and several other drastically
different program types.
The other engaging aspect of
working in China is the ability
to be involved with projects
throughout many diverse areas
of Asia. This forces one to
consider local traditions and
customs, while designing for
the future direction of highly
dynamic cities whose occupants
are constantly redefining their
identity in a shifting urban
environment. This can seem
like a daunting task, but it often
reminds me of Rem Koolhaas’s
quote from SMLXL:
"Architects are confronted
with an arbitrary sequence of
demands, in countries they
hardly know, about issues
they are only dimly aware
of, expected to deal with
problems that have proved
intractable to brains vastly
superior to their own"
That quote never really struck
me until I started working on
projects in Taiwan, Vietnam, the
Philippines, and various areas
through out mainland China.
As a kid right out of college,
born and raised in the States, I
was completely oblivious to the demands that these projects carried.
I had to consider questions such as, “What is the morning routine
for the Vietnamese elderly versus a young adult”, “How can a 3000
square meter Villa relate to previous notions of Chinese domesticity”,
“What layers of Taiwan’s history should come to the forefront and
what layers should remain subdued”.
China of course is not a flawless country, nor an innocent rising
global power. Living out here I have witnessed first hand the vast
disparities in wealth and a government who caters to the powerful
and wealthy elite. While the country expands its global influence and
tweaks its form of socialist-capitalism, the dismal political freedoms
and putrid humanitarian record this country has will have to catch
up with its economic freedoms. Amidst the country’s increasing
prosperity and dominance as a world power, lies incredible domestic
issues that will have to be solved in the coming decades if not sooner.
While some can sit idly oblivious to the plight of the abused
and highly neglected in the lower rungs of Chinese society, others
have taken a stance to not work with autocracies with poor human
rights records. Daniel Libeskind, for instance, blasted architects
for flocking to a country with one of the most flagrantly “repressive
regimes”, calling for a “moral stance”. For others this developing
market can be a tantalizing offer too difficult to turn away from,
especially in a economic downturn that the US has faced the past
four years.
While I sit quietly working in my fluorescent-saturated office,
eyes aglow from hours lost in the tedium of AutoCAD, I keep my
mind on a swivel. I am both aware of China’s blatant atrocities and
neglect, but also open to the possibility of great political reforms and
appreciative of the unending opportunities this country has provided
for me. Living abroad may have its setbacks and difficulties, but
given the chance to do it all over again, I would not even think twice
about taking a different path.