standardarchitecture 標準營造 北京西,紐約東

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standardarchitecture 標準營造 北京西,紐約東

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標準營造 北京西,紐約東

對拷貝西方建築或者繁殖東方傳統均無興趣,設計絲毫不受風格的羈絆,標準營造 standardarchitecture 是中國最年輕一代建築師的突出代表之一。

撰文 琳達•弗拉森羅德(Linda Vlassenrood)
翻譯 馮恪如
攝影 陳溯

現在寫一篇關於某個中國年輕建築師事務所的文章,能否迴避世人皆知的中國建設速度與建造規模的奇蹟?是否可以想像直入主題而不再涉及建築、都市、社會、公眾和環境等等因素?簡言之,是否可以只關注這些年輕中國建築師獨特的創造力?還是說我們對於中國建築所面臨問題的整體認識仍然是評價他們作品的關鍵?顯然,從我們西方的視角看,後者仍然是個問題,中國的城市化進程所帶來的影響還沒有被完全解讀,我們對其中無數的問題和潛在可能性簡直是過度的痴迷,以至於現在大量的展覽和出版物(一些還在進行中),主要出現在歐洲,均以這樣的視角來看待中國年輕建築師(所謂前衛建築師)的作品。他們的作品甚少或從未被單獨提及,而總是充當著實例的作用。然而矛盾的是,這些設計恰恰不能夠代表中國的當代建築;這裡展示的作品只是中國大量建築產品中的極小部分,相關的建築師也恰好是體制外的特例,因為他們是在用設計來回應和批判持續變化的城市環境中出現的矛盾與衝突。

總之,我們這些西方人仍需要相當一段時間來充分理解中國城市化的過程。同時,去形成自主的設計特徵,並得到外界的理解和欣賞,是年輕的中國事務所們自己的事。很多人正在進行這樣的實踐,雖然是在很小的尺度上。自我意識在前衛建築師中日見增強,他們中的年輕者在先鋒行列中選擇更加反叛的態度。位於北京的標準營造(standardarchitecture)就是一個突出的例子,他們的作品中顯示出追問的態度和激進的設計方式。

從年齡上說,標準營造的建築師屬於第五代中國現代建築師。中國的學者通過一代人的推陳出新來談論中國電影史的發展,這種斷代方法也沿用在建築史中。第一代進步建築師出現於 1920年代。當今中國活躍的建築師,1980到90年代在國內、外受教育的建築師,分別代表中國第四、第五代建築師。1999年在紐約,張軻(生於 1970年)和張弘(生於1967年)共同成立了標準營造建築事務所。兩年以後他們逐漸將工作的轉移到北京,他們在此贏得了幾項設計競賽。隨著事務所的發展,又有合夥人Claudia Taborda(生於1965年)和茹雷(生於1969年)以及另外15名工作人員加入。

他們作品的特別之處來自於單一的想法和有時候非常強烈的設計手段,對此張軻言語中有很強的自信,他毫不諱言他們在中國目前建築實踐中的立場,他認為標準營造無疑是新一代的,這是一個不再逡巡於中、西方建築異同的一代,不需要借助於對中國傳統建築的現代詮釋來應對外界影響的一代。年輕一代建築師同時把中國和西方作為他們靈感的重要源泉,更加自然地把兩種元素融會貫通。這是他們藉以區別於前輩建築師,特別是商業建築師改採用的方法。「我們這一帶建築師普遍的特點是不再關注某種風格」,張軻說,「我們不再對折中東方、西方感興趣;我們不再對向國外販賣中國傳統建築感興趣;我們更不會再拷貝西方建築,我們不再對追隨或者效仿名家感興趣,我們甚至不再有興趣定義某種中國的新建築。對我們來說,西方建築和中國建築的框架早已經被破除。我們追求自己獨立的全球視野。」

重要的是,他言語之間傳達出對所有身份問題的超越,和對建築實質上創新的追求。要實現這個目標,意味著營造出更加足以應對當今建築實踐的思想空間(intellectual space)。事實上,一般西方人和為數眾多的中國建築師所關注的中國建築界的問題,並不是張軻所關心的。標準營造從來都不否認現存的大量問題,卻完全不關心那些不確定和不利的因素,他們積極地利用當前建築實踐中的高度自由。例如,儘管選擇業主時很挑剔,標準營造卻從不把缺乏經驗的開發商(有些就是他們的同齡人)當成是一種阻礙。張軻說:「中國有著對未知事物的極強求知慾。大多數業主想要得到超出他們想像的設計,什麼事都有可能發生。我們並不認為自己可能改變開發商的意圖,所以我們特別小心地選擇我們的客戶。」 他們看重的是共同的立足點和相近的興趣,如果找不到這樣的興趣基礎就絕不參與這個競賽或謝絕承接這個項目。他們平均每個月要推掉4到5個項目。

標準營造的建築師把自己看作是新一代,他們甚至用「挑釁的」來描述自己的作品,這初看起來非常出人意料。其實,他們的大多數建成作品(目前為止有12項)都很不張揚,精確設計的結構很好地融入周圍環境中。設計的激進性表現在抵制流行的裝飾構件的堆砌、有時強烈的色彩和風格的多元化。由於理性地選擇建築語彙,他們的作品留給人們多種解讀的空間。張軻解釋說,在項目進行之初提出問題而不給這些問題尋找確定的答案使他們能夠「給重新詮釋建築預留空間,並且鼓勵人們提出新的問題」。他們的設計是概念構思的產物而非只為了形式,這在當代中國是很少見的。以國家來區分建築風格在過去二十年的中國非常流行:意大利式、德國式、西班牙式、瑞典式、美國式、荷蘭式、現在甚至還有中國式。同樣流行的是以形式為主導建築設計方法,業主只有看到眩目的渲染圖,才能建立對項目價值的足夠信心。標準營造的設計理念在中國還很不普遍,在這裡關於建築的一切都必須快速、廉價和簡單。標準營造的建築師們,事實上,還是一些非常關注歷史文脈、現存城市規劃結構、建造的創造性以及材料試驗性的建築師。他們的辦公室位於一座五十年代的廠房裡,辦公室的改造設計,體現了他們尊重歷史、強調材料的真實性、有保留地使用新設計元素並且謹慎地將這些元素整合到現存環境中。他們把拆除了廠房的一切多餘構件,暴露出屋頂木結構,並把原有磚牆外表面的抹灰剝掉。他們完整保留了混凝土地面,將精心設計的鋼板框的窗子和一個新的入口區域小心地契合進原有建築中。

標準營造有幾件作品非常注重細節,讓人難以置信張軻所聲稱的他們有時也做「快速、廉價和簡單」的項目,雖然據他說這是為了滿足市場的需要。理論上講,毫無疑問標準營造能夠輕而易舉地把自覺的職業訴求同快速、廉價和簡單的設計過程聯繫在一起,進而改變中國建築現狀。事實上,他們確實面臨著可行性的困難。例如,武漢華潤中法藝術中心(2004-2005)的施工就不符合標準施工做法。因此標準營造不得不付出巨大努力讓業主和工程師能夠批准一座升起的混凝土天橋設計,天橋長80米,高 5.5米,四面圍合,用以連接藝術中心的兩個體量。現在標準營造的辦公室兀立著一個32米長的雕塑般的作品,把空間一分為二。這就是建築師們為了證明空中連廊可實施性所作的實驗模型(比例1:2.5),最終方案得以順利通過。

就建築面積而論,他們的建成項目都小於7000平方米,這以中國標準來說非常之小。因此,這樣的項目的結構可實施性,當然與CCTV的結構可實施性的討論毫無共性,但是標準營造的工作過程卻令它們從那些既沒有顯赫地位、也並不位於沿海大城市的項目中脫穎而出。

一個更有爭議性的建成項目是北京東便門明代城牆遺址公園(2001-2003)。這是標準營造的一個早期項目,設計顯示出極度的克制。這個由市政府組織的公園競賽由於地段豐厚的歷史文化內涵而變得很具爭議性,地段包括東便門城樓和一段明代城牆遺址。1.5公里長的狹長公園正界於老城和都市之間。市政府要求在此建成一座文化景觀公園。標準營造採用最小化介入的設計,展露歷史遺蹟,增設允許多項活動的基本設施。在競賽中與眾不同的是,這個項目並沒有「表演性」地複製一部分城牆,以便平整剝落的牆面或者加建永久構築物讓公園看上去更美。設計的目的自始至終就是營造一個融入城市肌理的人人可達的公共空間。是什麼讓政府官員最終放棄了常見的對炫目設計的痴迷而選擇了這個樸素的方案?張軻回答:「這是一個文化上很重要而經濟上並不重要的競賽,由於基地處於重要的城市節點,屈指可數的城牆遺址是非常敏感的文化象徵,因此政府很慎重地選擇競賽評委,評委包括建築研究院的資深院士和從事歷史遺蹟保護的專家。這樣級別的評委是罕見的。諷刺的是,我們的方案是最保守的、唯一沒有在城牆上附加任何形式的方案。評委自然而然選中了我們。」

另一個明顯試圖將建築融入環境的項目是陽朔店面(2003-2005)。這個商住兩用的項目顯示了標準營造對於城鎮規劃傳統、當地材料和建造技術的慎重考慮。建築師並沒有試圖發展出一個現代中國建築,而著力於將建築契合進城市環境中。他們花費巨大精力研究四種當地材料的潛力:藍綠色陽朔石材、灰瓦、松木板以及毛竹片。在中央大廳,他們對於材料研究的偏好體現得淋漓盡致。竹幕作為第二表皮,竹片與外牆成直角並相互成一定距離放置,竹節長度不一使得立面具有精彩的視覺效果。

武夷小學講堂(2002-2003)與上述三個項目大不相同。與其讓房子融入環境,建築師盡其所能令建築突出於環境。建築耀眼的紅色和富有表現力的外形為色彩極其平淡的周邊社區增添了特殊的活力,這是一個最直接意義上的「激進」設計。建築容納了一個520座的講堂,功能極其簡單。然而建築的顏色和屋頂的形式,卻提出了一系列的問題。有意思的是,標準營造的建築師即使在一遍又一遍的提問下也不肯去直接討論這一屋頂形狀所代表的涵義。很明顯,他們在堅定不移地積累著自己有可讀特徵的作品,完成這些作品令他們廢寢忘食。儘管講堂看上去是他們作品的特例,但值得一提的是在這裡,建築師創造了供人們琢磨和反思的空間 ──這樣的思想空間正是目前中國建築業火爆的年代所極度缺少的。

(註: 本文的英文版同時發表於荷蘭 MARK Magazine #6, 2007年3月刊)

作者:琳達•弗拉森羅德(Linda Vlassenrood), NAI荷蘭建築師協會策展人,
策劃2006年鹿特丹《中國當代》展。
譯者:馮恪如,Domus雜誌,責任編輯
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standardarchitecture West of Beijing, East of New York

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standardarchitecture West of Beijing, East of New York

With no interest in copying Western architecture or in propagating Oriental traditions, Standardarchitecture is a style-free exponent of China’s youngest generation of architects.

Text Linda Vlassenrood
Photos Chen Su

Is it possible nowadays to begin an article featuring a young Chinese architecture firm without mentioning a globally felt sense of amazement at the speed and scale of China’s building process? Is it even conceivable to proceed to the main subject without an introduction that touches on all sorts of architectural, urban, social, public and environmental issues? In short, can a team of young Chinese architects be considered on their own merits, or is our universal knowledge of the problems facing Chinese architecture as a whole essential to an evaluation of their work? Clearly, seen from a Western perspective, the latter is still the case. The implications of China’s urbanization process are not yet fully understood, and our fascination with the countless problems and possibilities involved is simply mind-boggling. An impressive series of exhibitions and publications (some still pending), appearing mostly in Europe, invariably looks at the work of young Chinese architects (the so-called avant-garde) from this point of view. Their projects seldom or never receive individual attention, therefore, but rather fulfil a primarily exemplary function. Paradoxically enough, these designs are anything but representative of contemporary Chinese architecture; the few that are shown make up only a fraction of China’s total building production, and the architects in question are exceptions to the rule, as they use their designs to aim a critical response at conflicts in a constantly changing urban context.

All in all, it will be quite some time before those of us in the Western world have a fully developed understanding of the Chinese urbanization process. At the same time, it’s up to the young Chinese firms themselves to create autonomous signatures that can be recognized and appreciated as such. Many are doing just that, albeit on a very small scale. Self-awareness is increasing among the avant-garde, whose youngest generation is taking a more and more defiant position within this vanguard. Beijing-based Standardarchitecture is an outstanding example. Their projects reveal an investigative and provocative approach to design.

In terms of age, the architects at Standardarchitecture belong to the fifth generation of contemporary Chinese architects. Historians discussing the evolution of Chinese cinema down through the years speak in terms of generations, which is also a classification used in the history of architecture. The first generation of progressive architects emerged in the 1920s. Architects active in China today – designers educated at home and abroad in the 1980s and ’90s – represent the fourth and fifth generations, respectively. In 1999 in New York, Zhang Ke (1970) and Zhang Hong (1967) founded Standardarchitecture. Two years later they began moving the firm’s operations, one step at a time, to Beijing, a city in which they had won a number of design competitions. As they expanded their office, the founders were joined by partners Claudia Taborda (1965) and Ru Lei (1969), as well as a staff of about 15 employees.

Distinguishing the outfit is a single-minded and sometimes highly conspicuous approach to design, which Zhang Ke discusses with the utmost of confidence. He nearly verges on impudence when talking about the position of his firm within the current practice of architecture in China. Without hesitation, he speaks of Standardarchitecture as the new generation of architects – a generation that no longer feels the need to consider differences between China and the West and that is not looking for a modern reinterpretation of traditional Chinese architecture as an answer to outside influences. The younger architects, who see both China and the West as important sources of inspiration, combine the ingredients of both styles of architecture in a more spontaneous manner. It’s their way of distinguishing themselves from the previous generation and from commercial architects in particular. ‘I think what’s common in our generation is that we are no longer interested in any specific style,’ says Zhang Ke. ‘We are no longer interested in blending East and West. We are no longer interested in vending traditional Chinese things abroad. Nor are we interested in copying Western architecture. We are no longer interested in following or imitating any big names, and we are not even interested in defining a new Chinese architecture. For us, the old frameworks of Western architecture and Chinese architecture have already been broken. We are pursuing our own autonomous global perspectives.’

Above all else, his words express a desire to achieve a qualitatively enlightened architecture totally free of identity issues. Accomplishing such a goal means creating intellectual space in which to respond more adequately to present-day architecture practices. The level of concern with which Westerners approach China’s building world – a concern felt by a substantial number of Chinese architects – does not seriously bother Zhang Ke. He would be the last to deny that plenty of problems do exist, but turning their backs on uncertainty and gloom, the team at Standardarchitecture are embracing the high degree of freedom that dominates today’s architecture process. Inexperienced property developers, for example, often young people like themselves, are not regarded as an obstacle, although these architects are quite selective in their choice of clients. ‘China has an extreme desire for the unknown,’ says Zhang Ke. ‘The majority of clients envision a design that goes beyond their expectations. Anything goes. I don’t think we can change developers’ minds, so we’re exceptionally careful in choosing our clients.’ He says they look for common ground and shared interests, and a failure to find them means ‘we don’t enter the competition or take the commission’. They turn down an average of four to five projects a month.

Self-confidently presenting themselves as the new generation, the principals at Standardarchitecture describe their projects as ‘provocative’, which seems a rather unusual characterization at first. Most of their built projects (currently numbering 12) are, in fact, highly restrained, exactingly designed structures that blend into their surroundings remarkably well. The provocation lies in a rejection of the customary profusion of ornament, exuberant use of colour and diversity of styles. And largely because they use a soberly selected architectural language, their work leaves room for multiple interpretations. As Zhang Ke explains, asking themselves questions at the onset of a new project and avoiding fixed answers to those queries allow them to ‘leave space for future interpretation and encourage others to raise questions’ as well. Their projects are the result of thinking conceptually rather than strictly in terms of form, which is exceptional in present-day China. Thinking of architecture as a discipline based on national styles – Italian, German, Spanish, Swedish, American, Dutch, and now even Chinese – has been the rule for the past two decades. The same applies to a form-orientated approach to the design of buildings, which emerges from the apparent need of clients to see dazzling computer images before being convinced that a project is worthwhile. Standardarchitecture’s design principles are definitely not common in China, where everything related to building has to be fast, cheap and simple. These are, after all, architects who give a great deal of thought to historical context, to (existing) urban-planning structures, to innovation in building and to experimentation with materials. Their office is located in a 1950s factory building whose renovation exemplifies the team’s intent to approach history with respect, to emphasize the authenticity of materials, to design new elements with restraint and to integrate them into the existing context with discretion. They stripped the factory of every superfluous element, exposing the wooden structure of the roof and the brick walls which were covered by a layer of plaster. They left the concrete floor intact, while carefully incorporating elegantly designed steel-framed windows and a new entrance area into the building.

Several projects reveal so much attention to detail that it’s hard to believe Zhang Ke’s claim that Standardarchitecture also produces ‘fast, cheap and simple’ work – although solely, he says, for the purpose of satisfying market demands. Theoretically, there’s no reason why the firm should have the least bit of trouble coupling its conscientiously pursued ambitions to a fast, cheap and simple design process, and thus to change the direction of architecture in China. In practice, however, they face the ongoing issue of feasibility. The design for the Wuhan CRLand French-Chinese Art Centre (2004-2005), for example, was incompatible with standard methods of construction. Consequently, Standardarchitecture had to pull out all the stops in an effort to get both client and engineers to approve an elevated concrete footbridge, 80 m long and 5.5 m high, enclosed on all sides and designed to link the two volumes of the art centre. Presently adorning Standardarchitecture’s headquarters is a 32-m-long sculptural object: a behemoth that divides the space into two equal parts. The architects made the model themselves (scale 1:2.5) to demonstrate the feasibility of the construction, and it’s proved successful.

In terms of surface area, all their built projects are less than 7000 m² and thus particularly small by Chinese standards. A discussion that addresses the structural possibilities of such projects, therefore, has nothing in common with discussions on, say, the engineering challenges of the CCTV building, but the process involved in work by Standardarchitecture exemplifies that of many projects that are not at all prestigious and that do not strut their stuff in a big city near the coast.

A more controversial project that was realized in a big city is the Beijing Dongbianmen Ming Dynasty City Wall Relics Park (2001-2003). One of Standardarchitecture’s earlier projects, it was designed with extreme constraint. Organized by the city, the competition leading to the park was controversial because the site, laden with cultural and historical meaning, included the Dongbianmen watchtower, as well as the ruins of a city wall built during the Ming dynasty. The narrow, 1.5-km-long park lies precisely on the border between the old city and the urban periphery. The city had asked for a cultural landscape park. Standardarchitecture’s minimal interventions consisted mainly of exposing the history of the site and adding basic facilities for a series of alternating activities. In contrast to the other competition entries, history here was not ‘staged’ by building a replica of the wall, by smoothing out the rough places or by adding all sorts of permanent objects to enhance the park aesthetically. From beginning to end, the main goal was to create a public space that was well integrated into the urban fabric and accessible to everyone. What was it, ultimately, that made city officials ignore the normal predilection for extravagance and choose this austere plan? ‘The competition was culturally but not financially significant,’ replies Zhang Ke. ‘Because the site is an important urban junction and the sole leftover segment of the city wall is a sensitive cultural icon, the government was very careful in selecting the jury, which consisted of esteemed old fellows from the architecture academy and members involved in historic preservation. A jury at that level is rare. Ironically enough, our proposal was the most restrained and the only one that did not take a strong formal approach to the wall itself. It was not hard for the jury to make their choice.’

Another project that shows a strong attempt to adapt a design to its surroundings is Yangshuo Storefronts (2003-2005). Plans for this retail-residential complex exhibit a careful consideration of the town’s urban-planning traditions, as well as the use of local materials and building techniques. Rather than trying to develop a contemporary Chinese architecture, the architects concentrated on fully anchoring the project into its urban context. A large part of their effort went into exploring the possibilities of four locally available materials: a blue-green Yangshuo stone, grey roofing tiles, larch and bamboo slices. Nowhere is their appetite for this type of research more evident than in the central hall. A bamboo screen wraps the building in a second skin; placed at right angles to the wall and some distance apart, the lengths of bamboo lend the façade an intriguing visual effect.

And then there’s the WuYi Primary School Auditorium (2002-2003), a project nothing at all like the three previously mentioned designs. Rather than neatly fitting the building into its surroundings, the architects did everything possible to make it stand out. A bright-red building with an expressive form adds zest to a neighbourhood completely drained of colour; it’s a ‘provocative’ project in the most literal sense of the word. Consisting of a single hall for an audience of 520, the building has a very simple programme; the colour and form of the roof, on the other hand, raise a bevy of questions. The architects at Standardarchitecture never get around to discussing the significance of the roof, however, even after repeated requests. Evidently, in the midst of developing a consistent oeuvre with a recognizable signature – work that obviously consumes their every waking moment – they are not easily distracted. Although the auditorium appears to be an exception, it must be said that here, too, the architects have created room for thought, for reflection – the kind of intellectual space so badly needed in China’s building boom.
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