Mind-blowing statistics about China's urban growth abound. Here's one. Shenzhen grew from a small town of about 300,000 to over 14 million in just 30 years, making its sister city, Houston, look like a stone on the side of the highway. How can we make sense of numbers like that? Several great books, including Thomas Campanella's The Concrete Dragon, have brought in-depth analysis to the destruction of China's classical and vernacular architectures, and the resistance that destruction engendered. In glossy design magazines, we see skyscrapers and highways jammed with traffic, evoking both contempt and envy. China is outdoing the United States at our own excesses.
More recently, the Chinese government and firms working there have argued that new projects engage traditional styles and preservation in innovative ways, and that pedestrian-friendly place-making take precedence. Most publications, however, only provide a cursory look at China from above. Reviews focus on the most expensive, highest profile, star-architect-designed projects. What is happening beyond the frame of the Bird's Nest beauty shots?
Cite and OffCite are sending Christof Spieler, one of Houston’s brightest minds, to China to report on the ground. Spieler is an award-winning engineer, Rice School of Architecture lecturer, and METRO Board Member. Over the next two weeks, Spieler will be traveling from Beijing to Hong Kong, riding the world's fastest high-speed rail along the way. Stay tuned to OffCite for a series of posts by Spieler as records his thoughts.
This series of blog posts is the start of Rice Design Alliance's special focus on Chinese Architecture. Spieler will contribute an article to a special issue of Cite focusing on China. Furthermore, the RDA Fall lecture series will feature a U.S. scholar and three successful Chinese architects who have reacted to China’s growth in three of its most important cities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou. RDA members and the public are invited to hear the following speakers during the series:
Wednesday, September 28
Thomas Campanella
Associate Professor of Urban Planning, University of North Carolina
http://planning.unc.edu/people/faculty/thomascampanella
Wednesday, October 5
Pei Zhu
Studio Pei Zhu, Beijing
http://www.studiopeizhu.com/
Wednesday, October 12
Wang Shu
Amateur Architecture Studio, Hangzhou
http://www.chinese-architects.com/amateur/
Wednesday, October 19
Qingyun Ma
Dean, University of California School of Architecture
Principal, MADA s.p.a.m., Shanghai
http://www.usc.edu/about/administration/deans/ma.html
All lectures will be held at 7:00 p.m. in Brown Auditorium in the Caroline Wiess Law Building, each with a pre-lecture reception at 6:00 p.m. in the museum lobby. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is located at 1001 Bissonnet (enter via the Main Street door.) No guaranteed seating for ticket holders after 7:00 p.m. Additional parking at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is available until 7:00 p.m. for $3 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets. As the lecture dates draw closer, tickets may be purchased in advance on our website.
A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts is supporting this unprecedented exchange of designers and scholars.
