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xie xie, zaijian

And speaking of Beijing: the NYT reports that China has dropped (or simply revoked) projects by Rem, Herzog, and their ilk in Beijing.

I met Ole Scheeren in Shanghai eighteen months ago to talk about the CCTV project, and it was clear that the thing was doomed. After running around Qingyun Ma's office insisting that he couldn't get to the airport without a chinese-speaker to help him (most of us find that the five syllables "pu-dong-fei-zhi-chang" works pretty well), Scheeren stated that he was off to Beijing to negotiate OMA's contract with a team of Chinese government lawyers. Apparently, this task--which would terrify any businessman or corporate lawyer with experience in China--was not going to be a problem because "the contract has been totally designed by the best international corporate lawyers in the netherlands." When I asked in what language the contract was written, he said, "English, of course, it is an international contract." He was so frankly arrogant that I left without mentioning that English contracts are unenforceable under Chinese law.

I think that they're probably aware of this by now.

* joshua, 9/21/2004 08:00:30 PM

Comments

Well, I was reading that article differently, nyt quoted Scheeren saying, that the CCTV is advancing, after being halted before and they even signed the contract for that huge bookstore, with a paper-façade.
For the Bejing-Olympic-Stadium, just had to be redesigned, without covering roof structure and less steel...because steel got expensive (because China almost bought up the whole steel worldwide).
Well the economy was heating up, no wonder with that hundreds of millions given way for buildings. But that is/was great for architects, they were able to push the edges of design like Koolhaas and others. Simply recalling and stopping, I guess is the wrong reaction, sure you have to watch were the money goes. I have seen yesterday an exhibition about Herzog deMeuron's work and their façade designs for a local (Bejing) finacal and residental center was quite sophisticated. Maybe this Armada of Avant-Garde Architects may trigger a Chinese Design-Reaction, contemporary, modern design, reacting to that sophisticated examples, but not traditional architecture, but more aware of the context.
Oh by the way, Eberle didn't get fame just because of China, he is quite known in Europe too (I studied under him last year).

my 0.02$ - Nik

* posted by scisar : 11:11 AM

Well, I was reading that article differently, nyt quoted Scheeren saying, that the CCTV is advancing, after being halted before and they even signed the contract for that huge bookstore, with a paper-façade.
For the Bejing-Olympic-Stadium, just had to be redesigned, without covering roof structure and less steel...because steel got expensive (because China almost bought up the whole steel worldwide).
Well the economy was heating up, no wonder with that hundreds of millions given way for buildings. But that is/was great for architects, they were able to push the edges of design like Koolhaas and others. Simply recalling and stopping, I guess is the wrong reaction, sure you have to watch were the money goes. I have seen yesterday an exhibition about Herzog deMeuron's work and their façade designs for a local (Bejing) finacal and residental center was quite sophisticated. Maybe this Armada of Avant-Garde Architects may trigger a Chinese Design-Reaction, contemporary, modern design, reacting to that sophisticated examples, but not traditional architecture, but more aware of the context.
Oh by the way, Eberle didn't get fame just because of China, he is quite known in Europe too (I studied under him last year).

my 0.02$ - Nik

* posted by scisar : 11:14 AM

Yep, it's begun.

* posted by Ray : 8:48 PM

This post has been removed by the author.

* posted by joshua : 10:29 PM

This post has been removed by the author.

* posted by joshua : 10:32 PM

This post has been removed by the author.

* posted by joshua : 10:33 PM

Sorry about the cancelled posts above. Technical problems, leading to repeated and garbeled posts. Here's the response:

I'm not sure that we're talking about the same article here. The one I've read, by Christopher Hawthorne, does not talk mention a bookstore or paper facade. The only quote from Scheeren is to the effect that the Beijing is re-examining its architectural priorities, and that the go-go period of intial project sponsorship will lead to a more cautious architectural climate. The claim regarding CCTV is that it has fallen into a "kind of political limbo"--which we can expect to lead to one of a number of familiar Chinese outcomes. The first is that it may be "line-itemed" into components, some of which will be built, and others not. The second is that it will be kept as a "concept" and finished by a Chinese design institute or construction company. The third is that it the limbo will become a permanent condition.

From our experience, the laying of cornerstones after long delays generally indicates that either the second or third scenarios is taking place. This is a common way of saving face--sticking by the original intentions of the noble project, while committing nothing more than a cornerstone to it. Norman Foster, for one, will find this all very familiar--he has a tower on the Bund that was commissioned, delayed, begun with great ceremony and finished by a Chinese contractor.

I'd like to believe as much as anyone else that China is going to be a utopia for investment in radical architecture--it would certainly be a great solution to the crappy climate of patronage in the United States, for example. Unfortunately, I've spent a little time working in China and everything I've seen has convinced me that major transformations in the administrative and artistic climate still need to take place before we can expect to see anything of the kind.

Oh, and I'm not sure what Nik is refering to regarding Eberle. The article that I read didn't mention him either--but I agree, he IS an excellent architect, and deservedly famous. We steal his details all the time.

* posted by joshua : 10:49 PM

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