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Architecture for the People: 10 Subversive and Imaginative Designs for China

15 Dec

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Putting architecture into the hands of the people in a country where home ownership is typically out of reach, this studio has some incredibly innovative ideas, from modular units that ‘plug in’ to the envelopes of historic buildings to unexpected uses for cheap and plentiful materials. These 10 projects by People’s Architecture Office explore the convenience of prefabrication, multipurpose objects and the brilliance of simplicity while still offering structures that are bright, fresh, airy and comfortable.

Courtyard House

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In Beijing, a whole lot of historic architecture has simply been cast aside in favor of newer, cleaner, more spacious suburban housing. Once-vibrant neighborhoods lacking in simple infrastructure like sewer systems are being left behind and neglected, growing more and more dilapidated. PAO has one solution: modern modular units that simply ‘plug in’ to the existing architecture to make it more livable. In the case of ‘Courtyard House,’ the original buildings are used like an envelope for newer structures that can be quickly, cheaply and easy assembled on-site.

Plugin House

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The firm carried the same concept over to ‘Plugin House,’ which slots onto a tiny, awkwardly shaped plot in a traditional ‘hutong’ alleyway. The prefabricated panels used to create these structures already have insulation, plumbing, windows, doors, wiring, interior and exterior finishes built in, and they snap and lock together with no more than a single hex wrench. People who no prior construction experience can put one of these houses together in 24 hours, and it costs less than $ 10,000.

Plugin Tower

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Plugin Tower is another PAO project that easily fits into existing urban environments, and gets around the difficulty of stable housing in China, where land is held exclusively by the government and building private homes is only affordable to the wealthy. This structure requires no foundation, so it doesn’t need planning approval, and it can be picked up and moved to a new location. The prefabricated steel frame comes in a kit of parts, and the modular living units just plug right in. You can rearrange it however you like and expand it when necessary.

Container Pavilion

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Shipping containers are cheap, easy to procure, highly stackable, customizable and a breeze to transport, so it’s no surprise that PAO has made use of them. This cantilevered pavilion consists of six yellow units overlapping six red units in a perpendicular arrangement, creating shaded areas on the ground and a series of rooftop recreation spaces. The ends of each unit are glazed for views of the city and sightless through the entire building.

Hutong Insert: Beijing Culture and Art Center

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PAO uses its skills in inserting modular units into historic structures in their proposal for the Beijing Culture and Art Center, set within a traditional hutong house. A competition to design the project called for a solution that would renovate the building while retaining as much of its original character as possible; PAO’s proposal makes it easy to add lots of interior space without disturbing much of the outer structure at all.

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Architecture For The People 10 Subversive And Imaginative Designs For China

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Traffic-Proof Transit: Real Car-Straddling Bus Rolls Out in China

06 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

lanebusfeature

Initial plans to develop a lane-spanning bus in China were met with great enthusiasm but some skepticism, the latter of which is now being addressed versus a real-life, full-sized prototype.

The idea is simple: a bus that arches over traffic, neither hindered by nor hindering other vehicles on the road. Its mass and reduced need to start and stop also make the bus more sustainable than most transit options.

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The mega-vehicle is spacious and vast, 72 feet long, 25 feet wide and 16 feet tall. With seven feet of clearance, leaves plenty of room below for ordinary road vehicles.

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The bus runs on specialized tracks on either side of two-lane traffic roadways and can carry up to 300 passengers at top speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.

Since the concept has been demonstrated, countries including Brazil, France, India and Indonesia have expressed interest in the TEB-1 system, hoping to deploy it on their own congested urban roadways.

[ By WebUrbanist in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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Broken Ground: Poignant Earthquake Memorial at Epicenter in China

03 Aug

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

disaster landscape

A visceral memorial to the nearly 100,000 victims of China’s 2008 earthquake, this weathered-steal monument and museum conjures images of cracked Earth left in the wake of a quake.

earthquake ruptured museum china

The Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum was conceived of as an architectural landscape and situated in Wenchuan County, the epicenter of the earthquake in the Sichuan Province.

green roof quake path

angled rusted steel walls

Green roofs look unassuming in the landscape while rusted steal provides a ground-hued contrast in the cracks winding their way through the ruptured site. The effect is powerful, giving visitors the sense that they are walking in the actual voids left by the disaster.

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cracked earth aerial view

The quake was responsible for an estimated 70,000 deaths and left tens of thousands missing. The museum complex was created by the faculty of Tonji University at the request of the Chinese government.

ruptured benches contemplation

The sheer magnitude of such an event is impossible to capture in physical form, but this design aims to at least give a sense of the devastation and places for remembrance and quiet contemplation.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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Lane-Spanning Airbus to Drive Right Over Car Traffic in China

29 May

land airbus solution china

A Chinese transportation company behind a lane-straddling bus design (which passes over lanes rather than occupying them) is moving from scale to full-sized test models this summer. The plan is to introduced fully-functional models of these “land airbuses” to (or: above) the streets of Beijing over the next few years.

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retro landliner design

The inspiration for this seemingly-novel design dates back to a 1960s “Landliner” proposed for New York City that would likewise ride on side rails adjacent to roadways. Cars would simply pass beneath the buses uninterrupted, moving faster than the bus in high traffic and allowing the bus to move over traffic jams. Such a system would be a fraction of the cost and effort compared to subway systems or even raised railways.

landairbus

In China, these new buses would hold up to 1,400 passengers each and cruise at up to 40 miles per hour, which sounds slow until you consider they do not have to stop for traffic. Running on electricity, these designs would reduce the need for conventional buses and cut polluting emissions. As a cyberpunk bonus: cars passing beneath these vehicles will see digital simulations of the sky above.

landair transit stations

For now, Transit Explore Bus is constructing a life-size model in Changzhou. This will allow real-time testing with actual cars, intersections and infrastructure, facilitating further refinements and eventual street deployments. For a country with serious pollution and traffic problems, this kind of solution could be just what is needed – for each new super-bus, 40 ordinary buses can be taken off the roads.

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Travels in China: Photographing the landscapes and people of Guilin and XiaPu

16 Apr

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A seasoned travel photographer knows that there’s hard work involved in getting the best photos from a trip. So when Ken Koskela arrived in China on a 17-day trip, he wasn’t exactly planning on a relaxing vacation. He rose at 4 AM each day to get himself into position to photograph sunrise over the rivers, rice terraces and mountains of Guilin and XiaPu. Then, spending his afternoons with a guide, he interacted and photographed residents of the villages in the region, and spent evenings capturing sunset.

He operated on an average of four hours of sleep per night, but his hard work paid of in memorable images that capture the beauty of the region and its people. Take a look at a few images here and head to Resource Travel for the full story. Do you sacrifice sleep for great shots when you’re traveling? Let us know in the comments.

Read ’20 Photographs That Capture the Beauty of China and Its People’ on Resource Travel

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Time Travel in China: Photos Reveal A Century of Dramatic Growth

15 Apr

[ By Steph in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Few nations have experienced quite the explosive rate of growth over the last century as China, and a new photo series shows us just how dramatic those changes actually look on the ground. Photographer, computer scientist and MIT alum Dheera Venkatraman pored through books and archives to find images taken in the 20th century and then went out and re-took them, shot by shot, attempting to frame them exactly as they were originally photographed. All of the new imagery has been converted to black and white to highlight what’s different and what has managed to survive after decades of frantic industrialization.

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The result is a series called Time Travel in China, creating pairs of images that Venkatraman likens to a ‘spot-the-difference’ game. Agricultural fields become towns, skyscrapers shoot up into the air, bridges stretch across waterways, dirt roads are paved, infrastructure becomes more complex.

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Yet not only do the contours of the land and the silhouettes of the mountains remain the same, a surprising number of buildings do, too, especially temples and historical structures. In some cases, the only notable shifts in a forty- or even eighty-year period are the vehicles, some lights and a handful of modern towers.

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“When most people travel, they think of traveling in space,” she says. “Whether it’s hiking through a national park or learning about a distant culture, it’s usually about the destination. This time, I decided to travel in time.”

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“It wasn’t always easy to get that perfect angle match,” she continues in a post on PetaPixel. “In some places, the vantage point ended up being in a private location, and in some cases there was a large obstruction or building preventing me from getting the same view. But nonetheless, I managed to capture several shocking contrasts over the past century of Chinese history.”

[ By Steph in Culture & History & Travel. ]

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Leica releases 60 rare Pandas into China – limited edition M-P rangefinders, that is

27 Jan

In a move intended to honor the giant panda – a Chinese national treasure – German camera manufacturer Leica has produced a limited edition version of its M-P (Typ 240) rangefinder that is finished in black and white. The ‘Panda Edition’ will consist of a pair of kits that include the camera body along with either a Summicron-M 28mm F2 ASPH lens or a Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 ASPH.

The lower parts of the bodies will be covered with the traditional black leather trim of the Leica M cameras, but the metal areas above the lens, and the base plate, will be finished in a ‘special’ white paint. The black and white color scheme is designed to remind us of the giant panda, and the white paint will symbolize calm.

A panda logo will decorate the rear of the metal portion of the upper body, along with the engraving ‘CHENGDU CHINA’. Chengdu is an area in the Sichuan province that is considered home to the endangered giant panda, and where the majority of those still left in the wild live. The region is also home to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and the world’s largest giant panda nature reserve in the Wolong Valley.

Disappointingly the lenses will be in the regular silver finish, but the traditional red dot will be replaced with a rare black one – perhaps to symbolize a panda’s eye.

Leica will produce just 30 units of each of the two editions – reflecting the rarity of the giant panda itself, according to the press release – and the cameras will only be available from within the Chinese market, including the stores in Hong Kong and Macau. The kits will cost HK$ 110,000 ($ 14,000 / £10,000) for the 28mm lens version, and HK$ 120,000 ($ 15,000 / £11,000) if you prefer the 35mm lens.

The only store is advertising the camera kits is the Leica Store Hong Kong, but more pictures can be found on the Leica Rumours website.

Press release:

German technology encounters Chinese National Treasure: Leica M-P ”Panda Edition”

Leica Camera AG, Wetzlar, presents a new limited edition: Leica M-P “Panda Edition”. This special limited edition is offered in two different sets, with a Leica Summicron-M 28mm f / 2 ASPH lens or Leica Summilux-M 35mm f / 1.4 ASPH lens. There are only 30 sets for each edition and are available for sale only in the Chinese market. The number is extremely rare, reflecting Leica camera’s pursuit of exquisite craftsmanship, profound interpretation of environmental protection, peace concepts, and its cultural connotation to high oriental esteem; the perfect crystallization of the Leica Spirit and Chinese elements.

Following the launch of the “Revolution Centenary” commemorative edition in 2011, Leica camera launches the special edition featuring the Chinese-style again. German technology combined with the traditional national treasure – the panda. Timeless symbols of a black body is a classical tradition while highlighted with flawless white calm, brings unique color and imagery of the Chinese national treasure; the panda. This cleverly echoes past Oriental artistry.

Leica cameras’ century-old brand history devotes each set of these extraordinary and unique limited products to the photographer and collector as an indispensable part of their collection. Leica M-P “Panda Edition” digital rangefinder camera uses a special combination of black and white color design. The metal part of the body is colored with a special white paint coating, matched with high-quality black leather trim, and on top of the machine’s operating dial, shutter button, and each key, are an all-black design.

The rear of the camera body is engraved with a distinctive black and white panda logo. Under the logo, the word of “CHENGDU CHINA” is also engraved. This special edition is not only a camera with the premium quality, but also valuable to any collection.

Leica M-P “Panda Edition” consists of the Leica M-P (Typ 240) and is accompanied by a Leica Summicron-M 28mm f / 2 ASPH lens or a Leica Summilux-M 35mm f / 1.4 ASPH. Both silver lenses are made with metal and the lens’ red dot features an extremely rare black design, so this special edition has a unique, simple, and elegant exterior design.

The front end of the two special edition lenses are equipped with a full metal hollow design, retro round hood, and a special bond spin-tunnel installed in the lens which encourages the use of filters. The lens cover is also made from metal; every detail of the product highlights Leica’s meticulous use of materials and the pursuit of the most sophisticated production processes. German advanced technology coupled with the highest quality materials with meticulous craftsmanship, not only to ensure the quality of products, but also increases the product’s durability.

This special limited edition is offered in two different sets, with either a Leica Summicron-M 28mm f / 2 ASPH lens or Leica Summilux-M 35mm f / 1.4 ASPH lens. There are only 30 sets for each edition, and will only be available at the Leica Store in China, Hong Kong and Macau. The recommended selling price in Hong Kong is HK$ 110,000 and HK$ 120,000. The same camera and lens special edition features the same technical specifications as the normal versions.

“Panda” theme fable

As a “living fossil,” the panda is a 300-year-old animal, it still retains many of the ecological structures of the most original features. The panda won the people’s heart around the world and are now known as the animal kingdom’s superstar. The Pandas in China mainly live in Sichuan Province, their numbers are extremely rare and they are referred to as China’s national treasure, therefore, making them a gift with deep meaning when presented as China’s gift to the world.

Choosing “Panda” as the design theme of this special limited edition is not only because the panda is a national treasure of China, but also because of its image representing Chinese people’s love for peace and kindness to others, strong-will and resilience to environmental change.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Made in China: World’s First 3D-Printed Apartment Complex

21 Jan

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

3d printed apartment complex

The same company known for printing 10 home in less than 24 hours is back with a new record-breaking construction project: a multistory apartment structure built using recycled building materials and fast-hardening cement, paired with an ornate villa assembled using the same technologies.

3d printed villa exterior

Construction waste forms the aggregate base of WinSun‘s quick-drying concrete, while a huge 3D printer array is responsible for building the large prefabricated parts that are then built on site with steel reinforcement and regulation insulation.

3d printing extrusion interior

In a twist that will able to those who enjoy truth in architecture, much of the extrusion process is evident on the interior and exterior walls of the villa component as well.

3d printing apartment

Drawing on CAD files, the printer lays out the pattern like a cake decorator squeezes out frosting, creating space-frame gaps for insulating materials, plumbing and electrical – a high-tech process to quickly create a pair of low- and mid-rise buildings.

3d printed villa design

According to WinSun, “This process saves between 30 and 60 percent of construction waste, and can decrease production times by between 50 and 70 percent, and labour costs by between 50 and 80 percent. In all, the villa costs around $ 161,000 to build.”

3d printed walls demo copy

While the company has yet to reveal just how big of a structure they can build using their existing equipment, their future goals include larger buildings, perhaps even prefab skyscrapers, and possibly bridges or other infrastructure. From 3Ders, “Today’s press conference attracted more than 300 building industry experts, investment bankers as well as media reporters. Ma Yi He, CEO of WinSun explained: the company’s success is due to their unique and leading techniques. First is their exclusive 3D printing ‘ink,’ which is a mixture of recycled construction waste, glass fiber, steel, cement and special additives. According to Ma, waste from recycling construction and mine rest produces a lot of carbon emissions, but with 3D printing, the company has turned that waste into brand new building materials. This process also means that construction workers are at less risk of coming into contact with hazardous materials or work environments.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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China als fotografische Herausforderung

28 Dec

Ein Beitrag von: Paulina Metzscher

China ist kurios – ein Land der Andersartigkeit. Wo Lichter tanzen und alles in Bewegung ist, ein Ort, an dem nichts ruht. Die Straßen sind ein einziger Tumult, Menschenmassen drängen sich aneinander. Man spürt, wie China atmet, es pulsiert. Inmitten dieser fremden Welt befand ich mich für einen Monat mit meiner Freundin, reiste vom Süden in den Norden, die Reise an sich das Ziel.

Fremde ist eine Empfindung, in der man sich gleichermaßen glücksberauscht und verloren fühlen kann. Nicht selten aber fand ich pure Faszination in ihr.
Denn auch in der Ferne konnte ich mich auf ein Stückchen Vertrautheit berufen: Meine Kamera als ständigen Begleiter. So fing ich an, zu dokumentieren. Erst nur Orte, an denen wir uns befanden und dann immer mehr auch Menschen und ihre Umgebung.

Schnell legte ich, beflügelt durch Begegnungen, meine anfängliche Scheu ab, Menschen im Reich der Mitte zu portraitieren: Eine Einladung auf eine Tasse Tee oder ein kleiner Junge, der immer wieder voller Freude meine Kamera ausprobieren wollte. Fotografieren wurde damit noch viel mehr als es das sonst war, zu einer Begegnung.

Ehe ich mich versah, fand ich mich in einem für mich ganz neuen, bisher noch unbekanntem Bereich wieder: Der Straßenfotografie. Und was ich entdeckte, eröffnete neue Dimensionen. Erneut erlaubte mir das Fotografieren, zu reflektieren, mich mitzuteilen und den unglaublichen Schwall der Eindrücke von neuartigen Umgebungen, Menschen und einer andersartigen Kultur zu verarbeiten.

So hatte ich ein Stückchen Vertrautheit mit in die Ferne genommen und das schaffte Raum für die neuen Eindrücke. Oftmals wünschte ich mir, mehr als nur ein Augenpaar zu haben, um die Fülle an Eindrücken, die unentwegt auf mich einströmte, wirklich in mich aufsaugen zu können.

Wenn ich jetzt die Fotografien betrachte, die auf meiner Reise entstanden sind, sehe ich Menschen, die inne halten und eigentlich so gegensätzlich erscheinen zu dem, was mir in China begegnet ist: Nichts schien jemals zum Stillstand zu kommen. China – bunt, laut und schnell – findet sich nicht wirklich in meinen Fotografien wieder.

Die Inhalte bleiben dieselben, die mich auch sonst anziehen: Sehnsucht, Stille, Leere, Einsamkeit, Emotionen und Mystik. So sehr es mich selbst erstaunt, habe ich auf dieser Reise festgestellt, dass auch in neuen Umgebungen und unter anderen Umständen, ja sogar in einem neuen Bereich der Fotografie, diese Inhalte an mir zu haften scheinen bleiben.

Doch ich weiß auch, dass es genau das ist, wonach in China gesucht habe. Und ich glaube, ich bin fündig geworden. Fündig, nicht nur bei Menschen, sondern auch in den großartigen Landschaften Chinas, die mir flüchtige Momenten des Innehaltens und ruhige Augenblicke inmitten des Lärms und der Bewegung versprachen.

Durch die Linse meiner Kamera konnte ich mich in die kleinen Wunder des Alltags stehlen und an ihnen teilhaben. Dort ein kleines Mädchen, sehnsuchtsvoll aus dem Zugfenster schauend, hier eine alte Frau, in sich gekehrt auf der Straße, ein Wolkenmeer über den Bergen, ein Opa mit seiner Enkelin, gedankenverloren, Nebelschwaden in den Wäldern, Menschen, die innehalten, träumend in die Welt schauen, manchmal verloren wirkend, einsam.

Aus der Masse sind plötzlich Individuen geworden und das gefällt mir, denn auf diese Art und Weise ist es leichter zu erinnern. Und die Reise, plötzlich bestimmt von Gelegenheiten und Menschen, die uns begegneten und einen Blick in ihre Welt erhaschen ließen.

Menschen, die für mich, sobald ich Bilder mit ihnen verbinde, nicht mehr fremd erscheinen, sondern Teil meiner Erinnerung, meiner Fotografien wurden. Und so versuchte ich, mir in der Fremde einen Raum für Vertrautes zu schaffen und auf meine Art und Weise das Reich der Mitte zu erkunden.

kwerfeldein – Fotografie Magazin

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Great Ghost Cities: 7 Eerie Abandoned Wonders of China

20 Dec

[ By Steph in 7 Wonders Series & Global. ]

Abandoned China Main

An ancient city made of intricately carved stone sits silent at the bottom of a lake, a replica of Paris complete with an Eiffel Tower is eerily empty, and a city leveled by disaster has been cordoned off indefinitely as a memorial to those who were lost. China might just be home to more ghost cities than any other nation on earth, and most of them are of the modern variety, as the push for economic progress has led developers to get a bit ahead of themselves constructing vast communities, malls and amusement parks that never caught on with the public.

China’s Atlantis: Lost Underwater City

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Abandoned China Underwater Lion City 2

Roughly one hundred feet below the surface of Thousand Island Lake (Qiandao Lake) is one of the world’s most stunning submerged historical treasures: Lion City. This ancient city was built during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-200 CE) and measures about 62 football fields. The city, which is complete with incredibly intricate relief sculptures all over the stone walls of its buildings, was intentionally flooded in the 1950s to create a dam. Evidently, authorities felt that attempting to preserve the city wasn’t worth the trouble. But now that it’s underwater, it has become a diving destination, and various tours have popped up allowing visitors to explore it. Some have even proposed building transparent floating tunnels and other new construction that could make it more accessible to everyone.

Paris of the East: Replica Ghost City

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Paris is one of the world’s most vibrant cities, bustling with hundreds of thousands of people. At least, the one in France is. The meticulously built replica city in China – not so much. Tianducheng, in China’s Zhejiang district, was modeled after the real Paris, complete with a 354-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower as well as other landmarks. Intended to be a luxurious gated community that could house 100,000 and draw rural families into a centralized urban location, the city has been a ghost town since its construction in 2007. Only about 2,000 people moved there, and that small number seems to be dwindling by the day. But work is still in progress, and officials are hoping to get more people there before the whole complex is totally complete in 2015.

Ordos: A Modern Ghost Town

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It seems as if the entire population of a large city simply vanished into thin air. In reality, they were never here in the first place. The Kangbashi New Area of Ordos is a planned community for one million people, envisioned as the Dubai of Northern China – but only about 20,000 people live there, and you’d never even guess there are that many residents based on the eerie photos of deserted streets and empty skyscrapers. It’s close to abundant natural resources and has plenty of public infrastructure, and economic woes aren’t actually a problem. The government just can’t seem to convince people to move here. Some of the architecture, like the Ordos Art Museum, is really quite stunning, and it’s strange to see it accumulating dust as it waits for visitors that might never come. City officials are still hoping that many of the 1.5 million residents of the old section of Ordos, located 15 miles away, will decide to make the move.

Beichuan: Left Behind After a Disaster

Abandoned China Beichuan Disaster City 2

Abandoned China Beichuan Disaster City 1

Imagine an entire city leveled by an earthquake, roped off and left to rot as a sad and rather dangerous tribute to all that was lost. It happened in Christchurch, New Zealand (sort of – they do plan to rebuild, and the process has already begun) and it happened in Beichuan, China. A deadly earthquake killed thousands of residents and displaced tens of thousands more, and the damage is so extensive that reconstructing it would require leveling almost all of the remaining buildings. So, it’s now basically a memorial park that you shouldn’t enter unless you’re keen to get trapped in the rubble and join the other victims.