My No. 1 favourite architect, the first
Chinese citizen winner of the Pritzker Prize, Wang Shu is known as a material
master because he always re-uses materials that are salvaged from the
demolished traditional local buildings. Tiles, in particular, are one of the
important form in Shu’s material palette.
While Shu designed the Xiangshan Campus,
China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, he and his team rescued more than 2 million
old tiles from the local traditional houses demolished by the government, and
used these to build the walls, roofs and grounds in the campus.
Last October, I visited the Xiangshan
Campus and I cannot be more amazed and impressed by Shu’s work. It appears to
be a nice example of integrating the recycling and sustainable concepts with
traditional Chinese aesthetic, however there is a lot more than that.
Shu believes materials are not just
materials, experiences, memories and spirit are embedded in these rescued
tiles. While I stared at the walls, the roofs, I could help to wonder: who are
the people who used to live under these tiles, and what kind of stories have
happened in those demolished houses.
I was so touched because I did feel the
history and the spirit carry by these materials.
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