"China is halfway done," stated Neville Mars on January 12, at a talk entitled "Beijing, 2001-2050: 3 new books/ 3 views," co-sponsored by urbane magazine and Boloni Lifestyle Museum. He was joined by two other internationally-recognized architects Ma Yansong and Andre Schmidt. The three architects presented their views of Beijing's ongoing construction, and highlighted points made in their already-published or up-coming work
The dream: full of hyper-positive feelings
Neville Mars is the author of The Chinese Dream – a society under construction. He first came to Beijing in 2002 and began the Dynamic City Foundation.
At the talk, he focused on China's goal to build 400 new cities by 2020, and finding solutions to densely populated cities. Mao Zedong once said that "only on a clean sheet of paper can the newest and most beautiful picture be drawn." Mars argues against the understanding that China "can take a city as 'tabula rasa' and build a new one on top." He is also concerned with the overlap in the rural and urban areas in, and emphasizes a need to "work with the flow" of existing cities before expanding them. He proposes making Beijing more local, as opposed to creating satellite cities around it; building hybrid tower-hutong communities, as opposed to gated high-rise communities; and an elevated, flat escalator that moves people above the city, as a way of "shrinking the urban network."
A greener Beijing
Ma Yansong is the author of MAD Dinner, a work that brings "conversations with people from all levels of Chinese society" to the "dinner table." Ma opened to a page from his book showing the sketch of a round table. Seated at the dinner table are taxi drivers, architects, movie directors and hairdressers; and on the table are excerpts of "dialogue" between people sharing their views about Beijing architecture and ongoing urbanization.
As Ma says, "we talk while we eat." He also likens the utopian atmosphere of Beijing's predicted future to a dream.
By 2050, he speculates that the old and new parts of Beijing will be dealt with separately, and without conflict.
He proposes a floating city, complete with a park and lake, just above Beijing. In addition, he would cover the "political spaces" around Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City with a park and numerous trees.
The audience chuckled at yet another suggestion: planting trees over The Grand National Theater, and holding operas "underneath the mountain."
Keru Feng, artist: "The old and new Beijings are undergoing a dramatic cycle of death and life."
The final speaker is Andre Schmidt, the project architect for the TVCC building in Beijing. Schmidt has worked with eight other contributors to put together Big Bang Beijing: "a collection of numerous aspects of daily, urban, life in Beijing." Schmidt quotes architects, artists, and critics, as they comment on aspects of urban life in Beijing including the environment, commerce, and the 2008 Olympics.
Schmidt argues that Beijing's big aim, the 2008 Olympics, would not have been made possible without "politically-supported economic action." Although he does not appear to propose new solutions; Schmidt draws attention to contrasts that exist within the process of urbanization. He notices open air markets thriving below high rises and "exploding" newspaper stands on Beijing's street corners.
By Agatha So
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