Mind landscapes

de Kristin Feireiss, Hans Jürgen Commerell, Adam Dehmohseni, Sebastian Wohlfeil

Zhu Pei is one of the leading architects in China providing substantial solutions to urgent challenges and questions of ongoing urbanization within the country. The rapid rate of urban growth, as well as the commercial pressures of mass consumer society, require well-considered concepts that also satisfy the need for authentic architectural expression. In the cacophony of urban collages and architectural super signs against the backdrop of the real megacity, Zhu Pei has set off in search of his own roots within traditional aesthetic concepts, successfully adapting them for implementation in his work. By drawing on traditional concepts of space and the built structure, he has been able to devise solutions that are specific to the location and region, while demonstrating great skill in terms of form, aesthetics, and materiality. Informed by an understanding of the global architectural discourse, he follows his own path to give each of his buildings a specific character within a contemporary architectural form.0This exhibition presents five large cultural buildings by the architect, which are currently being built: the Yang Liping Performing Arts Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, both in Dali, the Shijingshan Cultural Center in Beijing, the Shou County Culture and Art Center in Anhui province, and the Museum of Imperial Kiln in Jingdezhen. The buildings stand out as individual, creative solutions that have been developed with remarkable sensitivity to the urban and cultural context. Zhu Pei responds to the conditions at hand, articulating his surroundings in a modern architectural language or integrating the new buildings into the given context. The numerous models, plans, and films on display illustrate the specific relationships between the projects and their surrounding environment. 00Exhibition: Studio Zhu-Pei, Beijng, China (31.03.-18.05.2017).