meet the Architect of the Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum

 

21 February 2024, h 3 p.m.

Tolentini, aula magna

 

event in English

 

within the corso di laurea triennale in Architettura, corso di laurea triennale in Urbanistica e pianificazione del territorio, corso di laurea magistrale in Architettura, corso di laurea magistrale MA in Architecture

 

organised by: Rettorato, dipartimento di Culture del progetto

 

Zhu Pei is Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)

Dean and professor of the School of Architecture at Central Academy of Fine Arts in China

 

opening remarks

Benno Albrecht rector Iuav

Fernanda De Maio MA architecture course leader

Silvio Nocera MS Urban Planning for Transition course leader

 

moderated by

Angelo Maggi Iuav international relations coordinator

 

poster >>

 

 

Just few days before Zhu Pei’s official visit at Iuav, the Beijing-based studio Zhu Pei has presented its architectural approach very successfully in an exhibition at Aedes in Berlin, and the stunning images of the now-completed Imperial Kiln Museum in Jingdezhen have gone viral in the international media. Following his subsequent participation in the MoMA exhibition Reuse, Renew, Recycle in New York and a major solo show in Wuhan, Zhu Pei’s Lecture titled ‘Sensitive Translations’ at Universitá Iuav di Venezia tells another chapter of Zhu Pei's approach to "collective historical experience", topography, function and the contemporary context of the site. The lecture will focus on some recent projects, including Imperial Kiln Museum, to represent his design philosophy: “Architecture of Nature”. And also generates ‘tradition’ propositions from those projects to explain how his philosophy gets translated across different cultural backgrounds.The lecture will also present representative cultural buildings that, despite their different functions and environments, are linked by characteristic structures, materials and architectural forms. Impressive architectural models, sketches, documentary films and publications are will be discussed to present the creative process of these examples in more detail.

 

While the built environment in China is changing in the course of rapid urbanization, Zhu Pei reflects historical-philosophical ideas about the harmony of man and nature and weaves traditional architectural knowledge into contemporary spatial solutions. His conceptual considerations are based on elements from the tradition of Shanshui painting, which is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. This is a special form of landscape painting whose indispensable components are mountains and water. It shows and teaches a way of perception that sees us humans not as opposites, but as part of "nature".

 

Zhu Pei's designs combine architecture with local culture, geography and nature in an intrinsic way. In his design guidelines, he draws on traditional and regional building concepts that emphasize the relationship with the environment while meeting contemporary demands and cultural expectations. Zhu Pei creates a contemporary aesthetic that uses the "genius loci" in a poetic way. From large-scale roofs to archaeological embeddings in cultural history, his projects add a new, artistic dimension to architecture. One hundred years after the slow disappearance of historical theories and traditional architectural knowledge in China, Zhu Pei defines new references and makes a statement against the banality of commercial urban expansion with critical sensitivity.

 

 

 

Zhu Pei founded Studio Zhu Pei in Beijing in 2005, and from there he has produced an extraordinary corpus of cultural works that have made him one of the leading figures of his generation. His works have been exhibited at world important museums such as MoMA, Venice Biennial, GA Gallery, Centre Pompidou, Victoria and Albert Museum, Kassel, Dresden State Art Museum, Sao Paulo Art Biennial, the solo exhibition at Aedes, Harvard University, Rome MAXXI Museum and so on. His works have been collected by MoMA, Pompidou Art Center, the Victoria and Albert Museum and M+.He was selected as an architecture jury member for Mies van der Rohe Award in 2011.Marked by his American experience, which includes teaching at Columbia, Harvard and Yale as visiting professors. he is the current dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Beijing.