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An Architecture Career gone awry

How can I describe John Portman’s work? The work that he did for his own house is curious, and the tower complex that he designed for Italy was provocative (if only it were actually built with white stone) but then he also has made some serious blunders when designing community complexes.

Model of Portman's "villa"

A nice print perspective of his house

Section sketches and final sections

Circa 1988, never built, I believe it was planned for Italy or Greece

This is the reason I title the post with career gone awry; this is a new development in China somewhere. I believed he modeled it based on Xintandi in Shanghai, but that density is appalling...

Again with this car-oriented culture...

Caption on this model reads: “Portman House, Jian Ye Li, is a historic preservation and redevelopment project located in the heart of Shanghai’s French Concession. Built in the early 1930s, Jian Ye Li is one of the city’s finest examples of Shikumen-style housing– a design unique to Shanghai that blends traditional Chinese residential elements with functional Western amenities. Consisting of luxury townhomes, retail, dining, and entertainment venues, the Portman House project will restore Jian Ye Li to its original design while providing modern conveniences that offer residents and visitors a distinctive way to experience the history of Shanghai.”

Now, I’m curious by what they mean by modern convenience and Western amenities, because of what I see here it wouldn’t be a pleasant place to live.

A development slated for 2014 in South Korea

Songdo Master Plan, in Incheon, South Korea

The tower for Songdo

Again, the approach to the site is centered on vehicles. Do architects find it so troubling to design for people?

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By Jeremi – August 29, 2010

The People Unfriendly Square

People's Square as seen from the Urban Planning Exhibition Center

Arriving at People’s Square, which I accomplished via the Red Line (Metro Line 1), was a bit anti-climactic. I was expecting some grand vista like that of the infamous square which-must-not-be-named in Beijing. Instead, I came out of the People’s Square metro station into the usual blasting heat but surrounded in green. I met three people that I believe were pretending to be English-learning tourists from Hangzhou (though they could have been legit) but managed to politely decline their advances of going to a tea ceremony (I read on Wikitravel that this is a common occurrence with an end result of going to a tea house that costs the invitee several hundred rmb). Honestly, however, I was on my way to the Urban Planning Exhibition Center and could care less about a tea ceremony.

Social Realism meets The Bund

The Urban Planning and Exhibition Center is a large five story building closest to the People’s Square Metro station. It cost 30 rmb for one adult ticket. The Center is particularly known for the giant model of Shanghai on its upper floors which is quite breathtaking to see. They also have temporary exhibits; the one I got to see on my visit was a retrospective on architect John Portman, to which I will save for another post because I find his work… um, controversial.

A model of Yuyuan Gardens

The first two floors were dedicated to Shanghai built history and then and now photographs of the city over the years. The next was Portman, and then I reached the model room:

In the above two photographs, Pudong is on the left, and Puxi is on the right. Left back is.. drum roll… the Expo!

Here’s a close up of the Expo, with Spain in top right I think and Poland in bottom middle:

To the northwest is where I live. Here it is in context of Pudong:

That really tall building in back of the Grand Gateway does not exist yet; it appears to be under construction. Find the cathedral and draw an extension line towards the bottom until you hit two buildings together next to a wide road; that's where I am.

The Grand Gateway is this:

The two towers of the Grand Gateway

Another view of where I live, with Grand Gateway and Metro City (a globe set into the ground) and the Xujiahui metro station:

Now, the reason I wrote the post title as “People Unfriendly” has to do with trying to get to the Shanghai Art Museum. The Museum itself may have little worth to me (and it turned out to be closed) as I’ve already seen the exhaustive collection of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, but getting to it proved to be a chore. I had to go underground in order to “cross the street”. This exemplifies the Shanghainese (and possibly Chinese) mentality that cars are the premium mode of transportation. This thinking creates a pedestrian nightmare, however, when you have to cross the “street” that is made up of up to 8 lanes of traffic. Cars, buses, and to a lesser extent, mopeds, scooters and bicycles have the right of way. If you are crossing the street and a car is taking a right turn, you have to let it go. This is also true even if, say, a taxi is going straight through the intersection. Mopeds and bicycles are occasionally chaotic and I’m surprised there aren’t serious accidents at every intersection. I’ve seen several occasions of either bad or weird driving that would put the stereotypical New Jersian in a good light, or pedestrians not looking both ways while crossing and nearly getting run over. (I will try to film this kind of interaction and post stateside when I get back.)

How on earth do you cross the street? Jump the fence in the middle of the roadway?? Who designed this!?

As I have been learning, everything in China is fenced off, even the roadway here to prevent people from crossing the road. People are like cattle here it seems. Personal vehicles rule supreme.

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By Jeremi – August 26, 2010

The Essence of Chicken

On Saturday I tasked myself with finding a reliable food source. That meant finding a Carrefour. I deemed it too far and on Sunday found another, higher quality supermarket closer to home. But Carrefour still proved to be a slight treat with their attempts to translate the meaning of certain products in the cereal aisle. If I were to ever create a band, I just might call it “Bird’s Nest with Rock Sugar”, “Pearl Powder” or “The Essence of Chicken.”

I also bought some microwave diners which proved to be bust. That prompted Sunday’s quest to find something of higher quality. I called an indirect family friend, Rita, who told me of City Shop and Element Fresh. City Shop is an expat supermarket and there’s one not too far (a 15 minute walk). Somehow my feet did not lead me there today;  I went to the Grand Gateway in search of Element Fresh and instead discovered Ole (and later went to Element Fresh). Rita told me that Element Fresh was on the ground floor, and, in European understanding, thought that meant the basement and not that the first floor as it is the United States. This is how I discovered Ole, which is a brand new supermarket of Whole Foods similarity (and for that matter, most other mid to high end Western supermarkets).  Yes, it is expensive, but it’s the only place I’ve found that has organic milk imported from Australia (which has to be safer than domestic milk…)

Sunday's breakfast of Fruit Oats and Milk

I bought this soup mug Saturday night because the apartment lacks any kind of cutlery/plates/bowls, etc. At Ole I bought throw-away plates, plastic cutlery for I think about 10 rmb. At least now I can have a pretty decent breakfast with bread, butter, honey and tea.

The view from the other side of the apartment. The garden below is not adequately planned because it is annoying to navigate; I think it was meant to be looked at versus actually being used.

Next post will be on People’s Square, which I visited Sunday afternoon. I think this experience of finding food has started to turn some gears in my head in regards to efficient urban planning (or how inefficient it can be)…

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By Jeremi – August 22, 2010

First Steps

View from the balcony apartment

It was as if I was plucked from familiarity and dropped in the middle of a huge city without any reference point. I mean, I seriously don’t know where I am other than knowing that I’m somewhere in Puxi. It will probably take a few days to get my bearings. I now have a map of Shanghai courtesy of the numerous Expo tables around the city.

When I arrived I was picked up by the company driver in his Audi. He didn’t speak any English so it was an awkward car ride. He dropped me off at the company apartment which is on HongQiao Road (near WenDing Road). I can’t make much sense of the addresses here; but I’m close to a major intersection that has several shopping malls in it, such as Metro City. Miss Fei Fei was there to greet me and she showed me the apartment and then graciously accompanied me to Metro City after I asked where the nearest place to eat is. She couldn’t help me with where the nearest Tesco/Auchan/Carrefour is since she’s not from around here (note: I went to Tesco last night with Ahmed at Jiangsu Rd Metro station). I’m going to have to find them because eating at KFC as I did my first night at Metro City is not going to be sufficient in the long run.

The Continental flight was very good and was similar to the UAE flight to Dubai. We had a dinner menu, real cutlery, and decent food. I think UAE gave us more snacks. The seats were cloth, had cranky tilt controls, had a 110v power outlet between seats and provided just enough room to tightly cross your legs. The movie selection (via touchscreen interface) was reasonable. I watched Clash of the Titans, tried watching 14 Blades (but couldn’t due to confusing cinematography), Harry Potter 6, and Iron Man 2. The flight staff seemed a bit disorganized though. One attendant completely disappeared after I wanted to get rid off the remainder of my tomato juice.

Work at EADG starts at 9am and finishes at 530pm. I have to take the 548 bus to get there which takes 15-18 minutes (not including waiting time for the bus). It’s either six stops from Hong Qiao Yi Shan Rd. Walking is probably never an option with the excessive humidity and boiling temperatures (the first night was around 35 C).

Yesterday was my first day at the firm which started fairly unhurried. I got a tour by several people and met with the international staff whom I would be working with most. The firm has some 160 people at it, which is the largest branch in China. EADG started in Hong Kong and was the first and oldest to move into mainland China (yes, HK is considered as distinct as a Taiwan). It’s spread on two floors, the floor below the one I am on is where most of the production happens (and where the planning team is as well). On my floor there is also the graphic team which supports each team (it seems that each team is fairly independent from each other in terms of the projects they are working on ?), project managers, managing principals, a kitchenette, and a library (books and materials).

Sweet and sour pork. By the way, from the Americans who live here, it would seem that meat is safe. That being said, I would never buy it raw like at Tesco.

The day was filled with mostly introductions and presentations. The office (the international team?) goes out to lunch everyday and occasionally does dinners. We went the place above for lunch and then an Indian place for dinner (to which I will comment that garlic nan is much better than ‘plain’ butter nan).

Ahmed is the connection to RISD and the one who oversees intern development. He’s been to critiques at risd and was a critic for our Kolkata studio last spring in 2009. He’s the one who I will be working with for at least the next four weeks. I’ve been tasked to look into government plazas and the concept of weaving for my second day.

Shanghai shopping street at night

One of the main shopping streets in Shanghai at night. I can't remember what it's called though.

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By Jeremi – August 19, 2010

Go (far) West, Young Man

View of The Bund at Night, 2006, Wikipedia

I know very little of what to expect in Shanghai. Before I leave, here’s a list of places I want to go visit or will end up visiting (all descriptions from Wikipedia):

Shanghai

  • Yuyuan Gardens: located at No. 132. Anren Street in the center of the Old City next to the Chenghuangmiao area in Shanghai, China, is considered one of the most lavish and finest Chinese gardens in the region. The garden is accessible from the nearby Yuyuan Garden station on the Shanghai Metro.
  • Jade Buddha Temple: is a Buddhist temple in Shanghai, China. As with many modern Chinese Buddhist temples, the current temple draws from both the Pure Land and Chan traditions of Mahayana Buddhism. It was founded in 1882 with two jade Buddha statues imported to Shanghai from Burma by sea.
  • Longhua Temple: is a Buddhist Temple dedicated to the Maitreya Buddha located in Shanghai, China. Although most of the present-day buildings date from later reconstructions, the temple preserves the architectural design of a Song Dynasty monastery of the Buddhist Chan sect. It is the largest, most authentic and complete ancient temple complex in the city of Shanghai.
  • Go to the top either the Pearl TV Tower or Shanghai WTC (1,612 ft)
  • She Shan Hill (there’s a Basilica there, an observatory and a strange earthquake monitoring device)
  • Nanjing Road: is the main shopping street of Shanghai, China, and is one of the world’s busiest shopping streets.
  • The French Concession Quarter
  • Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center (huge scale model of the city)
  • Xintiandi: is a car-free shopping, eating and entertainment district of Shanghai, China. It is composed of an area of restored traditional shikumen (“stone gate”) houses on narrow alleys, some adjoining houses which now serve as book stores, cafes and restaurants, and shopping malls. Most of the cafes and restaurants feature both indoor and outdoor seatings. Xintiandi has an active nightlife on weekdays as well as weekends, though romantic settings are more common than loud music and dance places. Xintiandi means “New Heaven and Earth”, and is considered one of the first lifestyle centers in China.
  • The Bund
  • The many other gardens and parks in Shanghai
  • Expo 2010

Surrounding Towns/Cities (from Wikitravel)

  • Suzhou is a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens which have contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Suzhou has also been an important centre for China’s silk industry and continues to hold that prominent position today. The city is part of the Yangtze River Delta region.
  • Zhujiajiao is a very vibrant ancient water village that is the focus of this article. Formed 1,700 years ago, Zhujiajiao was an important trading hub for the surrounding countryside, and many of the buildings that can be seen there today date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Traditionally, goods and people were ferried on the small canals from house to house, passing under the 36 ancient stone bridges that are all still in use by locals and tourists alike.
  • Nanjing means “southern capital” (versus Beijing meaning “northern capital”.) It is a renowned historical and cultural city and was the capital of several dynasties over the course of Chinese history. It has many historical sites including Ming tombs that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was most recently the capital of China under the Kuomintang, from 1927 until their retreat to Taiwan in 1949. With a current urban population of approximately 5 million people, Nanjing is an important center for commerce and trade in Eastern China. (note 75 minutes by high-speed rail from Shanghai!!; normally 4 hrs by “slow train”)
  • Ningbo is a beautiful & prosperous city in Zhejiang and also one of the most popular tourist cities in East China.
  • Qibao is a small town about two square kilometers in size which is crossed by two canals. Around the canals, a large number of traditional houses, shops and restaurants are found. Recently tourism has been actively encouraged and it makes a good daytrip from Shanghai city. Although Qibao can be touristy, prices are comparatively cheap.

Further Afield (I may have difficulty getting here, especially if I don’t want to fly)

  • Tianmu Mountian is in Lin’an County in Northwestern Zhejiang province in eastern China. Tianmushan is located 83.2 kilometres (51.7 mi) west of Hangzhou, China. …Tianmu mountain is best known for giant trees, waterfalls, tea, peaks surrounded by clouds, bamboo shoots, temples, and nunneries, and odd shaped rocks[3]. It is also known as a natural botanic garden because more than 2,000 species[4] of plants grow on the mountain as well as being a popular summer resort with tourists in China. Japanese Cedar trees grow to towering heights on the mountain and the west peak is noted as having the last surviving truly wild population of Ginkgo trees[5]
  • Haungshan is a mountain range[1] in southern Anhui province in eastern China. The area is well known for its scenery, sunsets, peculiarly-shaped granite peaks, Huangshan Pine trees, and views of the clouds from above. Mount Huang is a frequent subject of traditional Chinese paintings and literature, as well as modern photography. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China’s major tourist destinations.
  • Luoyang was once one of China’s Four Ancient Capitals, but the purpose of the visit here would be to see the Longmen Grottos.
  • Mount Tai is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai’an, in Shandong Province, China. The tallest peak is Jade Emperor Peak (simplified Chinese: ???; traditional Chinese: ???; pinyin: Yùhuáng D?ng), which is commonly reported as 1545 metres (5069 ft) tall,  but is described by the Chinese government as 1532.7 metres (5028.5 ft). Mount Tai is one of the “Five Sacred Mountains”. It is associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and is often regarded the foremost of the five. Mount Tai has been a place of worship for at least 3,000 years.

I think that’s a pretty good list for 8 weeks of weekends…

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    By Jeremi – July 28, 2010

    The New Landline Journey

    After some thinking it occurred to me that I can just as well continue research on the ideas generated by my MLA Thesis as I will now have more and more opportunity to translate concept into built reality. So Landline 2.0 will be more deep-thinking, analysis and synthesis on the ideas behind stratified overgrowth, ruins, plants as architecture, the subterranean depths and with more recent thinking and writing, fringe and alternative space. Hope to do a tie-in with my yet to be posted Interpositionism Manifesto. The blog will also reflect my upcoming intern experience in various Landscape Architecture firms. First up: Shanghai, China.

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    By Jeremi – July 27, 2010

    One Journey Ends, Another Begins?

    This concludes my MLA Thesis blog. What’s next? That depends if my abstract for the Terrain Vague was accepted. If it has been, then I get to write about Thesis 2.0. That idea has more to do with ritual and rites of passage, something I tried to develop for Thesis 1.0 but could not. Otherwise, I’ll have to think about what I want landline to become. Thanks for reading!

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    By Jeremi – June 8, 2010

    Addendum – The Story

    For some reason WordPress is destroying my line breaks. I’ll have to tackle this issue when I get back to this in July. It’s still readable though.. I hope
    The worn cup dripped water from its mouth happily as it glittered in the sun. A hand, wizened with age, held the cup, trembling ever so slightly. Carefully, the hand, belonging to a stooped man leaning on a cane, tilted the cup forward and emptied its contents on the lush vines below.
    “Grandpa, what are you doing?” pipes in a sharp, young voice, unsettling the reverie of the old man.
    “Oh, hey Kiddo! I’m just helping along these little ones,” responds Grandpa.
    “They don’t look they need any help, Grandpa,” reflects Kiddo.
    “These big vines don’t need any help, that’s for sure; but I was watering these little guys over here because they look like they’re struggling,” says Grandpa as he negotiates a thin vine toward the sunlight.
    “Hmm… I don’t know. Everything’s really thick. But it’d be awesome to build a fort here,” says Kiddo fingering the knotted mass of woody vines. Old growth is layered in such a dense display of gnarled fibers it is a wonder that anything new could grow in at all.
    “Yes it would. Or even a tree house up there in that Brewhouse,” muses Grandpa as he puts the cup away in his shoulder pack.
    “That’s a brew house? Grandpa, I never knew you worked here!” exclaims Kiddo.
    “Me? Oh no, no. I wasn’t even alive when this was a brewery! I just knew from growing up that there used to be a lot of breweries here before this area became parking lots.  Used to be, I’m afraid. Prohibition closed them down,” says Grandpa, thinking back on his life.
    “Permission?”
    “Prohibition. You weren’t allowed to buy alcohol.”
    “Oh, you mean that smelly gasoline that Great-Aunt likes to keep in her house?”
    “He-he-he,” chuckles Grandpa, “Yes, that’s it. I really don’t understand why people like that stuff,” thinking of tequila. Continued…

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    By Jeremi – June 8, 2010

    Addendum – The Cistern

    Single form, I,
    Separated; my brethren from on high,
    Yearning to reach the bosom lest I die.
    Racing to the earth amidst –
    Fellow forms – trembling with a sigh.
    Split asunder. I gather my arms,
    And limp: limping does the charm.
    Pushed from afar, please come to no harm,
    As I, joined by friends, weave through the tarmac.
    A ravine we find,
    Beset with legends of forest and bind,
    Looming overhead tall cliffs of like kind,
    Channeling us closer to that bosom we so mind.
    A corner we meet –
    Suddenly – as we tumble about to greet
    these old ruins.
    Time has not been kind, for the decay that weeps
    meets no sleep.
    We run toward the exit, as if in heat,
    But we are met a form so thick, it might be peat.
    All is well; for we tumble again and slow…
    down… as we meet our keep.
    The sieve that held us back lets us through,
    in time, when our friends are few.
    We continue on, as stubborn beings do,
    ‘Til at last we embrace what we sought,
    feeling as if we were new.

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    By Jeremi – June 8, 2010

    The Convention Center

    Setting up magnetic fabric that we got for free from Visual Magnetics

    Here are some photographs from setting up the show at the RI Convention Center in Providence. Apologies for the quality; both during construction and after photos were taken with cellphone cameras seeing as how both my photo cameras are KIA. Continued…

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    By Jeremi – June 8, 2010