Statement

 Manchester School of Architecture (MSA) is like no other in the country with its deep connection with the city it dwells in. I was born into a family of architects, familiar with all kinds of design, ranging from graphic, fashion, and industrial design to architectural design, and I realized at an early age that all kinds of art forms are deeply connected. Manchester, a vibrant and diverse city with abundant cultural resources is a wonderful space to be young and learn. Moreover, being a contemporary architect means operating in a complex urban setting and reconciling the collision of the old and new in an architectural way. MSA’s courses designed with conscious attention to the city's history and the abundant design practices in the city can prepare me to be a brave while historically responsible designer in the contemporary world.

 

Talking about leveraging traditional and vernacular cultural resources to adapt to contemporary spatial needs, the Suzhou Museum designed by I.M. Pei I visited last year came to my mind. I.M. Pei is a modernist master skillful at using simple geometries elegantly. The geometrical planes of the building’s façades are outlined and skirted by black steel, which draws inspiration from vernacular residences in the local Suzhou area. The glass-steel pagoda situated in the garden reminds us of his signature style of triangles. Only here an intimate and nuanced balance was reached between his personal and modern style and historical senses. Despite many criticisms referring to its simplistic and superficial cultural appropriation, I do think there’s an invaluable architectural effort to explore how to mitigate the tension between the modern and the vernacular in the specific region.

 

As much as I value such exploration, some of the most stunning modern architectural spectacles cannot escape my attention. Among them, Zaha Hadid’s works together with her extraordinary abstract oil paintings are one of the main reasons that draw me to the discipline. Despite controversial discourse around her works and herself, her design will undoubtedly stand among the most remembered architectural icons of the century. I particularly fancy one of her early works, Vitra Fire Station. Her avant-garde abstract painting of the design, which she said is inspired a great deal by Malevich, predates the actual realization of the project, which illustrates the fact that many of her early innovative designs derive from her fine arts practice. The later Zaha Hadid enterprise has shifted to a digital parametric approach and the style has become rigidified.

 

However, I do want to visit in person a series of modern architecture in Latin America, especially in Mexico and Brazil. Casa Estudio Luis Barragán is on my must-visit list. The simplistic volume and iconic color palette seem inadequate to explain its idiosyncrasy of being serene and sacred. My father visited the house and told me about the house being extremely intimate and private. How such a piece of modernist architecture can exuberate with such personal attributes entices me into experiencing its unique spatial quality in person.