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With the abundance of building taking place, as well
as the colossal number of Chinese architects and the enormous magnetism
that China presents in the economic structure of world architecture,
a Chinese architectural biennale has been long overdue. While many
major cities in China have organised contemporary art biennales,
the architectural establishment has been lagging behind. There has
never been an architecture biennale in China. Thus, the First Architectural
Biennale Beijing is an important milestone in the contemporary architectural
development of China.
The First Architectural Biennale Beijing 2004 (ABB
2004) is an ambitious attempt to showcase the latest developments
of architectural culture and the building industry in China. Comprised
of three parts - exhibitions, forum and architectural theme park
- ABB 2004 looked set to overwhelm visitors with its 'numbers' game.
Held from 20 September 2004 for a mere two weeks, there were a total
of eight exhibitions with an exhibition area of 200,000 square metres.
A total of eight forums were organised, with the participation of
10,000 professionals from around the world predicted. The organising
committee further speculated that two million visitors would be
involved in ABB 2004 events. Approved and supported by the Chinese
Ministry of Culture, ABB 2004 was no doubt the largest architecture
show in Chinese history.
However, this obsession with numbers - quantity in
place of quality - seems to have been the organising committee's
fatal error. The whole Biennale was run more like a commercial exposition
than one that served to push artistic and architectural limits and
provide a platform for discussion between home-grown and overseas
professionals. According to Chinese numerology, the number 'eight'
is auspicious; it has certainly been stuck to with great faith here,
yet the outcome was far from satisfying. The eight exhibitions each
had their own theme, all seemingly unrelated. The organisation of
eight forums with different themes within eight days meant resources
were spread thinly - and the resulting discussions were far from
fulfilling. Imagine five of the forums occurring on the same days
and at different locations. The audience had to be on the dash from
one place to another non-stop - and the forums themselves fell short
of expectations.
It is inevitable that ABB 2004 be compared to the
internationally acclaimed Venice Architecture Biennale - also held
in September 2004 but for a longer period of two months. The Venice
Biennale has a long tradition and always comes with a clear theme
of investigation. There is one main curator to decide on the overall
theme - and each national pavilion in turn has its own commissioner.
An architecture practice is commissioned to design the main exhibition
space.
ABB 2004 was run very differently, with the various
exhibitions curated by a different curator - each with their own
agenda. Other than the main exhibition 'Infinite Architecture' -
which showcased the works of international eminent architects like
Koolhaas, Hadid, Holl, Herzog and de Meuron, Rogers, SOM, RTKL and
had a 'purer' exhibition content - the others had a tint of commercialism
that smeared the professionalism and authority of the show. Commercially
supported by developers, these exhibitions betrayed the desire of
the sponsors. The curators of the 'Infinite Interior' exhibition
had invited ten architects to design the interior of model apartments
and then later auctioned them! In addition, only four countries
presented their national pavilions in ABB 2004; namely Switzerland,
Germany, the Netherlands and France. ABB 2004 undoubtedly lacked
the global reach that an international biennale should embody.
Despite the less than enthusiastic response of the
mainstream architecture world to this first biennale -
with one critic even initiating a boycott action over the internet
- it has long been needed by the architecture community in China,
which in the past has lacked any form of dialogue with its international
counterparts. It not only provided a platform of discussion for
the professionals and a chance to learn for students and fans of
architecture; it also gave the developers an opportunity to broaden
their view. Through the resulting media reports, it was able to
popularise architectural culture with the general public and further
raise Beijing's profile. With the Beijing Olympics 2008 looming
around the corner, one can expect further waves of frantic construction
activities in the coming months. This huge construction site will
undoubtedly produce critically-acclaimed new works. Hopefully, we
will also see a better organised Architecture Biennale Beijing in
the future.
Meng Ching Kwah
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