Vincente Guallart
”In the digital world, we should reinvent globalization in such a way that we produce resources locally—energy, elements, and things—while we are globally connected.”
Lucas Epp
" China is definitely the largest market outside North America. But what is missing is local manufacture which can produce good quality woods that can be used in large constructions. "
Dr. Maarten Hajer
"When talking about wood urbanism, the importance is by re-relating nature to the society and finding a way to do it in a sustainable manner and that by no means is easy"
Ortiz Leon Architects
"Spain is the second country with the highest number of LEED certifications in the world."
The Talks
Interviewee
Prof. Li Baofeng
Credits
Interviewer
Cheer Chen
Published
June 01, 2021
I think modest construction includes several aspects. One is the combination with topography and landforms. Don’t change the topography and landforms too strongly. The second is the form of the building, which should not be too rigid.The third is the material, which is a very important content in modest construction.Wood is a growing material, of course it is modest.Everything that is natural must be modest.
Regeneration is a keyword. Why do we propose Regeneration. Because there are many heritages which actually have not been regenerate. In fact, aboriginal people are very important from the perspective of tourism. It will also provide good visual experiences to tourists showing historical way of life and production. So the Regeneration is actually a combination of people and substance. Not just a materialised thing.
We want to build architectures here with a natural and humble attitude. Building into the environment. The wooden structure happens to be an intermediary. From material perspective, we use wood for the new architectures It is in fact a kind of echo with traditional architecture. Because the scale and height are different.Our structural system has changed but the material is still wood. Furthermore, the logic of the wooden structure is still same.
THE TALKS
Prof. Li Baofeng
LI Baofeng is a highly respected Chinese First-Class registered architect who has had an illustrious career. He served as the dean of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Huazhong University of Science and Technology before taking up his current position as chairman of Architectural and Urban Planning Design & Research Institute Co. LTD, also at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Additionally, he holds the esteemed title of president of New Architecture Magazine.
Just Tujia wood structure was restricted by the productivity level at that time. It cannot have a better way to overcome the shear force, overcome the bending moment and overcome the torsion. And now we have a combination of steel and wood. Use steel in the place where the force is the most so it can receive a lot of force with very small components.This is a great optimisation. We should use the best materials of this era to achieve the most optimised resource savings. At the same time it embodies the spirit of the times.
History is a river, and we are only in a certain section of it. History and the future are two sides of one body. So the traditional Tujia architecture in ancient times. And the architecture we do now and the architecture in the future.They are different sections of a river. You see, the origin of the Yellow River were trickling down. It formed into huge waterfall in Hukou. It suddenly took a turn when arrived in Qiankun Bay. It turned into a huge mirror-like sea when arrived in East China Sea and Zhuhai. Why they all belong to Yellow River and composed by H2O water molecules but how they have so big morphological changes.Because the place has changed and time has changed.
If we turn this time into space or turn that space into our current time.Of course there will be changes.
I think wooden structure should be promoted.Because wood not only does not emit CO2 during tree growing period but also absorbs and sequestrates CO2. There is lower energy consumption and carbon emission during fabricated construction.When the building is not used it returns to the soil and becomes fertiliser. Degraded naturally.
"History is a river, and we are only in a certain section of it"
So it is a good thing to carbon neutral or carbon sequestration.However, China's forest resources are not rich enough currently.But forest resources are rich from a global perspective. Besides, trees will no longer sequestrate CO2 or grow when 50 years old. If you cut it down in a planned way. Plant new trees.
Wood can be used efficiently. So from the perspective of global balance, we cannot deny such a possibility. Importing trees is as important as importing food and oil. It will reduce carbon emissions in the construction industry. So I think we should promote the use of wood where conditions permit.
Ⓒ ZHAO Yilong
Ⓒ ZHAO Yilong
Ⓒ ZHAO Yilong
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Vincente Guallart
Self-sufficient cities
Lucas Epp
" China is definitely the largest market outside North America. But what is missing is local manufacture which can produce good quality woods that can be used in large constructions "
Dr. Maarten Hajer
"When talking about wood urbanism, the importance is by re-relating nature to the society and finding a way to do it in a sustainable manner and that by no means is easy"
Ortiz Leon Architects
"Spain is the second country with the highest number of LEED certifications in the world."
Ⓒ ZHAO Yilong
Interviewee
Prof. Li Baofeng
Interviwer
Cheer Chen
Published
June 01, 2021
In addition, I think education is a very important issue. I went to Germany in the late 80s and 90s. At that time, German architects basically do not know how to use wood. They said it is out of fashion. Until people realised the energy-saving potential of wood and the low carbon emission potential of wood.Then people started to try to use it while few people know how. Chinese universities lack this knowledge even more.I think it is necessary to promote this knowledge. I think the media can also bring together such an alliance and string together universities to promote wood knowledge.Almost every university has teachers exerting efforts.