《星期日南华早报》专访：设计专家抨击“建筑浪费”

[img]/upload/news/20041118155355574.jpg[/img] [img]/upload/news/20041118154520254.jpg[/img] [center][B]Design expert takes aim at architectural excesses[/B][/center] 　　[B]The Zhejiang (浙江省) countryside is not quite a million miles from Boston's Harvard University, but the birthplace of 41-year-old Yu Kongjian (俞孔坚) seems a world away from the eminent institution where he earned his PhD in design. The founder and dean of Peking University's Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, he is a fierce critic of architectural　excess.Professor Yu tells Irene Wang about his hopes for a more meaningful urban environment.[/B] 　　[I]Q: Why are you so critical of the designs for China Central Television new office tower and the Grand Opera House in,Beijing?[/I] 　　A: I am not criticising the two designs. I'm criticising the organisations which decided to build them. The CCTV Tower can be built for a tenth of the cost without losing any function, so why do they spend so much? It's rational and not in the spirit of science. An imperial,feudalistic and autocratic mindset lies behind the decision to build these two extravagant and seemingly modem buildings.The buildings are used to project an image of majesty and superiority, and to be simple western reproductions. They reinforce this kind of ideology and reflect it as a national identity. 　　 　　[I]But can't you tolerate these two buildings on the basis of their aesthetic value?[/I] 　　No.The problem is these kinds of ideological buildings are everywhere throughout China.Every Chinese city has built an example of the phenomena.These two buildings typify the trend,and more importantly,they represent the state's recognition of the image,or identity. This is dangerous.lt is an unbearable vulgarisation. We can invest in meaningful things rather than simple displays. 　　[I]Your design institute is called Tu-ren,or land-human. Are you trying to call attention to the dismissive relationship people have with the land in China?[/I] 　　In addition to the national identity crisis, China has developed an ecological crisis. The disregard for the environment has given rise to an unbridled rape of nature and to the exhaustion of the “yellow earth”. It's all in the name of urbanisation and modemisation...If the trend is not reined in,our children will never see a real,living river. 　　[I]So what should China's urban architecture be about?[/I] 　　Vernacular cities and vernacular landscapes. An identity that does not simply imitate western design or copy imperial Chinese tradition. It's not formal,symbolic or monumental. It reflects the needs of people and appreciates the value of the land.Respect land, adapt to it,preserve it and recognise its aesthetic value. 　　[I]What's your biggest wish?[/I] 　　I want to train more students to share the same approach and use it to solve the crises in Chinese identity and the relationship between people and the land.The hope is that China will be as green as our neighbours in 50 years. I also want to persuade　more Chinese mayors to accept my ideas.