Michelle Lu ’20 – China's Urbanization: Art and Architecture

Dialogue or Monologue: Zhang Dali’s Demolition and Dialogue

Zhang Dali is one of the most famous artists who did graffiti art in the streets of Beijing. Between the years 1995 and 1999, he did a series of graffiti of the profile of a bald head on buildings waiting to be destroyed in the urbanization effort by the Chinese government. In his series “Demolition and Dialogue,” Zhang Dali “hoped to engage the city in a “dialogue” with himself” by putting his likeness throughout the city. However, as Wu Hung remarks, from simply observing the nearly four hundred photos he had access to, “one gains less knowledge of Beijing than of the artist’s contested relationship with the city” (Wu, 2000).

This picture stuck especially because it not only contains the signature outline of the artist, but also himself as part of the art. Clearly, Zhang is trying to make a statement with his own presence, but it is unclear to me exactly what he is trying to say. There are a few features that singles this photo out from the other few hundred in the same series: the artist himself and the female body statue he is sitting on. (are you going to develop this idea?)

As Zhang mentioned to Wu, putting “a condensation of my own likeness as an individual” allows him “to communicate with the city.” Therefore, the bald head serves as a representation of the artist. Hence, it would be redundant if Zhang had intended for his own presence to simply place himself in the artwork. Therefore, his choice to be in the artwork himself must symbolize something other than his own identity. In my opinion, Zhang Dali himself in the piece represent the thoughts and opinions of the artist, being inside his representative head.

Instead of scribing his signature slogan of “AK-47” on the wall, Zhang writes it on his forehead. This slogan is usually written somewhere close to the graffiti image on the wall, sometimes completely inside the head. Because images of guns are prohibited in China, the slogan, representing a powerful assault rifle originated from the Soviet Union, symbolizes military power and threat. If we replace the strain of words with the actual image of the weapon, the image becomes a gun pointing at the artist’s head. In this case, Zhang chose to put it on his forehead instead of that of his likeness, maybe to signify that the metaphoric gun is pointing at and threatening his thought, or who he really is.

All the while, he is sitting on a statue of a female body, in a gesture that can only be interpreted as his dominance over the female body. Whether or not Zhang is championing a specific gender power dynamic is unclear, but it is sure that this is his way of engaging the city into a dialogue about the topic. As Wu writes, “the question these photographs evoke is not so much about the content or purpose of dialogue, but whether the artist’s desire to communicate with the city can actually be realized—whether the city is willing or ready to be engaged in a forced interaction.”

Wu Hung~~, Wu~~. “Zhang Dali’s Dialogue: Conversation with a City.” Public Culture 12, no. 3 (January 2000): 749–68. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-12-3-749.

Cities in between Villages

In “Cities in between Villages,” Marco Cenzatti proposes a process of urbanization different from the traditional model. (please follow up or introduce the different model immediately) Through examples of villages in the Pearl River Delta area (or PRD), he provides a path that can help villages avoid the destiny of becoming dilapidated “Villages in the City.” The PRD model contains various aspects unique to the Chinese political history, but Cenzatti argues that through the industrialization of villages, people can achieve the same result of an urbanized area as the traditional urbanization process. According to him, the villages will eventually become a sort of suburb where urban and rural coexists. In this process, villages will not only get to improve the physical neighborhood, but also have an active voice in deciding the direction of their urbanization.

Image 1: New apartments, old village houses, and construction in process in Shantou, Guangdong.

(please define and clarify a specific characteristic of the different model as the guiding topic for this section) Cenzatti points out that villages in PRD developed due to open-door policy and transportation infrastructure, while city development was limited at the time. Trade through the Township and Village Enterprises (TVE) helped villages accumulate capital and encouraged industrialization process. Helping to develop the trade relationship are the villagers who emigrated to more developed areas. Thus, villages in PRD became area of diffused urbanization. Image 1, although not from PRD, captures this change in action in a similar coastal area. In the picture, there are two sides: one with tall residential buildings in construction, one with existing village houses. The background of the right side, however, differs from the foreground in that there are already some newly built apartment buildings. Therefore, this is a village that has quickly developed through trade in TVEs, and large amounts of residential space is needed to accommodate the migrant workers contributing to the industrialization process. The wide and fresh-paved road provides evidence for the development of traffic infrastructure that Cenzatti claims to be necessary in the PRD urbanization model (still like to learn what type of model it is).

Image 2: Wanbo City, Panyu County — Image 2: Wanbo City, Panyu, Guangzhou. Developed by Guangzhou Wau Shun Investment Management Co., Ltd.

On the other hand, cities expand under the financial and political ambition of the municipal governments. Rural land is converted into “city” land as the only way to accumulate government wealth. (yes, can you make an argument based upon the comparison between the locally built urban villages and officially managed urban complex) The money raised is then used to build place-making projects such as monuments, museums, theaters, etc. Again, traffic infrastructure remains an important component here to help connect the larger city and to move migrants and workers between villages and cities. Eventually, villages get absorbed into cities as an industrialized district and not villages in cities. The author gives the example of Guangzhou and its Panyu County to prove this point. Panyu County started as a small village, but the open-door policy and development of transportation infrastructure boosted population and economic growth. On top of that, all those changes were planned and financed by the local government. By underlining the role of government, Cenzatti hints at how village governments can decide the fate of the village themselves. Image 2 shows a computer-rendered image for the plan for Wanbo City in Panyu County. It shows a residential, recreational, and commercial complex with skyscrapers, row houses, and large parks — all characteristics of an urban area. The fact that the Panyu municipal government can now afford to entire urban complexes proves that trade and transportation is a good way out for villages that might be on their way to be absorbed by the city.

Cenzatti presents the PRD model in a fairly positive light, where villagers, migrants, and the city all win because of the urbanization of villages. However, there isn’t a clear theoretical start for this development. Cenzatti attributes the economic development in PRD villages largely to the open-door policy in the 1980s, but it can be a lot more difficult for villages to compete with big businesses nowadays. Without the starting capital, it can be very difficult for villages to escape the fate of becoming a village in the city.

Peace hotel visual analysis

The Peace Hotel is originally named the Sassoon House, built be British-Jewish businessman Sir Victor Sassoon. At the time of its construction, it was one of the tallest buildings in the Eastern Hemisphere. Because Sassoon’s business is mostly based in East Asia, the building still bears strong marks of European aesthetics, establishing Western dominance on the Bund. However, as is the littoral space itself, the Peace Hotel is never truly British, or even entirely Western, even in its early days. (what argument could be made, if so?)

The outside of the hotel, as can be seen on the photo, is strongly influenced by the Art Deco movement that was popular in the late 19^thand early 20^thcentury. The base of the outside façade is made from granite bricks, a common element in Art Deco buildings. The windows and exterior walls are lined with geometric lines and shapes. Most prominent in the building is the bright green 19-meter high pinnacle on top of the building. The pinnacle and its surrounding ridges are in the Gothic Revival style, sought to introduce key elements of the medieval Gothic style with modern craftsmanship. The Gothic element here is a pointed pinnacle instead of rounded dome as the highest point of the building, while the Art Deco element provide the vivid green color, therefore showcasing different styles on the same building. (what does the detailed deco indicate or support for?)

The eclecticism extends to the interior of the building, where Sassoon built nine suites with themes of nine different countries: Germany, Japan, France, Great Britain, China, United States, India, Spain, and Italy, (again what does the architecture indicate) the most luxurious one being the English suite, inhabited by Sir Victor Sassoon himself. In these nine countries, Sassoon included both European countries and Asian countries. This illustrates his desire to unite the aesthetics both from around his home country and from other places he might call home. This is especially true for the Chinese suite because there is rarely anything in the traditional Chinese style on the Bund, ironically. Sassoon manages to make this littoral space even more international and eclectic through the suites in different styles. (if this is the argument, then introduce it at the beginning of the paragraph)

Even the residents of the Peace Hotel underline the specialness of the stylistic amalgam of the interior and exterior of the building. Among its most celebrated guests are George Marshall, Sun Zhongshan, Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, Queen Elizabeth, President George H. W. Bush, and so many more. From this list of notable guests, it is clear that the Peace Hotel is not only a politically significant hotel in Shanghai, but also attracts actors, writers, and elites from all walks of life. (again what does this say?) On top of that, all of those guests can find a piece of their home in the hotel, whether it be a piece of furniture or decoration.

Another key feature among the peoples of the Peace Hotel is the Jazz Band. Comprised of a group of local Shanghainese men above the age of 75, the band plays classical “old Shanghai” Jazz numbers every night. Jazz music, originated from the US, is combined with Chinese lyrics praising the beauty of Shanghai. The songs are played by old gentlemen who have lived their whole life in Shanghai, with instruments imported from Europe. This performance becomes a unique feature of Shanghai because it illustrates how Shanghai has taken in different cultural identities through trade in the littoral area. The new and unique treaty port culture is formed upon this merging of different cultures.

Traditional or Modern: The Duality in Layering Courtyard

This is a picture of an architectural project called “Layering Courtyard” created by Archstudio. They renovated this old courtyard house from the Chinese Republican period into a boutique hotel that can also function as a meeting space. By modifying an old structure to satisfy the needs and aesthetics of modern standards, the architects seek to preserve the traditional city landscape while also welcoming outsiders to be part of the community of courtyard house. However, some might argue that the architects changed too many aspects of the building, and that it no longer has the same structural function as the original courtyard house. Either way, the architects clearly attempt to break the traditional norms through changes in the traditional landscape and various key elements of the building. ( ideas sound and clear)

The photograph showcases the front of the hotel in the foreground in contrast with the regular apartment buildings in the background. First of all, the different styles of the courtyard house and apartment building highlight the history and development of the city. In the foreground is the historical courtyard house, and in the back is the apartment building created out of the necessity of the growing city. They are of completely different materials: one is made out of traditional stone bricks and the other one is made out of steel and concrete. The tilted tiled roof in particular clashes with the box-shaped apartment buildings in the background. This contrast illustrates how much architecture has changed over the last century in China, reflecting the shift of Chinese political history (as well as landscape). All this contrast adds to the duality of having a brand-new hotel inside a 100-year-old building, right next to what is supposed to be the more modern apartment buildings.

As Treffinger mentions in his article about the new property, the architects did not follow the traditional square-shaped courtyard house. As we can see in the model for the hotel, a new building was added in what is supposed to be the open courtyard. A second floor is added on one of the original buildings, and a porch on the other. Stone brick walls are replaced with glass walls and floor-to-ceiling windows to allow maximum view as well as natural light for the room. All these changes are to suit the needs of modern urban dwelling. A second floor and an extra building help to provide more square footage on the same piece of land. The glass walls visually integrate the three buildings to become one open space. However, this breaks the boundary between the interior and the exterior, because exterior can see into the interior, the privacy from the courtyard houses no longer holds. On the other hand, this can also be seen as an effort to encourage interior and exterior communication, whether it’s between a resident to another, or between humans and nature. Nevertheless, the architects choose to keep the original façade in the front of the building, therefore maintaining the barrier between the courtyard and the streets. Thus, even though the interior of the courtyard is completely different, Layering Courtyard still blends into the surroundings and serve as a contrast to the apartment buildings.

To summarize, the architects of Archstudio presents a possible future for the historical courtyard houses of Beijing by modifying the Layering Courtyard to suit contemporary needs and aesthetics, while still keeping the appearances of the outside of the building, which serves as a contrast to remind people of the drastic change in China during the last century.

Sources Consulted:

Treffinger, Stephen. “Archstudio Updates a Century-Old Beijing Building Into Layering Courtyard Boutique Hotel.” Interior Design, Interior Design Magazine, 5 Apr. 2019, www.interiordesign.net/projects/16205-archstudio-updates-a-century-old-beijing-building-into-layering-courtyard-boutique-hotel/.

A Contemporary Take on Mao’s Image

In this oil paint by Ai Weiwei titled “Mao,” the artist aims to protest the authoritarian regime of Mao through the disfigurement of his portrait. In Communist China, the portrait of Mao is considered a “sacred” image that can only be venerated by “the people.” It has been hanging on the gate of Heavenly Peace in Tiananmen Square ever since the victory of the Communist Party of China. As a prominent protest artist in China, Ai Weiwei made this portrait for the Andy Warhol Museum’s “Andy Warhol | Ai Weiwei” installation, trying to combine Pop Art and political criticism.

(in this paragraph, you may take out unrelated info and make ai weiwei’s work as well as his purpose closely connected)

This portrait of Mao, compared to the one hanging on the Gate of Heavenly Peace, is also less of an idealization and glorification of Mao’s image. In Ai’s rendition of Mao, he has a visibly wider face, with more blush, shine, and wrinkles on his face. He also has a bigger smile showing his teeth in the contemporary art portrait. In addition, the viewer can barely see Mao’s eyes because he is squinting from smiling so hard. Eyes are the windows of the mind, so by preventing the viewers from seeing Mao’s eyes, Ai is taking away part of Mao’s mind. This combination creates a slight sense of idiocy in Mao’s smile, which is in drastic contrast with the loving yet dignified gaze in the official portrait of Mao. As we discussed in class, the official portrait is an idealized image of Mao intended to glorify/magnify him and in turn the Communist leadership of China. Thus, by painting a more realistic portrait of Mao, Ai is trying to de-glorify Mao and the ideas he represents.

By placing black, semi-transparent bars over the entire portrait, Ai Weiwei criticizes the glorification of Mao by the Communist China. Those black bars are reminiscent of electric fences that often used around military compounds to strictly prohibit people from entering. In this sense, Ai is highlighting the barrier that exists around Mao’s figure. This barrier maintains the distance between Mao and the common citizens with a militant connotation, guarding both his dignity and detachment as a leader figure. On the other hand, these bars are semi-transparent, making it look like a TV program with bad reception, or a printer malfunction. By having a not-so-clear picture Mao, Ai is highlighting the distance or miscommunication between Mao and the people, that Mao’s ideology is not so clear to people today. Therefore, there exist a duality in those black bars that simultaneously criticizes the powerfulness and powerlessness of Mao, and hence the Communist government of China.

In his work titled “Mao,” Ai Weiwei expresses his criticism against Mao Zedong and the Communist Chinese government through the de-glorification and obstruction of Mao’s image (conclusion can be made here, as the rest could sound redundant) .

Although he keeps the structure of a front-facing portrait in front of a pastel background, Ai changes Mao’s expression to strip away Mao’s solemnity. The most striking part of the piece, the black bars, signify both the strength and the weakness of the message that this portrait traditionally sends.

reading comments: the claim of de-idealization and de-glorification is strong. I assume that the artist makes a connection between his work and Andy Warhol’s. in that case, mao’s portrait would serves as the subject and pop art as the form. The components of the art form, as you have identified, could include composition, color, sense of satire, costume as well as configuration. In deed, the bared frame is very important, the artist bared the leader from being idealized and glorified.