A R C H I T E C T U R E
CAN A L S O
B E S I L E N T
DANIEL R O S B O T T O M
Perhaps unusually, i l w a s aidiiieciurc raüicr ilian a n lliai provided n w first physical encounn-T Willi Uie work of Ai Weiwei. In early 200a. u few tnontlis before his Inauyuial L o n d o n exhibition ollered me tlie possibility lo experience his art direclly for Uie lirsl time,' my practice w a s Ibriunaie to be amony one hundred young aidiitecmre olTices froni a i o u n d die world w i i o were Invited by h i m a n d die Swiss areliltecLs I leiv.og & de Meuron to talce p a n in a project called'Ordos 100',
Looking back seven year s, i l seems remarkable h o w lilde we k n e w tlien aboui
his work. Indeed it w a s only a railier s c i n t knowledge o f h i s o u L s p o k e n politics dial overcame our misgivings/ etliical and oihei-wise, Willi regard to his aniblUous plan lo 'curate' |)an of a new city witliin die desert landscape of China's Inner Mongolia.
T h a i project remaiiis unrealised, yet our pailicipalion in l l olTered an opportunity to nieei and Lilk w i d i Ai and to visit buildings. Including Ills o w n home mid studio, lliat he had designed for die urban village ofCaochangdi. on Beijing's peri|)heiy (fig. 22). Despite die eloquence and energy dial emanated from die many youiig
archiiccis w i l h w h o m we met and convei-sed during diose intense few days in China, i i w a s tlic quiet yet emphadc malerial presence of M's sculpted yet elemental volumes ;ind spaces, simply constructed using brickwork and concrete fiame, dial informed our o w n conUibuUon and whicli coniinues to resonate in my imagination. As Ai writes. 'Airlii lecture can also be silent. It can stay aloof from llie populai" words of tills world, like a stone suuue bui'led in a river bed.'^ T h i s eatly encounter witli his powerfully experiential buildings made explicit far me die extent lo w h i c h Üiek concerns a n d qualiries.
Fic. 19 Couctyard 104, Caoclianadi. Boijlne. 2005 40
ü i i e s lliai could be considered I'undumenuil lo arcliileciure, are also embodied w i d i i n Ills arLWüi'ks and i n s t a l l a ü o n s . One continually senses architecture's possibilities w i d i i n diem and tliey o l i e n g o further in appropriating iL'; foniis ;uid conventions ur in literally re-appropriating its materials. Aic hi lecture's suuctures of space. materi;U and movement are not only Imbued w i d i i n ilie jjieces diemsejves. but are also d e s a l b e d tlirougli die r e l a ü o n s h l p s
lliat tliey form with one anodier a n d in llie dialogues tlicy create w i d i tlie rooms and spaces in wliicli Üiey me placed. Aldiough Ai's built w o r k s are not explicitly represented in the Royal Academy exhibition. ;udiiteciui-e could be said to be, silently evei-ywhorc.
Ai makes, he claims.'ordinaiyai'diiteclure',-' rooted in tlie idea of home and our Individual and collective need to dwell in tlie worid. 1 le seeks lo work w i d i lundaincnLil concerns.
forming spaces tliat may be b o d i pracdcally and poetic;illy inhabiied and w h i d l . dirougll l l l d r material qualities, embody somedilng of die essenilal sn-ucture of h u m a n Ule. Yet he equally ix-cognises the complcxiUes o f i h i s apparently •basic a c t i v i t y ' H i s musings o n die subject relied upon contcmpoiai-y architecture's increasing fragility and uoubling disengagement from h u m a n needs, as it s ü u g g l e s a n d often fails to address acontinuallyevolvlngcondition of
Fic. 20 AIWoiwoi,Boljlnn 2 0 0 3 . 2 0 0 3 Vldoo, 1 hour 50 mInuCos (video stills)
radical and often bruUU social and physical ü'ansrormation. l-oi' Al die context is China, a c o u n u y w h o s e exu-enie pace of diange led to it using more c e m c n l between 2011 a n d '2013 Uian the United Slates did during the entire twentieth centuiy." Yet to a greater or lesser extent die a i t i q u e could be applied universally
Altiiough he Is li;u'sh in liis cridcism of modern China, going so far as lo call contemporaiy Beijing 'unTil for h u m a n h a b i t a ü o n ' . ' Ai embraces w h a t he calls 'authentic modernism'" as botli an airiiude and a a i l i c a l metliod. There is no subsiiluie, he says, for tlie 'here and now'." Al's ordinailness is not tlierefore nostalgic, nor is i l a simple reiteration of what has been. Ratiier. it mlglil be understood as a reslluatingandiesU-ucluringoftlie aidiUeclurc ofeveryday life, in response lo contcmpoituy conditions and future possibilides, in ways dial can encompass many u-aits,'" It embodies an open attitude that seeks to address botli individual desires and collective need tlirough asense of'leeway and possibility'." w h i c h Ai i n turn inuislates as freedom.
His concerns seem unsurprising w h e n one considers his backgi'ound. His fatlieu tlie renowned poet Al Qi_ng was expelled from Beijing lo Xinjiang, in China's barren iioriliwesL during Mao's anti-Intellectual campaign of 1957 and lived diere in hanlslilp wltli his family for tlie next twenty years, unlil his rcinstatemeni in llie late 1970s. Ai recalls die first Ume he applied liimself lo an aidiitectural probleni as Uie moment w h e n he dug out and deepened Uie underground chamber In w h i c h Uiey were required lo live, so his faUier could suind upriglit i n i L ' - O n e can only speculate h o w s u d i juXlaposiUons - between a necessarily pnvate bulintensely ai-Ustic and intelleelual family
life and die reduced realiUcs of an everyday tüci sience Uial involved his ralher cleaning Uie public lavatories - shaped his undei-sLmdings, reinrordngUieiniporianccofardiileciurc'srolc in providing shelttr a n d comfort and Uirougli Uiem, in nurturing and enridiing Uie conUnuum between mind, body and worid.
For Ai 'Uie many ellbrLs Uiai people make w h e n creaUng aidiUecwrc leprcscni aji undei-standing of their o w n place w l l h i n Uie natural world, of order and o f potential... No matter w h a l type o f ardiitecture from what time or place one considers, diey all reveal w h o Uie builder was.''^ It Is tempting Uien. to ask w h o Uic builder is and wheUier it is Uirough die ardiitecture, w h i c h he made for himself a n d far Uiose aiound him. Uiai Ai has explored a n d revealed some o f his most fundamental concerns. Thi'ough its materialisaUon of die issues and Uiemes Uiai underpin liis o w n life a n d Uiase of his neighboui-s and fellow dUzens. the a c l of building niusi surely have been instrumental in coalesdng Uie emerging a i U c a l dialogues that Ai has subsequently explored across a diverse range o f ai-UsUc foi'ms and media.
Silualed in Uic village of Caodiangdi, a once-autonomous community now subsumed inlo Uie outer folds of Beijing's e v e r - l e n g ü i e n l n g skirLs, it was die modest and unadorned bride volume ofhls o w n house and studio Uiai in 1999 insUgated Ai's brief but extremely producUve career as an 'acddenial aidiiteci'.'-' He apparently sketdied die design one evening a i his moUier's kitdien lable, before laldng advantage of Uie village's legal mformaliiy and Uie sQiinge slippages of bureauoudc ovei-siglii Uiat can occur at die overiooked margins of Uie vast, cenU'alised suuctui es of Uie Chinese Stale, to build i l over Uie next one hundred days.
Set witliin a walled couityaid to the reai- of its plot a n d minuunced to the passer-by only by Ü i e v i b i a n c y of its lurquoise gates, llie building is deliberately unassuming. Inside iUs walled forecourt only two openings punctuate ils long, d o s e d fagade of local black-giey brick: a lai;gc w i n d o w cenUed wiUiin a projecUng gable, and a canopied enti^ance door, discretely set into die resulUng corner. BoUi open Into a double-height living space of red brick, w h i c h relates two i n i e r s e c U n g b a i ' s o f a c c o m m o d a U o n a e a U n g a T-shaped plan. T h e first contains the domesUc funcdons of Uie house, aiTanged over two storeys, die other a l;age roof-lit studio, w h l d i also sei-ves as a temporaiy galleiy.
WiUi sU'ong e d i o e s of Üie Iradltional Chinese courtyard houses a n d huwn}fs Uiai once defined Uie urban giain a n d social su-uciure ofEeijing. w h a l might seem an inUoveried typology can instead be i n i c r p r e i e d a s a deep and inU'lcate space of Uiresliold. capable of enfolding tlie InUmacies of private lifewiUiin Uie mcdlaUng territories of a public one. Ils interior and exterior spaces arc ai ranged as a connected sequence of rooms of vaiying scales and degrees of endosuie. CollecUvcly Uiese establish a c o m m o n ground. accomniodaUng friends, family and an iUnetani feline community alongside Uie array of visitors and collaboratoi-s w h o have togeUier supporU;d Ai's complex a n d overlapping creaUve acUviUes as an a n i s L aichiiecLgallerisi. curaion collector, writer a n d polifical acüvist.
WlUiln Uiese logical anangcments Uie p o t e n ü a l for slippage or j u x i a p o s i ü o n between one and anoüier, a eenUal concern in Ai's work, becomes embodied Uiiough Uie experience of i n h a b i l a ü o n . T h e generous scale of Uie Uible occupying Uie main living space anUcipates its
shil'iing usage uiid Uie ii-ansllion l i o m gi-eeiing lo iiicL'iing lo culliig loguUiui over itie course ol'a day. Yei llie lable's proxiniily lo ü i c laige. cenu-aliy posidoned master balluoonx w h i c h overlooks it Irom die top ofiui open suiir o n the Uoor above, simultaneously questions tliat sense urpubllc-iiess (Ug. 21). WlUi Üte batliroonVs most intimate funcdons screened only by a projecting brick wall at one end of an oUierwise ojjcn galleiy. the humorous yet dlsconccrdng immediacy of Oils reladonship, between an innately social space and what is usually considered an intensely private one, exemplifies die attitudes of an ardst w h o s e o w n identity and u n d o d i e d fomi aie regularly used to personify often uncomfortable quesdons about s o d e t y culture and die h u m a n condilion.
Since iLs consu-uction. his studio-house li;is offered Ai die freedom to develop die many aspects of Ills w o r k alongside die su uctures and relaUonships iliai support iu Yet his wider experience equally demonsUatcs llie liiniLs of ardiilecture's ability lo embody freedom of a more fundamental kind. SurveiUance Cumeru (2010: cat. 28), a C C T V camera carved in niaible. is ;ui Ironic monument to die overbearing power of a stale secm i i y appai aius. w h i d i has employed ILS runclioning counleipai'ts to malnUiin a consUinl sui-veillance over ilie house's walled enclosure, finally iranslbrming i i l n t o a space of confinement w h e n Ai was placed under house ai-resi in 2010. His subsequent 81-day detention during 2011 is vlscerally described in SA.CJi£X>. (20 ] 2: cat- 45). w h o s e six diilling dioramas set within his detendon cell depict die drab. insUtudonalised banality of an architecture w h o s e purpose has been subverted to d i a l of subjugation and oppression.
T h e philosopher M i d i e l 1-oucauli once proposed.'ltcan never be inherent In die su-ucture of Üiings to guai'iuitee die exercise of freedom. 'I'he guarantee of freedom is freedom.' To tiiose for w h o m ideas exist in things, Uiis i s a s a l u i a i y thought, although one dial is encouragingly qualUied by Ills preceding siaiemcnl tliat'Uberiy is a pmciice.''= T h e notion d i a l fieedom might exist in tlie doing, rather dian in w h a t is done, is a possibility iliai Ai appears to pursue condnually through botli diought and action, l-roni behind die limitedsanctuaiy o f h l s overlooked gates, his response to suivelllance has been to expose himself to die collective gaze: broadcasdng his life a n d lliouglits dirougli digital photograplw. 'l\vllter luid a blog, Willi an intensity tliat renders external monitoring practically superfluous. His riposte to detendon is to turn the gaze of ilie world upon tlie actions o f h l s oppressors. Through SA.CJtJl.D. tlie watchers become tlie watched.
It ts d e a r however üiat. for him. die material of aichi tecture has come to oflcr more ü i a n mere endosure for h u m a n a c ü v i i y n o matter h o w chaiged. 1 lis rcalisaLion tliat w h e n 'compared to oilier man-made objects, ardiitecture is [irobably doser to poliUcs'"' increasingly leads h i m to employ It or ILS material dliecUy its physicality becoming a tangible agency dirough w h i c l i he is able to olTer cri tied resistance to Uie prevalent condidons of contemporaiy Chinese sodety and culture.
Prior to Uie consU-ucUon of his house, Ai professes to have had no lornial knowledge of lu'chiteciure. T h e only book he o w n e d on Uie subjeet w a s appai-enUy a monogi'aph on the house Uiat anoUier rarllied 'amaieui^', Ludwig Wittgenstein, built for his sister in Vienna in 1926.'" iloUiWiiigcnsiein's ideas and his
ludiiteeture appeal' to have had a considerable influence on Al, w h o s e observaUun that Uie philosopher's 'ellbrl, Uie repeated eflbru made all his piacUce becoine one - just one act''" seems to reflect equally upon his o w n u-ajeciory. Inu-iguingly die ])l;ui arrangement of Uie Haus lVtff.i;eftsk'in bears a maiked similaiity to Uiat of Ai's studio-house, albeit w i U i Uie Viennese house's formal sequence of hallway, giand suircase and salon replaced by tlie single space of Uie studio.'" The seiislbillUes inherent in Wittgenstein's precise yet elemental forms and spaces, w l i i d i seem capable of simultaneously addressing and condeiising boUi histoiy and n i o d e m i i y into a singular- expression, also have much in c o m m o n w i d i his o w n .
In Ills seminal w o r k 'I'raclatus Loj.'lco-Pltilusoplncus (1921) Wittgenstein posits Uie idea Uiat 'eUiics a n d aesUielics aie one and die s:uiie'.=" T h i s tenet seems cenual to Ai's developing aichltectural discourse ;uid Is echoed in his demands d i a l ardiitecture should have an inteflectual component and an eUiical-moral relevance. Even before his a c ü v e InvolvemenL Al forcefully expressed a disdain for ardiilecture's role in embodying power and auUiorily Uirough his ongoing photographic series Siudy of PL'ispeclivc (1995-). I'hese w o r k s depict his middle flnger raised in Ironicsalule to landniaiks from around die worid. among Uiem Uie White House in Washington (lig, 46) and Tiananmen Squ;ue in Beijing. Yet the moral and eUiical issues dial prindpally concern h i m have less to do wiUi Uie representaUonal qualiUes ofindivldual su-uctures. instead they increasingly focus o n Uie physical luid s o d a l consequences of llie massive programmes of urbanisation a n d urban uansformaUon. insUgated by lhe Chinese Suite ;LS a means lo fadlitaie die polides o f g r o w t h and
Fic. 21 Studio-housü (intorlor). Caochangdi. BoijinE.1999
l i b c i a l i s a ü o n inu-oduccü by D c n g X i a o p i i i y in iliL' p c d u d following Mao's d e a ü i in 1976.
Tlie coniiovcisial i r i p i y c h o f p l i o i o g i a p h s thai depict Ai Dropping!: a I h n Dynasty Urn (1 WCy. caL 20) was Uic caUilysl for a scdcs of w o i t e . including Coloured Vases (2015: caU 22) and Dtisl lo Dusr (200S; cau 21), Uiat tiuosUon the value placed on historical and cultural arte lacus of many kinds in tlie making of Uie new China.'I hey are pieces Uiat might arguably be considered counterpoints to Fountain {1917). the seminal piece by Marcel Duchamp. w h o s e aiTisUc inlluence on Ai is captured in Hanf^nf-Man (19S5: cat. iO). where Uie frendiman's jjrolile is fashioned l i o m a coat hanger, i lowever. whereas Uie urinal Uiat Duchamp appropriaied to a e a t c his w o r k lacked any cultural status until it w a s placed into an art contexU Ai's 'readymades' ai-e archaeological oinefactsofgreauuiUquity and cultural graviias. By desuoying Uiem or dipping Uiem in indusuial paini to all but obliterate Uieir pasu lhe arüsi quesUons where value resides. In Uie dark humour of these sUu tlingly w;uUon yet deliberate acUons. he draws attention to die loss of countless oUier ])ieces of China's heritage over the ])eriod since the Cultural RevoluUon; duilng w h i c h time die ideokigiail zeal thatsought to replace die past has been supplanted by a laissez-faire acquisiUveness.
Many of Uiose lost artefacts are buildings. wheUier i n d i v i d u d houses or Uie andent temples Uiat once drew Uieir inhabitanus together Into ne Igli bo ur hoods and caiiiiiiuiiiUes. Ai describes how 'China's dUes are shiviiig to dress Uiemselves up, as if Uiey aie rushing to attend a lavish masquerade ball'.=' a tiiuisfomiation propelled by the rapid expansion of an d i l u e n t middle dass a n d Uie accumixuiying inllux of poor workers w h o service Uidr needs.
Acro.ss China, vast areas of historic urban fabric have been d e a i e d to make way for Uiis explosion in developmenU while what litUe remains has been clumsily rc-dressed for ü i e toui'isL l i e recdls experiendiig diis direcUy w h e n , in preiiaraUon for die '2008 O l y m p i c Games. Uie brick fagade of his m o ü i e r ' s house was refaccd in concreic by ü i e Beijing auUioriUes, as paia of a large-sciile genUilicaUon jirograninie. 'All Uie fake walls,' he remoiisU'aled, 'it's ciazy Uie old town disappeaied in one niglit.'- DefianUy he removed die majority of Uie replaceiiient wall but left a h a g m e n i o f i t i n place, exposing just one of Uie many 'scai-s left by auUioriuuianism'.^ CreaUng In effect a w o r k in situ, Uiis criUque ediues Uie concerns of a number of signilicant galleiy pieces a n d insuUlaUons Uiat emerged from Ai's creative focus on architecture in the yeai-s after Uie millennium. W h e n seen in ])arallel wiUi his developing ardiitectural piacUce. these works conUnue to reflect on China's su uggle to find an approi^rlaie balance between preservation and uansformaUon.
Pieces s u d i as Kip/v (2006: cau 8) become measures of Uie scale of desmicUon, wiUi e a d i of Uie 6,000 w o o d e n blodes from w h i d i it is a.ssembled being fashioned from a fragmeniof a lemple of Uie Q^iig Dynasty (1644-1911) Uiai was demolished to make way for new consu ucUon. T h e monumental insUiUadon Fragments (2005: cau 24) goes fuillier in spadalising Uiis los.s. Ai muses Uiat'you know an old temple was beauillïil iuid beauUfully builu We could once all believe and hope in iU But once it has been desuoyed. it's noUiing. It becomes anoUier arUsi's material lo build sonieUiing completely coniradicioiy lo what i t w a s before.'^-' Utilising pillars and beams of iron w o o d collected fiom dismanded temples in Guangdong province,
he worked wiUi a ie;un of carpenters skilled In tradiUonat lediniques lo create a comjilex. visually ungainly yet exueniely precise structure, lus individual pieces of Umber aie held in delicate balance by elaboraU; joinUng and w o o d e n pegs, esuiblishing asense of equllibrituii between Uie desüoictive and Uie creaüve act Uiai appeiu^s at once solid and yet U"ailsient and unceiTain, 'fhe piece's constellation ofelemenis maps out China's borders, but ii is in die rt!-appi-opriaUoii and rc--engagementof Uie malerial, undei-stood dirough die presence and pliyslailiiy of boUi viewer and makeu Uiai Uie w o i k attains its significance.
At a more InUmaie scale, worlds such as Tüiile tvilli ThrveLess (2011; cau 6) and Table Willi Two Legs on the Wall (1997; cau 5) conUnue this jirocess of re-artieulalion. A simiku process of artful brulaliiy employing uadiUoiuU cndusmansliip of die higliest sumdaid, uansforms die domesUcilyand f;uniliarlly of diese ;uidque furniture pieces, mutating tliem inlo 'forelgm objecus' o f ' u n k n o w n purpose'. T h e y rellecl Ai's inieresi in Uie conuadicUon ofputUng'a uemendous effoit inio someUiing useless or even nameless'.-^ Recalling Uie Prop pieces of American minimalist sculptor Ridiard Serra. Uiey a eale suuctures of dependency dial draw die space and labile of Uie galleiy iuself into Uie composition. Uius making it an acUve parUcipani in Uie dialogue between subject a n d object In •njWeundJ'iIlur(2002:cat.9) UieleiunoUfsof column and table become fused togeUier as two losi ligmes locked in a precarious embrace. T h e seamlessness of their carefully crafted juncUon belies Uie inherent violence of Uiis enforced union and offei-s Uiem both an unceri;iln lulure. rejecUiig Uielr individual IdenUUes and obliging Uiem to occupy space collecfively wiUiout puipose.
IfÜicsL' a n d otliei w u r k s caji b e understood, in part, as a critique o f w l i a t has been lost to tlie d i o k i n g banality of tlie c o n i e m p o i a i y Chinese city then Die ardiitecture tliat Ai made in [jarallel takes a further ste|i in olTei lng boUi a reslsUuice and a n dlernative to it. T h e cii tied success of tlie studio-house, w h i d i received con-siderable exposure across C l i i n a and i n t e r n a i i o n d l y brought Willi it a steady sueani o f b u i l d i n g c o m m i s s i o n s dial, in turn, led to die esutblishmentofAi's studio, TAIU; Design. A l iLs most aclive in the period up to 2ÜÜS, w h e n Ai
announced his wididrawal from ardiitecture. i-AKE completed a subsiaiiiial and wide-ranging body of work, amounting to more dian ei^ny commissions.
Yet i l is in die sequence of buildings made wiUiin tlie immediate environs o f h l s residence that his mdiiteclure is most compelling. These low, brick volumes, w h i d l reiterate and develop the simple fomis and c o n s ü i a c ü o n techniques of Ills o w n project, miglu appear formally n c u u a l . Yet in the context of die w i d e r city tlieir fomi, scale a n d materialisaUon place
Uieni in opposiUon to boUi Uie alienaUng, systemised monotony ofBeijing's n e w residential loweis ajid Uie gaudy objecuricatlon of iUi often imported UojDliy aidiiieciure. Hqually eniphaUcally Uiey reject Uie liisioridsi, faux-vernacular tendencies often employed lo signify domesiiciiy Despite its liighly conUolled nature, Ai's architecture dedines to d o s e itself off Into self-conuiined. aesdieUdsed systems. Instead il adopts. adapLs and refines readily available local materials and Uie expedient consuucUon lediniques of local u a d e s m c n , establishing a modest, robust kmguage Uiat has gi'own out of Uie village context and w l l h i n w h i c h i t conUnues to propagate.
In c o m m o n w i U i m u d i ofAi's creaUve output, ü i e power of Uiis coIlecUon of buildings is reinforced Uirough Uieir seriality and proximity. T h e bakmce of repeUUon and vaiiaUon wiUiin Uieir various arraiigeiiieiiLs allows Uiem to be understood as an adaptive type, malleable enough to be responsive to a pai-ücular siluaUon while retaining a sU'ong famiUal diaracier w h e n considered as an ensemble. Hach gioupiiig of buildings organises a s u i i e of rationally ordered interior volumes, for use as living, working or galleiy space, w i d i i n die consu-iiintsofagiven s i t e ' l search for m a x i m u m fiexibility beeause I don'l l ü i o w w h o will end up using Uie space,' Al explains. 'Since I k n o w noUiing aboul Uie interior's flnal funcUon, 1 u y to conlrol Uie p r o p o r ü o n , the material a n d Uie openings.'"" Exterior courts a n d passages f o n n diai-ged voids between Uie resulUiig volumes, negofiaUng Uieir relaUonship w l U i Uie Irregulai' grain and form o f t h e unplanned village contexl.
I n lis loose grid of nineieen rectangular and L-shaped studio-houses, e a c h a variant ofAi's original, one project, 241 C a o d i a n g d i (2007;
Fic- 23 Construction or241 Caochangdi, Boijine. 2007
flg. 23), subsumes Uie series w i U i l n itself. Echoing his cubic meU'es of material, I n d u d i n g Ton of Ten (2008: c a t 51) and Cube in Ebony (2009; c a t 32), Uiis adjusUng repetiUon of simple fornis makes manlTesla relaUonship between his architecture and minimalist a r t proposing in Uie buildings' i n c i d e n u l evocadon of work by Donald judd or Sol I-eWitt Uiat meaning is esubllshed Uirougli Uie experience o f U i e m as simultaneously object space a n d idea.
Beyond similarities in Uieir scale and layout it is Uie use o f brick as a unifying maU;rial Uiat
draws tlic C a o d i a n g d i projects into coherence (flg. 26), Al Is n o l Uie flrst ai'Ust lo become fascinated w i U i brick and its possibilides. Per iurkcby's brick sculplures might be one reference point, w h i l e die persistent geomeu-ies of Uie t w d v e sculptural giey-brick pavilions Uiai Uie G e m i a n ailist Ui-win 1 leerich consu-ucied for die Museum Insel H o n i b i o l d i neaj- D ü s s e l d o r f ofier Immediate counterparts, albeit in veiy diflerenl circumsi;uices. liefiecUng upon Uie laconic walls of Caodiangdi. one also recalls Uie Etiuivalents of C a i l A n d r e s t i c k s o f brick w h o s e
UUes draw attention to Uie fact Uiat each work is not only comjiosed of repeated c l e m c n l s b u t Is also conceived as pai t of a laiger whole.
Willie brick miglit be regar-ded as the most ordinary o f b u i l d i n g components, it has a n e l e m e n t i l nature: a material made of eaiUi. w a i c c fire and air, it u-anscends cultures and eras. T h e size of abride is such U i a l i l can bo picked up w l U i one hand, laid in place and Uirough Uiat simple, repeated acUon a wall is made. I l l s Ule smallest unit Uirougli w h i d l a t d i i l e a u r e can be manifested a n d n o matter w h a l scale die
FiE. 24 Rod Bricl< Complex, CaochonEdi, Beijing, 200B
icstilliingwall m i g l i i b c . o n c c a n s i i l l recognise c a d i individua! c u m p o n c n i wiUiin i l and ilic ailisansliip I n l i c i c n l in die aci ofsuicldng llieni. one upon anodici:
Souvenir from Beijing (2002} places a singie giey ileijingbridc i n i o a b o x o r s a l v a g e d limber. Iiiglilighling Uie i n a e a s i n g s c i u d i y of Uiis onee-prevaleni maieiial vviUiin Uie d i y w h i l e simuhaneously celebrallng ius physical diaraclerisUcs. Couriyai'd 105 elevales lhe cral'led. lexiuial quali lies of lhe same brick as a componenl wiUiin a laiger surface. Relieved of iLssu uciural
responsibiliUes. i l is uUlised purely as a l i n i n g masking a series of exisiing concrele suuciures in Older lo form a unilied courtyard inieriar. In doing so l l consUlules a small revers;il In a coniexi where concrele inaeaslngly duminaies.
Conversely, die exlemal expression of Uie Red Brick Com])lex uses brick wlUiin a consUTJcUonal language of frame and infill, revealed elsewhere only Uirough Uie Interior Here Uie vesUges of fagade, present In oUier works, are s n i p p e d away to expose w h a t die architectural hlstoriiui Kennedi Frampton
describes as 'a potendally poetic manifestaiion of structure i n die original Greek sense of poiesis, as an a c l of making and revealing... the leclonics of Uie frame, in w h i c h members of vaiyliig lengths arc conloined to encompass a spaUal field and Uie s/ereufomics of compressive mass. Uiat whilst it may embody space, is consuucied Uirough Uie jiiling up of IdenUcal uni 15."=^
Many ofAi's worlcs demonsirate his c o n c e m wiUi juxtaposing Uie qualities and diaiacier of an individually worked e l c m c n i against its placement w i U i i n Uie niulUtude. Brick uunslates Uils idea inlo Uie realm of aiehiieciure. iiumble yet sensuous, it remains insepaiable from boUi die place and Ume of ils maldng and Uic temperament o f t h e bricklayer w h o places iu allowing Uieir piacUce to be drawn into collaboradon wiUi Üic aiUsl'sown. T h e ai-dilieciure Uial resulus boUi acknowledges his appreciaUon of die skills o f h l s workforce a n d reveals die cjttent to w h i d i Ai conceptualises Uie aci of making iuself'Most of die buildings aie located wiUiin five minutes' walk of my place,' he says, 'alUiough 1 never paid a visit to Uie building site during consuucUon. T h e ci-aftsmen understood die design and 1 k n o w Uiai Uiey lu'e doing Uiings right" (see fig. 25).="
A s w i U i miuiyofliislai-ge-scalecollaboraUve ai t projecus Uie rough precision of Uie lesulUng buildings demonsuates 'his use of atdiiieclural process as a a i U c a l medium'.•" made by many hands. T h e outcome is not a reversion to die vernacular buu instead, ius inversion. By reframing Uie expedient possibilities of local skills and resources Al encourages boUi consU-ucUon workers and fellow villagers to profit from Uie cultural and economic impetus Uiat his burgeoning internadonal profile has brought to d o c h a n g d l . T h e spare aesUieUc of
Fic. 25 Construction of Al Wolwel'n studio, Caochanedi, BolJine. 1999
Fi0. 26 Throo Shadows Photography Arc Centre, (detail), Caochangdi, Bo-jinfi, 2005-7
Fic- 27 Al WolwQi. Provlolonal Landocapoa, 20O2-0e. C-prints, various dimonaiona liis a i c l i i i e a u i c lias Ums becuinc a commodity.
a])propriaiL'd tliiuugli any number ulTake TAKES, which borrow its identity without ever quite achieving le> eloquence.
T h e result hxs been to propagate Ai's ongoing inllueiice as an architect fai' beyond his actual Quqjul ;uid iiwolvement in pracdce. It has led to die emergence o f a type, w h i c h hLis been insirumenial in setUng die village apart from the odier 300 or so urban villages to be found w i ü i i n die expanding city edge. Not unlike Mar-fa, die isolated town in New Mexico diat Donald ludd relocated to in die eady 1970s. Cauchangdi now plays host to a heterogeneous and heady m i x of ardsLs, high-end galleries ;md cultural toui-ists,
alongside a shifdng populadon of mosdy migj-ant workei-s. It is not widiout irony dial diis agglomeradun of mostly illegttl c o n s ü u c d o n has undermined die vci-y anonymity diat allowed llie phenomenon lo occur in the lirst instance. Nodng iLs cultural and economic success, Uie auUioriiies re-designated Caodiangdi a model 'Sodalist New Village". Yet as wiUi ;U1 such places in China, Uie encroadiment of oflicialdom only exacerbates uncertainly over i LS future.'"
Through a number of photographic a n d video projecLs Ai has criUcdly obsei-ved Uie cydes of desuucUon and consducUon dial accompany s u d i processes of diangc aa-oss die d t y While a student in New York, between 19S3
and 1995. he photographed iife aiound his home in Manhaltan"s Lower East Side, recording its often troubled evoluUon from a space of urbati derellcUon ;uid counterculture into avaluable piece of real estaU-'.^' It is tenipUng lo imagine Uiat his personal experience as part of Uiat threatened community established Uieground for his subsequent interest In die plight of the buildings, spaces, people ;md communiUes caught up in Uie turmoil and afiermaUi of Beiiiiig"s rampant redevelopmenu Leaving Uie act of ludgement or inteipreUiUon to Uie viewer, each piece is didacUc and ob|ective in its mediods. Yet their intenUon is not to document the d t y but laUier. Ai suggests, "to maierialise our physical life.
its condidon in the iiiomenu"'= 'fhe Ulms Beijing 2005 (2005: Iig. 20), Ojuu^an BoulevarLl (2004), Beijing: Second Ring Koud and Beijing: TlUid Ring kodd (bodi 2005) recall Uie serial photography of Bernd a n d Hilla Becher or films like Bd Rusdia's J;"t;er>' Building o r Sunset Boulevard (1966) in dieir coUadon of die spadal ia.xonomy of a dianglng city. Made in jiarallel. Al's ]jliotogi-aphic itiucsProvisionalLanijsciipus (200'2-OS; fig 27) ciptures the many voids and tiansiUonal spaces left in limbo by die same enuropic processes of change.
Ai has commented Uiat Uie ;u'ea of Beijing being redeveloped e a d i year is laiger dian die enUi e area of Uie city in 1949. w h e n land
was sequestered and placed into collecUve ownei^hip.'^ Spealdng of Cciiiii,i; 2005. he says: •1 Uilnlc what happens ai-ound us is often more massive Uiaii w h a t we can interpret „. Tliis is my sense of die massive change diat has happened in Uiis d t y w h i d i we aie all part o f 1 wanted to lind an almost maUiemaUcal ;uid u n e n i o ü o n i U way to show tliis: to show Uie poweUessncss of Uic people, and Üie blind nature of die redevelopment.'^' T h e mles and order he imposes on each piece only seive to reinforce Uie sliifUng. u-aiisient nature of Uieir subject-matter. While they might be made w l d i reference to ollidai maps and pardcular places, Uiose reference poinLs are Uiemselves unstable and
impermanent "non-sites', compaiableto Robert SmiUisoii's noUon o f r u i n s in revei'se".''^ Fai* from seeking to olTer an auUioritaUve docunienUitlon of Uie urban condiUon. Uiis s-ysteniaUc body of work instead records its provlslonality and, in doing so, quesUons w h y it is happening w h o is in conuol and w h o profits?
In 1976. quoUng Uieir artist namesake, BriUsh architects Alison a n d Peter SmiUison wrote: 'A building under assembly is a ruin in revei-se: at certain Umes of a buildfiig's consducUon. die anUcipatoiy pleasure of ruins is made miuiifest.'^" In die short hisU3i-y of its consu-ucUon and subsequent demoliUon, Uie fate ofAi's final building in China, his o w n
s l u ü i ü complex in Shangliai (lig. 29), draws dic Ü i i c a d s olTiis worie into a curious conllucncc.
By 2Ü0S, w l i e n Üie commission arrived. M had already announced his inicnliun lo w i d i d r a w l i o m ardiiteciure. W h e n he began Lo engage in lu he must have envisioned die pusslbiliiy of inidadng s o d a l diange by means ofbuilding, I iowever. his urban observaUons led lo die realisadon i l i a i no mauer how producdve he miglu be. his buildings ullimalely counled for liltle, w h i l e w i d i i n his o w n village diey had u n w i i ü n g l y coiiuibuled lo die area's u n c e n a i n l y
Meanwhile his celebraied collaboradon w i d i l-ler/.og & de M e m o n o n die design o f U i e 'Bird's Nesi' suidium dig. 2S) for die 2008 Beijing Olympics also ended in disappoinimeni, not as aconsequence of its bold entwining of fomi. su-uciure and space, but because iUs co-opdngby die auUioriUcs negated Its designers' iniendon dial il should act as a 'Trojan horse','' w h i c h •could really have a chance to become a place represeiiUng civil s o d e t y a place in w l i i d i cidzens can celebrate'," Ai Uicrefure inidally refused w h e n die dty of Shanghai approadied
h i m to eonsniict a new studio and galleiy complex, apparendy as a cultural catalyst, only lo be eventually persuaded by die endiuslasm and jiersevei-ance of Uie young oflicial involved.
W i d i lis bride and concrete frame c o n s u u c d o n and asymmeuic pitched roof enclosing a courtyard, die resuhing building brlelly represenled die denouement of the series Ai had developed in Caochangdi. Yet only monUis afu;r its compledon In 2010, die same audioddes diat had insdgatcd Us c o n s u u c d o n -summarily demolished i l on die pretext d i a l it
Fic- 28 National Stadium, Boijing, 2002-08
lacked proper permits; aldiough, by d i a l poini, Ai's increasingly dissident suitus made d e a r Uiat dlis w a s a n a c l intended to demonsUale a u d i o r i i / s ability to subdue dissen Ung voices dii-ougli physical means. T h e aitlsl's resiionse was typically jihlegmadc Upon hearing of Uic demoliUon order, he sent die dUzens of C h i n a an open InviUitloii to attend a river-aab feast Uierc, lo celebrate die building's compledon. As w i U i die 5.000 porcelain crabs o f H e X i e (2011; caL IS), Uie feast's Uieme punned on Uie use of Uie w o i d foi' river crab as eupliemisdc iniernei
slang for censorship, due to iLs similarity to licxié, meaning'hannonious', itself a reference lo Uie Cliinese C o m m u n i s t P a i i / s g o a l of consuucUiig a 'harmonious socieiy". AlUiough house arrest p i e d u d e d Ai's parUdpaUon in Uie evenu its attendance by liundi'eds o f p e o p l e from across Uie c o u n u y solidified Uie Shanghai studio's brief physical presence w l U i i n Uie collecUve memoiy. Alongside. SouL'cmr from S"/iuiJg/iiii (2012: caL 19) olïei-s material evidence. Mere, concrele and brick rubble recovered from die site is set against a Umber bed-frame of Uie Qi.ng
Dynasty a juxuiposiUon Uiat seives to place die w o r k w i d i i n die same criUcal framework as oUier pieces uUlising historical liragmenui. Throuj;Ji Uiese action-s, Ai posiUons Uie studio, like China's iconic 'nail houses', as a symbol of polhical resisuince. translated dirough ai'l.
T h e Uieme of njin and m i n a d o n is a potent image w i d i i n Ai's work. SomeUmes it is niyUiic. as in Uie consunjcted archaeology of Uie Neolidiic Pottery Museum (2007; fig. 50), [Jai'l o f h l s Ai Qi.ng Cultural Pai k projecL or Uie supposedly re-e.\cavaied foundadons of previous pavilions
Fic, 29 Shanghai Studio, Malu Town, Jiading district, eastorn porsptictlvo, 2010
in his collabomiive design for Üie Seipenline Pavilion (2012) in London. wiUn ardiltecis l ler/.og & d e Meuron. AL odier dmes, as in Shanglial. iL becomes siai-kly real, a physical embodiment of memoiy, loss and fuUlity Uiat Lalces on deep social, polidcal and cultural resonances. Nowhere does diis happen w i U i grealer power or poignancy Uian in Uiosc pieces of w o r k Uirough w h i d l Ai confroiiLed and exposed Uie u agedy of Uie 2008 S i d i u a n eai'Uiquake (fig. 50). Willie he may have abandoned die pracdce of aiddLecture, ihese malee dear' his acute awaieness of its power to embody and a i d q u e s o d a l a n d poliucal sUTicLuies and Uio consequences of Uieii-comipUoEi. Asking h i m s e l f l - l o w do I express s u d i a historic and disasdous eveni simply and dirocUy?'" he salvaged steel reinforcing bar debar) from collapsed s d i o o l buildings a a o s s Uie region, Uie v e i y malerial whose misuse Uie dUzens" invesUgadon he set up asserts to have been die prindpal reason w h y so many diUdien lost Uieir lives in Uie disaster. For Uie elegiac noor-su-ucluieSlrafg/u (2008-12; caL 15) he had tonnes of Uiis twisted, mangled bai* laboriously stedghiened and stadeed Into an eei ie. fissured landscape (see figs 51,33). Newly readymade, as if pre-empdng consuucUon, diese bars seem to coUecdvely represent a culture of denial. unUI Uie accompanyltig lisLof 5,000 names Uansfomis each one Inlo a memorial for a lost diild.
A sublime piece, lis dlsUllaUon of a complex ;uid painstaking process of invesUgaUon, w h i d i overcame die resislance of a hosiile regime lo uiiearUi Uie UaiUi a b o u l Uie Uagedy and die IdenUUes of Its vlcUms, posidons R as a form of •social sculptme". T h i s U;rni, coined by losopli Bcuys. souglit to name a lype of art pracdce d i a l takes place in Uie s o d a l reahn. w h i d i requiies social engagement for its compledon
;i[id w h i c h seeks lu U-onslbim sociely iliiough llio a e a ü v e acl. Straighl uses llie malerial ul" cunsu uciioii direcdy as die medium Ibr sucli a prucess, but equally Ai's cuiaUou of die w o i k of odier aichitecLs could also be seen as a kind of social sculpture, in a coiuiuy where uncensored dialogue and debate is so limited. 'Ordos 100' (2ÜÜS: fig. 52). die project my pracdce took part in. revealed die jutisi as an engaging au teut I-lying in from every conUneni to spend d m e together i n die deserts of Inner Mongolia, die une hundred ;uchitecls felt remlnisceniof die 1,001 C h i n e s e c i d z e n s A i invited to visit lüLssel in Germany as part of Fairytak' (2007: figs 55,56), his insuilladon for Docunienta 12. Wliile we were ostensibly diere lo design ostcntadous 1,000 m"-villas as part of a cultural quarter for a new city i l became dear d i a l for Ai a l least, die sim])le acl of meeUngand lalklngwas die real focus uf die projecL T h e villas remain unbuilt but die internadonal network of collaburadon d i a l emerged represents an ongoing cultural legacy.
Ueyund architecture's role ;us a subject ofAi's work it provides die conie.'ct w i d i i n w h i d i he curates his an. As die Royal Academy cxliibidon demonsuates. Ai is intensely aware of die qualities and chaiactei' of die spaces in w h i d l he is working and die elVeci o f die placement of his w o r k s w i d i i n diem, making tangible for die viewer die latent orders, symmeUies, scales and histories diiougli w h i d i diey respond lo one anodier. In die Wohl C e n d a l Hall die placement of die intertwined bicydes onHcycle C/iuntlWier (2015: caL 46) bencadi die dome draws dils r e p r e s e n u ü o n of die heavens d o w n lo die viewer while endosing a space Uiat remains unreachable. T h e next galleiy, lined In Ai's Golden A.i;e wallpaper (2014; caL 44). seems to remember die long-forgotten d o m e s d d t y of Burlington I louse, w i t h the dassical enfilade of die building's ])lan esuiblishlngdie a d m disposidun of each subsequent piece. OuLslde, the gi'ove of fabricated Umber trees dial appear lo have taken root in die Annenberg Courtyard (caL 1) e d i o e s bodi die house's former grounds and die gardens
uf Chinese culture, creadng In their conslrucled indicacy a poedc space of rellecdon on die relationship beiween tilings.
Ai Q i n g r a v s (1940) One tree, another tree. Each standi7}galone and ered. The wind and air Tell their distance apart. But beneath the cover of earth Their roois reach out And al depths that cannot be seen The rools of the Irees intertivinc.
Like die uees in his fadier's poem, die many facets of Ai Welwei's work and diouglil intertwine lo form a complex whole, cridcally engaging an ever more complex w o r l d while rem;uning fimily grounded in dieconUngendes of material, making and die pa r d c u la r iüe s of place. '1 actually never really separate diose diings: aru ai diiieciure. design or even cuiadng' he says 'lo me diey aie just dllTerenl angles or dilTereni ways to ralk aboul die same diings.''" Ai's buildings ar e a testament to the acuity of die ai'iisi's m i n d and eye. In turn, ai'diilecture's spadal. malerial presence and die piocesses of its producdon maintain a sustained infiuence u p o n his aru 'Ardiitecture can also be silent.' he says, yet experience tells us, die viewers, diat it remains deeply rooted in w h o he is and w h a t he does.
% Fic- 32 Ai Waiwoi, Ordoo IQO, 2011. Pino wood, 15.11 X 13.57 « 0.8 m
Fic- 33 Salvagod robar at L o a RiehC Studio, Boijing, s o n
