Studies In The Contemporary Experimental Architecture In China

This paper tries to analyze the critical and reflective phenomena in the recent architecture under the influence of Western modern architectural thinking and Chinese experimental arts. It introduces the start and development of experimental architecture in a domain alienated from traditional architecture discourses.After reviewing the emergence of contemporary experimental architecture in China, this paper concludes some fundamental characteristics of experimental architecture, namely avant-garde, critical, acentric and open-ended.These characteristics are decided by both the innate characters of experimentality and the context of its emergence: due to a long-term doubt and criticism of an aesthetics of ideology, it is in the form of avant-garde; At the same time, it is critical in the sense that it makes a post-modern criticism towards the commercialism and symbolism that dominate current pop society. In a long run, experimentality lies only in a few design practices and will not appeared in mainstream architectural discourse, this it is acentric; and the uncertainty of experimentality itself gives it a character of openness.In the following sections, this paper introduces the main theoretical outcomes of the experimental architecture, including the proposals regarding the ontology of architecture, new thoughts on urbanism, and the developments in the concept of architecture. Cases studies are used to explain the application of the theoretical bases of experimental architecture in actual design methodologies. Through the analyses of the works of Yong-ho Zhang, Jia-kun Liu and Shu Wang, this paper tries to summarise the practical outcomes of the explorations of experimental architecture.However, there are fundamental problems and deficiency between the theoretical layer of contemporary Chinese experimental architecture and its practical layer. Experimentality is a product of market and relies upon capitals, by it acts as a criticism toward commercialism. The theories of experimental architecture tries to find a method to make itself self-evident, while in a context without sufficient criticism, architectural language itself does not have complete criticality. Due to its reliance upon architecture, experimental architecture lacks sociality, which leads to an increase of its acentric characteristics; on the other hand, the lack of new architectural technology fundamentally limits its development as an architectural avant-garde.After a complete analyses, introduction, and re-analyses of contemporary Chinese experimental architecture, the last section of this paper gives a account of the necessity of the change and development of experimentality in an ever-changing context, and its further development in the establishment of social institution and basic research objectives in order to supplement its lack of sociality. From the perspectives of design strategy and creative methodology, this paper summarises how the study of experimental architecture could contribute to our future design process. Lastly, this paper tries to give some foresight and suggestions on the future development of architecture that exceeds the limitation of the concept of contemporary Chinese criticality.