Originally part of an electric-rock band, Chinese architect Cao Pu began his architectural career doing stage design for his musical group. Today, his studio remains small with a focus on conversion and community revival projects and his designs demonstrate a talent for working within small spaces and low budgets. 

For this week's iteration of Small Studio Snaphshots, we talk with the musician-turned-architect about involving clients in his process, designing "in the gap," and architecture as a form of social work. 

How many people are in your practice?

It depends on the project. Most of the time, it is just me and 2 assistants in the studio. For some really small projects, I work by myself. Sometimes I tend to blur the line between the client and me—I like the client to be a part of the design team. We brainstorm together during the project and make the process as open as possible so that I can understand more clearly my clients’ need.

The flooring for the Vice Beijing office is recycled from Coachella festival staging.

Why were you originally motivated to start your own practice?

After I received my post-graduate degree, I formed an electric-rock band, which was my primary ‘job’ at that time. Meanwhile, I also got a proper job in Chinese architect Wang Hui’s studio. In order to have better visual effects for our band’s show, I did some stage design for the band and this might be my very first motive to start my own practice. After leaving Wang Hui’s studio, I started my own architecture practice. 

My first few projects were Modernsky office and Vice Beijing office. I got these two clients because of my music background. At the beginning I did my practice for fun, something that looks cool. However, now I believe that good design should be functional and convenient enough to use, the design should put the surrounded environment into consideration. Sometimes if necessary, the design should even be not as nice. That’s why design differs from artwork.

How do you involve the client in the design process? 

I just give my clients the basic rule, then everything will follow that. This is a little bit like “Jam” course in a jazz music gig.

I want to take one of my small projects for example: A couple had plans to turn a living unit into their own clothing design studio. They hired a number of construction workers to simultaneously remove unnecessary walls and unessential components of the space. However, they did not anticipate the problems that were caused by the architectural structure of the apartment. The ensuing issues led to a workspace that was not as regular as they originally expected. In coordinating with the couple, I arranged for the protruding shear wall piers and pipe shaft to be re-cut into a perfectly shaped rectangular space. After this, the couple worked with me together to finish the details. Sometimes, I just give my clients the basic rule, then everything will follow that. This is a little bit like “Jam” course in a jazz music gig. 

What hurdles have you come across?

Sometimes I am not only an architect but also a social worker

Some of the projects were ‘design in the gap’—small in size, bad surrounding environments, and low budget. Thus I always have to balance the situations. I think this is a big obstacle that most young architects today are facing. Right now, I am interested in old community revival projects, which are even more challenging. I not only have to think for the clients’ but also the neighbors around. The neighborhood should even be the priority, put into consideration before the design starts. Sometimes I am not only an architect but also a social worker. I have to communicate with the neighbors. For instance my ‘Humble Hostel’ project  is inside one of Beijing’s old hutong courtyards. In order to keep the neighborhood harmony, the design’s core was to give some space for public use. During the entire design and construction process I had to negotiate with all the neighbors around.

It is different from all the other design projects, thus I kept a visual diary during the practice. For my other top floor hidden bookshop project, I had to think about the public rooftop, which was shared by all the neighbors. Now I am working on some more public space projects, because the client is looking for more opportunities inside the same building.

Is scaling up a goal or would you like to maintain the size of your practice?

I’d like to keep working on small scale projects. Even if I have a bigger project, I tend to break it down into smaller units to solve the problem. The cold faceless city should be scaled down to the individual/human needs in order to become vivid. Small scale duplicable units are more functional to the public. In the future, I believe that the material will motivate the architectural revolution, which could not happen without small scale daily practice.

As an alternative to placing living arrangements in a series of closed off rooms, tent-like structures are distributed around the space. The lack of partition walls allows natural light to reach all areas.

What are the benefits of having your own practice? And staying small?

I would like to cooperate with more people—not only architects, but people from other fields including material technology engineers, computer engineers, scientists, artists, and/or musicians. So, I want to keep myself individual and free. As the Internet today is becoming so convenient, for me, the size of the studio is not important at all. Information and opportunities are more equal for every individual than ever before.