Recent Harvard Graduate School of Design graduate Yaohua Wang finished his M.Arch program on a high note by winning the 2014 James Templeton Kelley Prize for Best M.Arch II Thesis for his project, "Salvaged Stadium". Although Wang doesn't win an award every single time for his projects, his intricate ideas have spurred some debate in the past. — bustler.net
Salvaged Stadium explores the notion of finding architecture's "hidden dimension". In the introduction, Yaohua Wang writes:
"Let’s begin with a joke. A man went into a restaurant, and he asked the waitress; 'Can I have a coffee without milk, please.' The waitress answers: 'Sorry we don’t have milk today, can I give you a coffee without cream.' For me, this is a very interesting moment. It reveals that what you don’t get is also defining what you get, the hidden dimension behind the appearance. How could architecture gain this hidden dimension, beyond the physical form?"
Learn more about Salvaged Stadium on Bustler. You can also watch the animated story below.
8 Comments
I don't know that I necessarily understand the project any better after going to Bustler - I've critiqued students int he past who designed stadiums for big events that were intended to be dismantled and reused in other ways later. Is this a similar proposal?
But I do love this story, from the link: There is an old Chinese phrase. Which means 'be fish on somebody’s chopping block'. It is using to describe a passive situation you found yourself in. Unfortunately, in front of the people with real power, we architects often found ourselves in this kind of situation. So when you are just a fish, you better be a little bit slippery. Be aware of your situation, and then find a way to make a comeback.
I wish he would have explained the issue with migrant workers in china - if I didn't know about the problem of hukou (government not allowing rural families who migrate to cities to register as residents of the cities - and send their kids to schools there) it would have seemed odd that he included this program. there's definitely some social commentary in this project - but even though the school program is probably really close to his heart - it seems like the weakest and most implausible part of the project. It shows a lack of understanding of the reality of construction budgets and just how much money nonprofit schools typically have to work with - and also a lack of understanding (or even commentary) of how schools function.
Otherwise - I think the forms and interior spaces are pretty interesting - better than some of his other projects...
Exactly what did he "repurpose" the stadium for, other than his thesis project?
This struck me as a political statement more than an architectural project. That can be a useful thing to do. Looking at his other works it looks like a reasonable attempt to address possible criticism that his previous projects lacked consideration of relevant social or practical factors.
In this case though I'd say it's a non-architectural problem: migrant workers' children lack good education because the local governments won't bear the costs of educating those children. Lack of buildings is not the problem - lack of teachers, books, and official support is.
I'd also question whether the potential conflict between users (sports fans / concertgoers / students) during an event is acceptable. It wasn't clear to me how that was handled.
As to the presentation, the dialogue / cartoon format is entertaining. But it makes it hard to figure out what is actually proposed. It seems he is building a school next to the stadium. Is it an existing stadium, or being built new with a school attached under one side? I wish the presentation included a plan. Architects are a tough audience for this sort of stuff because we actually want to see the proposed building.
Assuming Mr. Wang reads these comments - congratulations! Whether this project succeeded depends on what you were aiming for. I'm not sure it makes sense as a building. But as a critical statement about municipal priorities - I get it. Now that school is done you can begin the real work of deciding how to approach these problems. Good luck.
^I realized the plans are posted on Bustler - couldn't open them earlier when I wrote. But they don't give a lot of information about what's going on. I have to admit I'm still confused.
Is this an actual stadium being repurposed? Where is it? Or is this a proposed design for a stadium including plans for repurposing later? What exactly exists before the school is added.
I'm the sort of person who rushes to post before I've read things thoroghly, but I'm making a pretty good effort here and still coming up short. Hope someone can offer some insight.
Here is what Bustler says he says (italics mine): "Here I’m trying to offer an option. This option unfolds through a narrative, which get presented in the form of a comic story. This story is a case study situated in China's hyper-development and top-heavy political climate. It’s a story happened in a fictional Chinese city. The focus of this story is an olympic stadium."
Therefore, I deduce it is a fictional stadium being in a fictional city.
And that, therefore, it would be a case of a fictional repurposing of a fictional stadium design.
And possibly with a fictional political purpose. Is it not rather strange that the crème de la crème of American establishment -within the top heavy echelon of US academic and governmental institutions- would be finding added value in a (/n especially) Chinese/ Chinese originating individual (I am assuming that he is) passing off suggested criticisms of China via top-heavy political climate and so on?
Mono purpose stadiums present the same problems -within different contexts- everywhere. And many countries - whether seen to be despotic or democratic, top heavy or otherwise judged (by whom and how?)- fall prey to the sense of razzmatazz and want to display how great they and their cities are. Therefore, making associations between the purpose of building iconic buildings that fall out of use very quickly and the idiosyncratic nature of one country or another seems to be a matter of deliberated incontigency.
Thanks Tammuz, I was looking too hard in the presentation boards and missed that!
I agree in a way. I think it's important for students to be aware of the political background of the works they admire or propose - but this particular criticism seems forced. The effort to tie two issues together (migrant schools in China + underutilized showpiece stadiums) confuses an issue specific to China with one that applies worldwide. Was that the student's intent - or the instructor's?
I get a sense of an attempt to address two unrelated viewpoints in one project. The biggest challenge with making architectural statements is that it's easy for the underlying reasoning to go unquestioned - the architecture being a distraction from the thinking.
To me, the issue of stadium architecture goes beyond whether they are underutilized buildings to whether they really are an appropriate use of public funds. Plenty examples exist of American cities subsidizing new stadiums which primarily benefit wealthy team owners and franchises. The stadiums get used frequently - but they're not really a public amenity.
As an aside - there seems to be a strong influence by the thesis adviser on the form of this building.
I really do rather enjoy this project. I love the fish story, the story seems to apply to migrants, stadium, architect, charitable organization and city. Having seen posts before on this site, about the state of existing facilities from the Beijing Olympics, it seems only appropriate to consider this project as a possibility. Also, from my limited recollection, it was my understanding, that while the State/Party are what makes things tick in China, local communities and cities operate outside of the Party strictures, and are many times corrupt, local fiefdoms. It's also been my understanding that minority, and migrants are rather invisible, and rather slippery constituencies. And, charities it would seem, if they had enough funds, could pay off local officials,not suffer the wrath of Party officials, re-use a stadium that had one purpose alone, and is no longer needed, or wanted by the locals.
It works for me.
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