2014 James Templeton Kelley Prize for Best M.Arch II Thesis, Harvard GSD

Link to video

https://vimeo.com/111176173

Salvaged Stadium

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?

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.  As an olympic stadium, this design appears to be serving the need as a building for one time blossom, a national icon, a showing off of national power and the flourishing lead by the central government. But at the same time, it also hides a slippery future. It’s a story about how did an olympic stadium got salvaged. But maybe in the end you will found out, this is more than a simple salvation.

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.