Berlin's Aedes Architecture Forum will mark the beginning of its 35th Anniversary Program by continuing its focus on Asia and China. With the architect Zhang KeofZAO/standardarchitecture from Beijing, Aedes presents one of the most promising protagonists of a young group of Chinese architects and urban planners with the exhibition 营造 Contemplating Basics. This follows on from the 2001 exhibition TU-MU, in which Aedes presented for the first time, and with global success, the first generation of independent architects in China. At that time, the architects and artists introduced in the exhibition - Yung Ho Chang, Liu Jiarkun, Ai Wei Wei, Wang Shu, Lu Wenyu - were fully unknown in the West, while some have since gone on to become Pritzker Prize winners or internationally renowned artists.
The exhibition 营造 Contemplating Basics shows the methodology and work of ZAO/standardarchitecture, founded in 2001 by the architect Zhang Ke in Beijing. The office represents the protagonists of contemporary but localised architecture in and around China. The variety of projects includes exposed small-scale interventions and large museums in the urban context as well as sensitively integrated buildings for tourism in landscape settings of Tibet. With reference to the specific context, the office seeks local solutions, connecting traditional culture and contemporary means – the pioneering architecture acts as an agent between the desire for the modern and respect for local values.
