In a presentation during this afternoon's ASLA/IFLA General Session, and during an exclusive interview with LAND Online, Kongjian Yu, International ASLA, said China must turn away from what is often perceived as traditional forms of landscape in the country--most notably show gardens and large monument plazas--as well as Westernized visions of urbanization, and discover its own relationship with the land in order to restore the country's environment, and manage its explosive growth in a sustainable way. In both his presentation and the interview, Yu bemoaned the trend in China to level culturally significant landscapes and cities and replace them with what he termed as "monuments" and inappropriate pieces of western architecture. He was particularly critical of Herzog & de Meuron's Beijing National Stadium, commonly known as "the bird's nest," for its excessive use of steel, saying the structure uses 70 percent more steel than a typical stadium. However, Yu noted that aspirations of city mayors in China--who largely control development in the country--were often to blame for Western excesses there. According to Yu, projects, and in particular landscape architecture projects, that do not mimic what decision makers view as Western techniques, or do not make a grand statement, are most often not chosen during bidding and competitions. Yu encouraged Western landscape architects who believe in producing sustainable work to educate Chinese decision makers on the need for a new vernacular in the country, as he has struggled to do. He added that American landscape architects in particular, should be upfront about the mistakes the U.S. has made with regards to sprawl, noting that the Chinese too often have an idealized view of Western planning.
Related Categories: ASLA Annual Meeting/IFLA World Congress