2011 China Prize
Materials, Structure, and Space

My original intent was to explore tectonics in Byzantine architecture to understand its material-structure-space relationship. In my original plan, I chose Italy, Turkey, and Syria as destinations. However, due to the changing international political situations, my original plan was thwarted, and in the process of applying for a visa, I also learned it was difficult for Chinese mainland citizens to apply for a trip covering both Asia and Europe.

In order to keep the original intent, and to make the travel plan more practical, I adjusted some of my destinations in my travel plan. I have retained the Byzantine architecture in Italy but have added the work of modern architects in Switzerland and Finland instead of ancient architecture in Turkey. By comparing modern architecture and ancient architecture, I hope to achieve a more comprehensive understanding about the material-structure-space relationship in two periods of time.

Final Statement

Thirty-five days of travel has broadened both my eye and my mind. Exploring works from different architects and different historical ages enables me to think about the material-structure-space relationship in a more comprehensive way. Before my travel, I used to learn excellent architecture just from books or websites. This travel has given me a chance to go into the buildings and to experience the excellency of space with my body. And I believe such onsite architectural experience is so important to every architect.

Buildings in Image vs. Buildings in Live Experience

We always feel pity when we try to capture a wide boundless space within a limited frame of camera. When I was standing on the boundless flat surface of a frozen lake in the middle of Finland, all I could see was the line where the sky and the surface of the icy lake met, even mountains seemed only like several remote ink dots scattered far away. A sense of true wideness and horizontal freedom could be sensed: this wideness was not limited to one single direction (like looking into a picture), it overwhelmed you from all directions. Moreover, the sense of wideness was not perceived only through eyes. It is with distant echo, the fierce wind, and the thick heavy snow together that constitute this spatial atmosphere of wideness.

I tried hard to capture this sense of wide space with my camera. However, when I came back in front of my little computer screen, I was very disappointed. The photos could not generate any sense of the impressive wideness of such space, due to the size of the frame and limitation of the camera. Within the small frame of an image, space lost its “power.” I could not feel my respect and obsession with nature in front of a tiny screen, but I did feel it deeply when I was on the lake!

Perhaps many people would appreciate that we are living in an era in which we can enjoy worldwide sceneries without stepping out of our rooms. But I insist that images cannot replace true space. Images can show the color, the light, the shape, the texture of a building, but they cannot show the real dimension of a space. This is because our body is absent in this image of space. The scale can be converted.

Besides, it is known to us all that our senses toward space not only come from our eyes. When we are walking in a space, we might hear the sound of our heels hitting the marble or carpet flooring, different sounds may imply different levels of privacy; we might notice the echo of our sound, having a feeling of different sizes of the space; we might also hear the sound of spring in the exterior garden while we stay inside the room; our skin can sense the humidity of the space or the flow of fresh air; our hands can remember coldness or softness of a door handle; our noses can also smell the flowers from the courtyard . . . it is all these senses together with visual sense that build the quality of a space.

The image era is not an excuse for us to judge a space without going into it with our body. The essence of the space lies in our bodies, in how our bodies feel the dimension and evoke all the senses.