This exhibition at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles CA, featured the the work of Steven Holl Architects presented six urban projects in China, designed with particular focus on shaping public space, natural green strategies, hybrid programs, structure and light.
Included were three built works: Linked Hybrid in Beijing, Vanke Center/Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen, and Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, as well as three then yet to be built works: Porosity Plan in Dongguan, Eco-City in Tianjin, and the Qingdao Culture and Art Center. Concept watercolors of each building were on view along with project models and construction documents. Also featured were short videos of the built works. The exhibition was arranged chronologically from 2002-2013 through the rooms of the Schindler House, making physical Holl’s journey through a decade of thinking.
Holl’s office has taken on work of increasing complexity in China. His designs embrace pressing issues dealing with infrastructure, urban density and overpopulation. The projects featured in this exhibition offered a study of contrasting and nested scales that acknowledge the city-dweller’s ever-morphing perception of urban life – from micro to macro and back again.
