National Treasure Artist

Chapter 212 China Pavilion (for Subscription)

It is about 1000 kilometers from Chicago to Beijing, and the flight by plane takes nearly thirteen hours.

It was already dark when Gongtong and his party arrived in the capital, around eight o'clock in the evening.

"Fatty, you send Banxia and Qianhe to Shuimu University before going back."

"Yazhi and I have to go to a meeting."

At the Capital Airport, Bai Gongtong patted Su Mu on the shoulder and instructed.

He seemed to be in a hurry, and he looked at his watch several times in the time it took to speak a few words.

After the words fell, Banxia whispered another three or two words of love in Banxia's ear, and then turned around and left quickly with Kurokawa Masayuki.

The two were still wearing suits, and each held a briefcase in their hands.

After getting into the black car that had been waiting outside the airport for a long time, the car started and drove away immediately.

Stopping in front of the government office building of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in Haiding District, Beijing, a young girl who looked like a secretary kept looking anxiously at the building.

"Designer Bai, you are here."

As soon as the car door opened, the girl rushed up to meet her, and said in her mouth: "Mr. Chen and the others have been waiting for a long time."

"You come with me."

In the corridor of the office building, the footsteps of a group of three people sounded a little hurried.

They stopped in front of the conference room at the end of the corridor.

'Boom dong dong'

First there were three knocks on the door, and almost simultaneously there was a response from inside the room.

The door was opened, only to see about 40 to [-] people sitting in the room, all of them kept quiet, and when they saw the three people entering, their eyes flocked to each other.

"Designer Bai, looking forward to day and night can be regarded as looking forward to you."

Sitting in the front row, a middle-aged man with a square face and a sense of majesty stood up first and greeted Davidia Davidson.

Stretching out his hand, with a smile on his face, he said in a deep voice.

"Minister Chen, I've kept you waiting for a long time. The flight is a bit late. I'll come here as soon as I get off the plane."

Bai Gongtong shook Minister Chen's hand, and explained something with a trace of apology.

The middle-aged man in front of him is the minister of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China. It can be said that he is in charge of designers of all sizes in the country. There are really not many people who can make this boss wait.

"No, it's because of your hard work. You made a special trip here before you could get some rest from the ten-hour plane."

Minister Chen seemed to understand.

"President Xue, long time no see."

Old Xue also came over at this time, and Bai Gongtong stretched out his hand and shouted respectfully.

"Designer Bai, you have made a lot of noise when you go back to America."

Old Xue was in good spirits, with a ruddy complexion, and his eyes were full of surprise when he looked at Bai Gongtong.

"Let me introduce to you, this is Old Wu. When you called me in October, we were about to make a decision to use Old Wu's plan as the selected plan."

"At first I was still hesitant. It was Lao Wu who stopped me after hearing that you were going to bid, saying that I must wait for your work to be completed before giving an answer."

There was an older man standing beside Mr. Xue, President Xue introduced.

"Old Wu, I told you to wait."

Bai Gongtong bowed slightly, and reached out to hold Elder Wu's palm.

Mr. Wu, 81 years old, is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and is the oldest designer of the generation.

He is not tall and slightly fat, and his small eyes are always smiling.

"No, I still have to look at your work."

Old Wu replied softly.

After a few simple greetings, Minister Chen, Chairman Xue and Mr. Wu sat back in their seats and handed over the podium in the conference room to Bai Gongtong.

Kurokawa Masayuki opened the briefcase he was carrying, took out a laptop inside and quickly connected it to the data port of the projection.

After everything was done, Masayuki Kurokawa looked at Bai Gongtong in front of the podium and nodded slightly.

"The flight has been delayed a bit, leaders and seniors have been waiting for a long time."

Bai Gongtong glanced at the people sitting in the conference room, paused, and then opened his mouth, "What is modern architecture?"

"Is it non-local? Is it reinforced concrete? Just industrial and cold?"

"I think my answer is no."

"The theme of the Barcelona Expo this time is world art, so what is Chinese art and culture, and how to express it in an appropriate form in the contemporary era, this is my main consideration this time."

Bai Gongtong held the podium with her hands, and her deep voice echoed in the conference room.

"In China, in the thousands of years of history, people are accustomed to enclosed spaces, whether it is a courtyard in the south or a courtyard in the north."

"An independent and complete local space creates a sense of security and belonging."

"In my design of the China Pavilion, the courtyard is the core, and I want to explore contemporary Chinese courtyards and architectural forms."

Gongtong paused slightly again, and said in a deep voice: "If there is anything wrong, I hope all the seniors will correct it in time!"

After the brief beginning, Bai Gongtong made a gesture to Masayuki Kurokawa.

The latter nodded and clicked on the video animation in the computer, which was displayed on the projection screen in front of him.

In the conference room, the ministers of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Mr. Xue, Mr. Wu, as well as experts and judges all stared at the animation.

They were really curious about what kind of answer this young man who had stirred up the whole of America would give.

The picture slowly unfolded, and a four-meter-high blue brick wall appeared, which seemed to enclose the world.

The Chinese courtyard pays attention to the four-sided enclosure, the gas is stored in the middle, and the breath goes straight to the universe, and the pursuit of "harmony between man and nature" is the spirit of the Chinese courtyard.

People often say that there is no courtyard without walls, and there is no gas storage without enclosure. The wall determines the scope of the courtyard and separates the inside and outside.

The angle of view keeps getting closer, stepping into the courtyard gate, entering the gatehouse, passing through the screen wall, and finally reaching the courtyard
After a series of transitions, only one step is taken, and the whole courtyard is displayed in the eyes of everyone.

The pupils of all the leaders and designers suddenly shrank, took a deep breath, and continued to look at the changes in the screen.

The courtyard is not big, and its style seems to be that of Jiangnan courtyard gardens. The techniques and culture it uses belong to that land, but upon closer inspection, it is clearly not. It seems that it has been inherited, and it does not belong to the past but belongs to the modern age.

In the center of the garden is a shallow waterscape, with a faint central axis in the waterscape. The corridor on the left leads the viewer forward. The right side is the exterior scene with small bridges, rocks, trees and shrubs. leading to the front
The animation continues to advance, and it can be seen that whether it is the 81-year-old Mr. Wu in the room, or the middle-aged people in their thirties and forties, the eyes are getting bigger and bigger, and the eyes are getting bigger and bigger.

Stepping on the corridor, the corridor winds and arranges works of art belonging to China in suitable places. Looking out from the corridor, the separated pillars seem to be photo frames that happen to frame a picturesque scene.

But when walking from the exterior, you pass by trees, rocks, sky, and land.
A sand and a world, they seem to naturally reveal the culture that belongs to China, and you can tell that it belongs to China just by looking at it.

"Whether it is a promenade or other buildings"

Old Wu's face was serious, but his eyes were extraordinarily sharp: "It's not just copying what our ancestors have."

"It is to abandon the things, elements and even aesthetics that people don't need in the contemporary era, retain its core and connotation, and then reshape and express it with modern habits, craftsmanship and new aesthetics."

"The whole courtyard naturally contains a kind of Chinese cultural heritage"

The picture continues, and the two roads reach the end together. It is a two-story building that exists as the main exhibition hall.

Covered by a gabled roof, the building appears to be growing out of the earth, but more like hovering above it.

Its front is between the window sill and the ceiling. It is a large glass with a metal window frame, and the contrast between reality and reality is very strong.

The moment this building was drawn into everyone's eyes, everyone's eyes widened for the first time, and they all held their breaths.

It seems alive, primordial, archetypal, a texture beyond time.

Go inside the building.

Bai Gongtong began to show everyone his ingenious grasp of natural light, as if the light of nature was at his disposal.

The interior space is full of vitality, the light flows on the east, south and west sides of the hall, and the brightest part of the light falls from the skylight all the way to the side of the stairs of the building.

The exhibition halls on the east, west, and north sides, which are almost enclosed and have special purposes, are darker in comparison.
"This should be a modern form of Chinese residential architecture."

In the conference room, a middle-aged woman muttered to herself.

"Designer Bai has a deep understanding of Chinese culture. This courtyard, this building, seems to have something that belongs to our ancestors."

A middle-aged man wearing glasses nodded and followed.

"I don't understand, I don't understand."

Old Wu frowned, and said in a deep voice, "What is the core of its culture?"

When the animation ended, everyone looked at Bai Gongtong in unison.

(End of this chapter)