Backpacking through China

Eva Lo

This year, Liu Jiakun received the Pritzker Prize for his merits to world architecture. He is the first Chinese architect in 13 years to receive this recognition, the last being Wang Shu, awarded in 2012. Where Wang Shu of Amateur Studio was a pioneer in the Chinese architectural world at that time, Liu Jiakun marks the recognition of a new generation of Chinese architects who realise their designs with an accomplished and unique vision.

During the 2008 Olympics, everything was about imitating and impressing the West, with an open playing field for European and American architects. After Xi Jinping assumed the People’s Republic’s most powerful position in 2012, major changes took place. The importance of the Chinese own internal market evolved enormously and this, among other things, stimulated interest in autochtone cultural traditions. Local architects developed a unique design methodology and proposed answers to current questions of how to continue and merge Chinese architecture, history and culture with its contemporary ultramodern society in challenging ways.

This study tip aims to showcase the country’s enormous cultural richness and diversity, across more than 2,000 km through China. The trip starts in the capital Beijing, a city that captures the imagination and where historical geomancy, religion and politics once drove architecture. Here we visit both the Forbidden City, the epitome of Chinese traditional architecture, and contemporary buildings such as Herzog & de Meuron’s Bird’s Nest, and the Red Brick Art Gallery.

By night train, we travel south to Shanghai, a metropolis with a whopping 25 million inhabitants. We explore the city by bike, visiting its historic Art Deco architecture, contemporary icons, industrial buildings and contemporary projects by Atelier Deshaus, Neri & Hu, Jean Nouvel and Vector Architects, among others.

The Yangtze River Delta is home to the historical gems Suzhou and Hangzhou. An old Chinese proverb says: “Above there is heaven, on earth there is Suzhou and Hangzhou”. In Suzhou, Chinese-American I.M. Pei designed the magnificent Suzhou Museum, where traditional formal language and modernism dialogue. We also visit the historic Kiln sites by Liu Jiakun, which showcase a very different approach. One of the UNESCO – Classical Gardens of Suzhou is also on the programme.

An hour and a half away by express train is Hangzhou, home of Amateur Studio. The Amateur Studio-designed National Archives opened there in 2022. The vast complex is a sampling of architectural details and materials, surrounding a magnificent contemporary Chinese garden. The China Academy of Art has two campuses in the city designed by Amateur Studio and Atelier FCJZ. The site also features buildings by Kengo Kuma and Alvaro Siza. We also visit the newly transformed steel factory there, designed by Liu Jiakun.

Porcelain is a Chinese invention, so a stop in Jingdezhen, the porcelain capital, cannot be missed. The Imperial Kiln Museum of Zhu Pei opened in 2020 and illustrates the more than 1,700-year-old history of precious craft. Next, we head towards the arts again, more specifically to the Pearl River Delta and the city of Shenzhen. Here, both Li Xiaodong and O-office respond to the city’s exponential growth with two unique vertical schools. Through urban acupuncture, old neighbourhoods are given new life in historic downtown Nantou, with unique interventions by Urbanus, Neri & Hu, MVRDV and FCJZ.

The final stop of the trip is Hong Kong, with yet another completely different urban landscape, shaped by its geographical and political borders. There, we visit two absolute masterpieces by Herzog & Demeuron, the museum and cultural hub Tai Kwun and the imposing M+ Museum.

Comfort is modest and sustainable means of transport have been chosen: night train, high-speed train, ferry, metro and bicycle. International flights are not included in the travel package, we encourage travellers to extend their journey in China. Travellers carry their luggage from place to place and the group stays in hostels with shared sanitary facilities. Good fitness is a must.

Tour guides: Eva Lo en Ziou Gao