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Project Name: Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation Headquarter
Location: Beijing, China
Date Designed: -
Date Completed: -
Size: - sqm
Client: -
Programme: Institution
ABOUT People’s Architecture Office
Beijing-based People’s Architecture Office (PAO) / People’s Industrial Design Office (PIDO) was founded by He Zhe, James Shen and Zang Feng in 2010, and consists of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, engineers, product designers and urbanists. With the belief that design is for the masses the studio focuses on social impact through design. PAO is the first architecture practice in Asia certified as a B-Corporation and serves as a model for social entrepreneurship.
ABOUT Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation Headquarter
The 1100 sqm headquarters for the Leping Foundation is conceived with wellness in mind. The office houses the Leping Foundation, a non-profit organization known for social innovation and four of their investee companies that work in diverse fields – job training for migrant workers, agricultural research, preschool education, and microfinance. These distinct companies are tied together by a central activity loop of suspended vegetation mirrored by a running track underneath.
Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation Headquarter
Interview with SHEN James of People’s Architecture Office
Insights and Takeaways
1. ADVICE TO YOUNG ARCHITECTS?
I think young architects because we live in such uncertain times right now. I’m really concerned about people who are getting into the profession right now because it’s so unclear what we’re dealing with.
What are the implications to the built environment, the natural environment where people still want to live in cities where people not want to, So I think that is a very unstable situation, but I think also architects are trained. Architects should be trained. It’s something that is supposed to be in this profession the ability to deal with situations that are not clear. I think it’s a worrying time, but at the same time, architects have very strong and have the skills and the mindset to face something that is not well-defined, that’s unclear or uncertain.
China definitely played a strong role in that you look at a lot of these buildings, like the bird’s nest, for example it’s rarely used. It’s a sitting skeleton there without a use. That’s an example of something that’s not so flexing.
And no matter how you conceive of a project, it is uncertain I’m sure all of these buildings were thought of as buildings that would last for quite a while functioning a certain way. but today I think that is really hard to say, but in fact that is the reality. There’s nothing certain we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.
I think architecture can help us deal with that situation, but at the same time, provide us comfort to help us sort of appreciate, the current moment as well. To help us build relationships and to appreciate these experiences. I think we can do that. I think that the way we approach architecture Is not so typical.
I think it’s very difficult. I would say, I wouldn’t think that people should follow our path, but I think people should keep an open mind, on how you, how you approach design and architecture and I think of the way that we’ve approached our practice. I think we do have tools to deal with whatever comes next with this covert situation.
I’m really caught in the middle of a lot of uncertainty, there’s this kind of crazy political situation between the China and the US. I’m Chinese American, I’m literally sort of in between these places. COVID was serious in China, and now it’s not as much, but then as announced really serious in the US I have no idea what’s going to happen.
These are our times, uh, but I think the way that I I’m happy that the way that we approached our work for me feels like there’s a way for me to link that. Our past work with what could come up in the future. And I think there is, and it’s showing up, you know, we’ve been getting projects where people are interested in. like that hospital that was built in 10 days. before COVID we actually built a business school using the same system and we’ve just built another school, using that system. These approaches are approaches that are now extremely valued. People are much more aware of, and it’s relevant to what we have right now.
2. HOW DOES COVID AFFECT YOUR WORK?
I think the term social architecture is not something that’s I feel has been so commonly used. There’s the Venice Biennale a few years ago that the focus on this were social issues. I find in academia, I’ve taught at MIT and Harvard and, I feel like social issues that surround architecture are not dealt with in such a significant way and not in such a direct way, but I think now with COVID, it’s impossible to talk about architecture without thinking of social implications. That’s my sense it’s a little bit early, here in the States where we’re dealing with lots of the racial issues, and imagine being an architect that doesn’t have a way of talking about race and segregation and public health. Now these are issues that we don’t normally think are related to architecture, but if we think about cities and housees, why do people live in one place and not another, you start to also see cities are divided and it’s segregated through space. Our way of dealing with COVID is through space, right? What’s the solution? We need to have a base between us, but also who are the people that I can afford to have the space and who are the people who can’t afford to have space. This is a social issue, it’s an architectural issue and you can start to understand how portions of society can be excluded from the benefits of living in different places .Today we have more opportunity to talk about that dimension of architecture than before. It’s unfortunate that we have this situation of course but I hope that we’ll be able to talk about this in a more significant way.
3. BOOKS TO RECOMMEND?
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Interview Transcript
Q1: We know that People’s Architecture office’s motto is designing for the masses, what inspired you and how did this notion come about?
Architecture has powerful ways in which architecture shapes society and vice versa the society shapes architecture. Architecture has a very strong role in the way that we create the community. When I started working and when I had the chance to start office with my two partners, what direction should we take for our firm. Initially, we had no projects and when started the office in Beijing, and started looking around we realised that there weren’t many offices that are thinking around people especially in China. It was a reaction to the time. We were in China, the word ppl is something we thought could really inspire a stronger role for architecture. The word people has lost a lot of meaning, shape the practice. Personally, born and raised in US, refugees from china. There are a lot of ways that the city has shaped my life and heritage, these special aspects, affected how I thinks about architecture. Trained as a product designer (furniture) PD more direct way of connecting with ppl, there is a very strong art prog in Grad school, focus on the intervention in public, and dealing with social issues. I wanted to find more meaning in this work that I really love to do.
Q2: We realised in many of your intervention projects there is a use of these proprietary prefabricated panels. Can you share more specifics on the material, technology and the way you conceive the design for perhaps longer-term projects or towards larger goals?
In terms of prefab band modular there is just any different types. What we needed to do in the neighbourhood that we were working in in china this is part of the reason why it is important to dwell deep into the context was that we couldn’t lift a big shipping container into this dense location it was just not possible. And we started out by building inside buildings, so we didn’t want to take apart or destroy anything. It was meant to be something that was slipped into something that was existing. And also, it was meant to be flexible. If later on if you need to get rid of it, you could or if people want to relocate you can take your house with you. Those are some fundamental concepts that were interesting. Also, you couldn’t bring in any heavy equipment, so it was important that you could do this by hand. This material does allow to that. The module is only the size of a door. To assemble this, you only need one tool, so the connection is built into the panel. The panel the material is very unique, it is high density polyurethane insulation it is many times more energy efficient than other materials usually used in buildings. The reason why this is possible is because this is a mass produced product, something that is not made by hand.
Q3: Many projects such as the plugin house seems to be focusing on addressing particular social / urban issues in Beijing, to what extent do you think it is applicable to Chinese cities in general? What other measures are needed for a more sustainable future of living?
That project started in Beijing in the courtyard houses in a specific context. We are very serious about focusing on the particular context in that location to not treat it as something that works everywhere. The ideas we have are those that are applicable to all kinds of location. Those are things that do not conflict. In terms of implementing it need to be specific to the location. Once we have done that we did take it to other cities, we have implemented in different context so, we done it in urban villages, in rural locations, and in US. For a slightly diff use to be built in backyard homes as a separate dwelling unit and I think a lot of these ideas can transfer. While at the same time we managed to work a specific way in that context.
Q4: How does these installation projects come about, are they self-initiated or are most of them commissions from specific clients?
We have really tried to explore the idea of self-initiated projects. We explored that quite a lot. The plug-ins is a mix. It started out as a call from the government to think of a way to deal with the slum like conditions in Dashilan, Beijing. There were a lot of informal housing but at the same time very rich history and culture. It was an open call and we made the proposal and it was initially funded by the government. When we first started we tested this on vacant houses as we didn’t want to test on people’s home until it was something that was more developed. In the second year it was more developed and we worked with the locals and it became partially funded by them. After that the drive from the government paused, due to other complications. But the locals still came to us, at that point they just funded it themselves. Since than we felt that this is something that can be used in other places and there is enough interest in it so we put out a call for co-funding it in rural areas. However, in china there were some land use issues that make it very different to grow in scale, having a good amount of quantity. So we looked into the US, I had some time to relocate in the US for this fellowship. I made some good connections with the local government to see if we could implement these plug in houses in the US. So we brought a prototype at Harvard, use that to introduce the idea to people in the US. We also built another one at the Boston City Hall. These are all self-initiated, all the funding we found ourselves. Through that what we decided to do was to not treat it like an architecture project but to take a more entrepreneurial approach. We realised that it was very difficult to use this as an architectural project, we just do not have enough funding to do the research and development. We cannot really develop a product without more time and proper funding. So now the plug in house is a separate company registered in the state, we have investment and a manufacturing partner, we are producing for use as small housing but with a different type of policy that was necessary that we didn’t have in China.
Q5: Many of PAO’s project tackle social issues and is aimed at promoting interactivity. Could you share with us on how these social interventions responds to the urban environment?
Our approach with the plug in is to embrace what is already there. The word intervention is appropriate because we are intervening we are not replacing and we are not renewing it entirely, we are inserting. What we intend to do is to improve what is already there not replace. We also embrace all of the challenges that comes with what is retaining what is already there, we recognise the value of that. The social relationships that they have in these older communities is precious, if we get rid of that it will take generations to built up these relationships again and the culture that comes with it. If you were to go to these location it is what you would expect when you visit China as you can sense the sense of community and the history and the lifestyle there is very unique and have character. If you go to a new development, you can often feel like its just like any other place. That is not something that architecture can create, I can create an artificial Venice but it doesn’t not come with the life of Venice. The life of Venice is unique, I don’t think architecture can do that but I can improve on Venice. That is our approach for all the plugin projects for all the locations. That is a fundamental characteristic to this project.
Q6: Some of PAO’s projects also involve art installations like the golden bubbles and the habitation modules. These projects like social statements so how do you approach these designs?
A lot of the design approach in our plugin houses are shared with our art installation projects. We didn’t start off by calling these projects as art, we also did that work thinking that it is also architecture, sort of our brand of architecture. Our intention is similar, I will call these interventions because these projects slip into existing spaces. The try to draw in and take advantage of the social capital that is already there. People participate in these projects, they are never there for you to just look at. They allow people to not only engage with our pieces and will often times allow you to engage with other people in different way. Some of the golden bubbles were suspended between different floors and they work as these kaleidoscope type tubes. The purpose was to get strangers to interact. This is the type of interaction that is unique. That is a promise for a lot of architecture. You create spaces that encourage people to interact, people who not interact in another kind of situation. The plug-ins are similar, for example when we are building it in a vacant space, a space that could not be used typically, you are turning it into a space that people can occupy again. This new someone might be younger, allowing for interactions between generations and hopefully the tradition can continue for longer. Its an extension of the same thing. There is also certain type of temporarily, I think time is very important, we do not treat architecture to be something that permanent. I think most buildings are built are conceived that way, we think of the city as continually changing. The values, our culture our society it is constantly changing and shifting and you can see it now in the way many cities are trying to deal with COVID. You have to turn buildings into different things that they never
Q7: In the recent project PAO has done on the Leping Social Entrepreneur Headquarter, there are a lot of green spaces that are integrated within the office, what are your views on environmental sustainability and how can we design for it to be one with the architecture?
I have a pretty strong opinion about sustainability. I think a lot of times it’s used in a way that is not truly about sustainability, but more representing. We have used greenery in our projects and in different instances, the Leping foundation is one example. Although Leping foundation is be more about wellness, a way of working, that is that’s healthy and balanced. When we talk about sustainability it’s technology dependent, I think that’s not the realm of it because we’re just adding technology. Adding solar panels and such, I think is something that we should do. But I would urge people to think about sustainability in a larger sense, in a more macro sense. Because no matter how green my building is, most of the buildings are not built that way. Looking at vernacular architecture in the world, they’re extremely sustainable because they were built to be connected with the environment and also there was a lifestyle to work with that. Today, our lifestyles don’t work well with a sustainable city, the way that we’ve approached architecture is adaptive. That’s where we’ve taking advantage of what’s existing instead of tearing everything down. Rebuilding, I think of that as being extremely sustainable. It’s how cities have developed and that’s how cities should continue to develop. You don’t have to always start from scratch. The adaptability is sustainable because when you come up with a building, you think of it as being permanent, but a few years later it’s not relevant anymore and its torn down, that’s a lot of waste. If part of our building is not relevant anymore or say it’s too small I can take out a few of the panels or add more, that way I don’t need to take down the entire building. Even if I do need to take down a building, it’s easy. I just take it apart and I can move it. I can reuse it. A reusable architecture is also something that is not common. Sustainability should be considered in relation to wellness and social issues such as class because you usually have extremely poor people who are living in a very sustainable way or you have extremely rich, living in very expensive buildings that are supposedly sustainable, but in between you have most of the world that is built in a not sustainable, connected with a lifestyle that is not very sustainable. The US is probably the best example of unsustainable society. Singapore is a great example of a place that has very good ways of dealing with certain issues, for example, housing like public housing, I wish we could take those lessons and expand them to large countries.