Advice | Dialogue with Qin Pang: A variety of possibilities for urban construction

On June 15, Roca Shanghai Gallery invited Qin Pang, Director of Benoy, Head and Design Director of Shanghai office, to engage in a dialogue. Below, Qin Pang shares his personal understanding of architecture and the architecture industry, whilst reflecting on how that landscape is changing.

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Architects need to help people build physical and emotional connection with cities.

My words of wisdom: Design is a bottomless pit in terms of time requirements. With all factors stirred together, it requires us to capture new information at any time and make reasonable judgements instantly. ”

The changes of the city are not dependent upon the attitudes or behaviours of humans; the city has always been silently evolved in the direction it needs to go. In the process of building cities, we need to keep learning and receiving various perspectives to better examine the relationship between the cities, nature, and humans from multiple dimensions. People live in cities, but also in nature. Returning to the essence of space and examining the role of urban architecture will reveal more inspiration and possibilities for urban construction.

01 Always be curious about the world — Refuse to go by the book

I do not go by the book; you could say that I am a little rebellious. Nevertheless, I more often adopt a non-confrontational approach by walking away silently. Destruction before construction is unnecessary, so I believe many issues can coexist. After working in China for nearly ten years, I went to study in the UK in 2004. I was in my thirties at the time, and I had a good job before I went to the UK. Some people thought that it did not seem necessary for me to go abroad, but I wanted to go out to see the world. Luckily, I was the only student in my graduate class to win an award when I graduated, which was happened to be sponsored by Benoy. They asked if I would be willing to come work for them, so I joined Benoy after graduating from the University of Nottingham in September 2006.

Joining Benoy provoked my entire way of thinking and logic formation to change. Those years of working at Benoy have had a great impact on my career direction. Pace of communication was the first hurdle for me. Fortunately, we were able to communicate in our own design and architecture language although English was not my first language. Therefore, when working with my colleagues, we more often focused on observation and mutual negation and inspiration during our discussion at a slow pace. It turned out that we always came up with satisfactory solutions. At that time, my design schemes always passed internal review without revision, so other teams which intended to pass review quickly had to make a reservation for my time to get my help. Those little moments of highlights steadily allowed me to become more confident. Of course, I also encountered some setbacks or downtime, which I don’t think are worth talking about, because I feel that those were necessary. I went through a process of transformation from adapting to a completely unfamiliar environment to finally accomplishing tasks with ease.

An architect is a profession for older people. Architects in their forties and fifties are at their young and prime ages, with a long career life. To keep up with the times, we must keep learning. I reckon that the post-70s generation are really lucky for having a huge number of opportunities brought by the reform and opening up. We can deeply sense the speed of urban development, which is exciting, but we must not stop at all. We either go forwards or become left behind, so I usually try to capture information at any time based on sticking to my underlying logic. I stay sharp, humble, and considerate; hence I can embrace all information. In this way, I can manage to catch up with urban, environmental, and professional development with great efforts. This kind of long-term learning seems like muscle memory to me, which may also be related to my personal growth. I grew up in the school environment since both my parents are teachers, and I worked at a university after graduating from university. I lived in the school environment for more than the initial 30 years of my life, which allowed me feel awe about learning. Everyone is trying to improve themselves and strive for the top, and such an atmosphere urges us to keep learning.

Design is a bottomless pit in terms of time requirements. With all factors stirred together, it requires us to capture new information at any time and make reasonable judgements instantly. We do not necessarily need to capture professional information, but instead is often social, humanities, and other information can nourish our minds.

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02 Network-type development — Architecture is not for guaranteeing a bright future

I was influenced by many people when I was a student. In 1990, I was admitted to Xi’an Metallurgy Architecture Institute, which is now Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology. At that time, we came from all over the country. It seemed that we had not been overly tempered by the education system and the examination-oriented education, and everyone looked interesting and full of personality. I think that a university is not only for studying but is more like a place for a group of teenagers to live and learn together before entering the society. Such experience of co-growth and self-correction with peers is also highly precious.

Our generation is also very lucky that many courses in university were taught by teachers of the older generation. At that time, the urban planning courses were taught by Jue Li, the history of Western architecture by Sizan Zhang, the history of Chinese architecture by Liying Zhao, architectural structure by Yun Xia, and descriptive geometry by Shiqi Zheng. Kecheng Liu, a young design teacher at the time, is now a true mainstay in China’s architecture design industry. Jiaping Liu, who taught architectural thermal engineering at the time, is now an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

These teachers are outstanding in their cultivation, knowledge reserve, and foresight of information. Throughout our entire learning process, we were able to perceive the power of words and deeds all the time. Teachers are there like our morning stars, and we keep learning how they shine.

We chose the architecture industry at the time without grasping specific knowledge about it. Before I chose the major, I listened to the advice of my brother, who said that I could learn drawing if I chose the architecture major and I would not need to study too much mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Therefore, I chose architecture. Fortunately, I’ve been interested in architecture since I started to study it. This industry requires working overtime and staying up late, not because design work is burdensome, more to architects strive for perfection amid the torment of repeated negation of design. Consequently, when someone asks me if I recommend architecture to their children, I don’t know what to say. If you like the industry, work can be fascinating since the architecture industry can satisfy self-expression. Although it cannot change society, it can promote positive interactions as a positive factor. Studying architecture is by no means a simple way for guaranteeing a bright future. You need to think about your own professional skills and basic knowledge reserve, your ability to conduct analysis in a macro way, and your cognition of the entire city and society.

Architects need to master both liberal arts and science knowledge, which can sometimes cause splitting. I regard splitting can sometimes be benefit, given that it can bring different elements to life. I think that people most fear living at a fixed pace, and linear development can be extremely torturous. I personally prefer to have development relationships in the shape of a hierarchical network, so that I can interpret and understand things from different perspectives and seem to be able to better put myself in the shoes of others.

I consider that designers should be able to discover and awaken the true features and characteristics of projects. As Michelangelo said, sculpture already exists and only requires the peeling off of undesired parts. When I am designing and conceiving ideas, I always mutter to myself and have a dialogue with the project itself. I sometimes think deep about it and sometimes withdraw my mind and change positions to make painstaking examinations. I do not only interact with a so-called decision maker, despite it is also crucial. Nevertheless, a capable decision maker also wishes that the design can blow himself/​herself away in a way that is sensible and yet unexpected, rather than just checks whether the design only satisfies his/​her personal expectation, which brings an unreasonable and yet expected sense of powerlessness. We most hope that decision-makers can resonate with us professionally, but there will also be tit-for-tat confrontation when we do not resonate with each other. We should not adopt all-or-none thinking for confrontation, which requires different levels of skills. Instead, we should explain things to others and guide them in an acceptable way that triggers empathy.


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03 Cities are the background of memories — What really matters are events

Everyone’s memories are quite self-centred and private, which are valued but vague. How many of these memories are related to an external environment? Even if there is, the external environment seems to be only the background for these memories. The context is blurry, while the memories are mementoes. I reckon that urban space is evolutionary, and its major development path will never change along with the ideas of a certain city manager, a developer, or an architect. The cities we see are developing and evolving in the direction of their own needs. It’s just like a primitive forest, where there are thousands of species, and each small creature is only a link in the ecosystem. The abundance of species determines the stability of the ecosystem, yet these individual species themselves cannot determine the healthy development of the ecosystem. A city is first functional, which solves the construction of basic energy and physical spaces so that people can live in it. Rather than being the master of nature, humans only inhabit in nature.

I do not support the way of either full demolition or full retention for urban renewal. We need study each case and plot with a truly scientific and responsible attitude. A plot should be retained if it is worth retaining and be demolished if not, hence this process is itself a process of urban evolution. This is also how it has been done slowly throughout history. Furthermore, any building may become ruins in the future. Our interpretation and description of the world depend on the current cognitive abilities of humans from empirical or a priori perspectives. It is just as what was said by Immanuel Kant that humans set laws for nature. The thing-in-itself is unknowable to humans, and such cognition is definitely not enough for predicting some things in the future. I deem that we should adequately revere nature and cities.

For example, we are helpless in the face of the unknown virus during the COVID-19 outbreaks. When Shanghai implemented closed-off management in the previous few months, I was not able to meet with my colleagues for the first few weeks and we could only communicate via various group meetings. In addition to arranging for each director to chat with team members one on one, we’ve also invited some professional psychology instructors to give everyone psychological consulting. I would like to explain the whole issue from different angles. Our company prepared some living materials for the colleagues. When distributing the materials, I also attached an open letter to everyone:

In the past month, all of us have experienced a sudden change from a life where we could almost conveniently do whatever we wanted and which we took for granted, to an awkward life where we are stuck in spaces enclosed by walls and can only see the spring scenery outside the windows, which is so close at hand yet out of reach. Such a gap is tearing apart our emotions, and tormenting, forcing, and confusing us…

Undoubtedly, we need strong self-spiritual strength to guide, correct, and ease us, and allow us to adapt to the change…However, we have experienced peace for so long that we all consider it to be the normal and even only state of life… It seems that we should all reflect and think about whether we have enough understanding of the real and complex world and whether we are well prepared for unexpected events. Most importantly, do we have the spiritual strength to match these changes?

We doubt, deny, and file abuses… But can we keep firmer faith despite our doubts? Can we continue to search for the truth despite the denial and still distinguish right from wrong despite the abuses? Can we be stronger, more disciplined, and more optimistic?

Fortunately, our thoughts can still gallop up and down without the constraints of time and space. Fortunately, we still have time. I hope that, in this extraordinary period, we can all provide warmth, continue to be kind, offer beauty, and stick to our bottom line.

I firmly believe that we will be reunited soon, and we will be better versions of ourselves at that time! Please do take care of your better self and take care of your family. This special period will be an experience we will never forget. ”

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04 Office projects — Breathing organic whole

I believe that office architecture has entered a bottleneck period with relatively rigid development after years of development. The floor area of the office building, the way the floor plans are used, and the way people behave have all been standardised. I find it odd that developers, investors, and buyers all have the same requirements. Why do we have to work in an office with 2000 to 3000 square metres on each floor? We know well that it’s extremely sunny with excessive sunlight, yet we still want to use bigger glass, so it is erroneous based on the fundamental logic. Glass surfaces can separate inner and outer spaces to make the spaces clean and clear, but it’s also tedious. Without grey space and breathing with nature at different levels, all buildings gradually become the same.

Urban planning aims to provide more healthy development incentives for cities, and it would be better if flexibility is offered. After all, problems solved by buildings vary from problems solved by planning in terms of their depth. A building is equivalent to an organ implanted in the human body. What is essential is not just to check whether the organ is rectangular, round, or square, or whether it is beautiful, but more to check whether the organ can play its due role and be tied to the surrounding nerves and blood vessels to truly integrate into the collective. There are still many restrictions in China’s current design environment. Under such constraints, the results are similar and result-oriented, but not innovative.

It is true that this specified method can have the least mistakes from the position of investment. Even so, I feel that changes may be possible in terms of urban design management. For example, we may change the methods for calculating areas such as high space and outdoor space with columns from the state of policy containment targeting presumed guilty” to legal restrictions targeting heavy punishment on crimes”. Meanwhile, we may set reward indicators such as reasonable settings of greening rate and site coverage for development projects which make positive contributions to urban public activities.

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05 Take uses” as the standard — Multi-scale urban public space

In fact, the word multi-dimensional” I use is not very accurate, multi-scale” may be more appropriate. In terms of dimensions, those above 3D are matters of light, shadow, and time, so it is adequate when architects can handle 3D well. By using the word multi-scale”, I refer to the process of implementing the entire design logic layer by layer from the outlooks of urban planning, architecture, and interior design. For example, Lujiazui Group set a high positioning for Qiantan when we were planning for it in 2012, and Qiantan has now basically taken shape. At the time, we put forwards an essential concept that we won’t implement conventional and traditional urban planning, which is merely for people to see. Instead, we should design it for people to use, and design to offer convenience and meet demands. In the end, we planned a core business district with Taikoo Li Qiantan and Qiantan Centre as the core, which we called it a village at the time. The subway lines under this core district objectively divide the entire area into two, while these small buildings form an architectural complex with high site coverage and low plot ratio, tending to form sponge space to attract people in and stay. Some large high-rise buildings are constructed on the road network back at the second level. The most significant requirement is for office buildings to be easily accessible and visible, so these buildings do not need to occupy the core area. Besides, we planned many connecting bridges for Qiantan, which is highly important. Of course, we also implemented the concept of sharing between plots. For example, parking garages can be shared, and there is commercial complementation. Such designs may not be fully realised, but at least we’ve tried.

We often wonder why people need commercial space. Commercial activities are most vulnerable, currently it is mainly social interaction and experience, shopping has become unnecessary. I reckon that commercial space is, to a certain extent, a healing space in urban life. The biggest issue people face in the cities is the sense of loneliness, which is a common problem for modern people and the price of freedom. Nowadays, so many people have left their homes, families, and their blood-related ethnic groups and settled in a new environment. It’s just like the will to power and the Dionysian spirit mentioned by Nietzsche. We struggle every day, which reflects the will to power. Nonetheless, we need to heal ourselves and drink some wine to relax. I think that malls offer such a space.

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06 Barbaric growth” — Explore the world together

Our generation almost grew up by ourselves in a barbaric” manner. I like travelling. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, my wife and I went abroad several times a year to experience different customs and cultures to perceive our insignificance. We tend to stay at a place for a short period of time thus we can experience the subtle rhythm between people. We have even gradually become capable of telling the subtle differences in the looks of different races, which is quite interesting. It’s just like wine tasting that some people can tell the year a bottle of wine was produced, while we taste people’s lives. Travelling can also nourish my profession.

I love all the wonderful things in life. In my opinion, it is a truly delight thing to be able to see the sun every day, to see the bustle outside, and to live healthily.

Q&A

Q: Can you talk about a specific case where you were questioned by a client?

A: It is normal to be questioned as a service industry, given that design itself is a process of communication. The purpose of increasing the frequency and depth of communication is to reduce misunderstandings and find commonalities. Your understanding of a word may be completely different from that of others, since the language itself can extend in many ways. I regard that communication is mainly to allow everyone to establish a relatively complete and unambiguous dictionary that everyone agrees on.

It is easy to question, and anyone can question others at any time, but it is constructive only when destruction is followed by construction. It is crucial to have a sensible solution after questioning. Don’t take questioning as a challenge since everyone has his/​her own logic. We try our best to eliminate limitations of individuals through discussion, thus a project can be suitable for more people and meet more characteristics. It is easy to communicate with such an attitude.

Q: Which stage do you pay the most attention to in the whole design process?

A: I pay more attention to the concept stage due to it is a process of developing from nothing. It has to pass review at many levels, and it is indispensable to communicate with the heads of the project, the region, and the headquarters, which consumes a huge amount of time and energy, and that’s why it’s vital. After the plan is determined, every link in the process from plan establishment to preliminary design, and then to construction drawings is far-reaching. Even so, each link is a process of gradual development.

However, there is now a phenomenon in the design industry. There is a tendency of excessive storytelling and design in the literary orientation, especially in commercial projects. In the past few years, many distinctive buildings with stories to tell have been built in Shanghai. Despite that, can these distinctive features become the engine for the buildings to be continuously vital? After paying attention to the concept, I believe that a huge amount of time should be spent on coordinating different professions for some details in the process from the specific shapes of the building to final implementation. People often don’t spend much time at this stage, thinking that this is a technical problem. The reason why it takes time is precisely that there are no unique solutions, but only good and bad solutions, for coordination between different professions at this stage. With more time spent at this stage, it will be much easier to find the optimal solution. Nowadays, a lot of time is spent on telling stories and persuading various leaders. I feel that time allocated at this stage is unreasonable.

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Q: Which of these professional courses taken as a student do you find most helpful in your current job?

A: They are all helpful in some ways, yet not helpful in other ways. Learning is a process of checking and filling omissions, and it also depends on whether a person can stand out from peers in the same industry with his/​her certain expertise. It would be enough if the person can stand out. We should spend more time and efforts on what we are good at, but not on improving weak parts. There are many different types of divisions of labour in the design industry. You can focus on the early stage, the middle stage, the later stage, or client management. You will be quite impressive if you’ve exerted your expertise. You can only stand out if you become sharp.

Q: Can you please elaborate on the relationship between design techniques and technology development this year?

A: Technology is always a major force for changing life and nature. We once spent a long time researching parametric design, hoping that new technology would be applied in the whole field as a thinking method. However, it takes time. For example, modern and contemporary architecture emerged due to the evolution of technologies, and the industrial and standardised production in the Western world in the past all aimed to improve efficiency. If you design such a thing 100 years in advance, everyone will say it was a monster. Only when the levels of industrial production and technology development develop to a certain extent can matching design methods become truly reasonable. If you look at the so-called high-tech enterprises in China, you may find that they carry out commercial activities to satisfy people’s appetites rather than to improve the overall industrial efficiency. That’s why China is vigorously promoting technological innovation in the real economy.

Nowadays, parametric design can only realise fragments of architecture to a certain extent. I hope that it will become a holistic design thinking in the future, but it cannot be realised before society is ready. Before it is ready, it may take a lot of time to carry out research segments, such as surface computing, energy saving, intelligent management, technology for interaction between architecture and humans. This is a process of expanding the boundaries of architecture, giving more emotions and hierarchies to architecture.

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