Ding Jian: How do Chinese craftsmen "build evidence" to integrate world cultures?
China News Service Phnom Penh, December 29 Title: Ding Jian: How do Chinese craftsmen "build certificates" to integrate world cultures?
China News Service reporter Ouyang Kaiyu
The Chinese government's aid to cambodia national stadium project was officially launched in December 2021. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen thanked China for this "precious gift". The design of the stadium absorbs the essence of the ancient Angkor Wat architectural craftsmanship, and realizes the integration of the splendid and colorful Khmer culture and the spirit of China's "big country craftsman".
China News Agency "East and West" recently interviewed Ding Jian, chief designer of Cambodia National Stadium and chairman of China Zhongyuan International Engineering Co., Ltd., to explain in detail how to cross regional and language barriers from design, make architecture a "cultural symbol" that connects people with people, and promote the integration of world cultures through architecture.
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: How can regional culture be reflected in architectural design? What are the influences of different regional cultures on architectural design?
Ding Jian: The formation of regional culture has a long history and unique characteristics, and plays a subtle and far-reaching role in the production methods, folk traditions, living habits, religious beliefs, and architectural forms of people in specific areas. Architectural design can only be meaningful and vital if it is based on culture and put into the environment.
The most intuitive embodiment of regional culture in architecture is the architectural shape and style. For example, the Lao International Convention Center, taking the traditional roof form of Laos, uses modern metal roofing technology to express it, the color tone of the red-topped white wall echoes the local traditional architecture, and the decorative elements with the theme of the bulbophyllum flower highlight the unique aesthetic symbols of the nation.
The most fundamental requirement of regional culture for architectural design is that the space structure and use functions meet the needs of local production and life. For example, the Pakistan-China Friendship Center in Islamabad, Pakistan, we fully considered the local climate characteristics and living habits when designing, adopted a relatively introverted, closed courtyard layout, set up springs in the center, and configured geometric plant greenery to make it an ideal rest place for locals.
China News Service: China's aid to the Cambodia National Stadium is known as the "ship of friendship" between China and Cambodia, what macro ideas are reflected in the overall design of the stadium?
Ding Jian: The stadium is mainly used to host large-scale events or ceremonial celebrations, and the participants include athletes, referees, event working groups, VIPs, media, and spectators, and need to sort out, analyze and design the use of different groups of people from the perspective of building function.
Whenever there are events and large events, the number of participants is huge, resulting in a much higher density of people in the stadium than in ordinary buildings. The Grandstand of the Cambodia National Stadium is divided into three districts, high, high and low, and different evacuation methods are adopted to improve evacuation efficiency. With the help of advanced crowd evacuation simulation software, we have simulated and analyzed the evacuation process of the audience, and the evacuation time is 7 minutes and 7 seconds, which can achieve efficient and safe evacuation.
Cambodia National Stadium strictly follows international sports technology standards, meets the requirements of special stadium specifications, meets the needs of FIFA World Cup finals, and is fully equipped with the ability to host the world's top sports events.
On December 18, 2021, the Cambodia National Stadium, which was built with Chinese assistance, was officially opened in Phnom Penh. China News Service reporter Ouyang Kaiyu photographed
China News Service: According to Cambodia's climate, economic and social development, what considerations did the designers make to ensure the normal operation of the stadium?
Ding Jian: The challenge of the new Cambodia National Stadium is how to provide the audience with the best possible infield viewing experience in a hot and humid environment.
The main problems for the stadium to solve are shade, ventilation and rain protection. Shade relies mainly on stadium canopy. The PTFE membrane structure of more than 30,000 square meters covers more than 80% of the concrete grandstand and the outer ring corridor space, providing shade for the vast majority of the audience and platform space in the venue.
The 60,000-seat stadium is affected by the temperature and human body heat dissipation when full, and the temperature and humidity in the stands will become very high, and how to ensure the physical comfort of the infield audience is within a reasonable range is a challenge in the design. We first formed two gap spaces through the saddle-shaped movement of the high-zone stands at the north and south ends of the stadium combined with the concrete crane tower, which can form a stable and continuous air convection in the north and south directions of the stadium, effectively ventilating the infield naturally.
In response to the problem of heavy precipitation in the location of the project, the stadium gave a number of targeted measures. First of all, the large-area canopy drainage combined with the outer ring beam structure system forms a large drainage ditch of more than 2 meters wide and 0.6 meters deep, which effectively solves the drainage problem of the canopy with the interception structure. Secondly, more than 40,000 square meters of landscape pools are set up around the stadium, which can play an effective role in regulating and storing during the rainy season.
The exterior design of the Cambodian National Stadium introduces the master planning idea of the ancient Moat of Angkor Wat, forming a circular water surface that surrounds the stadium. China News Service reporter Ouyang Kaiyu photographed
China News Service: Under the concept of innovation, green, coordination, openness and sharing, how to highlight the details? What are the considerations in terms of venue design and building materials?
Ding Jian: Cambodia has a long history and splendid ancient culture, and the historical culture represented by the ancient Angkor civilization and the contemporary religious culture represented by Buddhism are presented at the spiritual level of the country at the same time. At the same time, the unique regional culture and modern society in Southeast Asia have also reflected in all aspects of Cambodian society.
In the design process of the stadium, we tried to convey this multi-layered and rich national spirit to the world through architectural techniques, so as to create a unique national stadium belonging to Cambodia.
Tourists visit the Angkor Wat scenic spot in Cambodia on November 6, 2019. China News Service reporter Huang Yaohui photographed
The overall shape of the building comes from the interpretation of the image of naga, the snake god of Angkor Wat, and the traditional Cambodian dragon boat form. The shape of both is two heads upturned, which can be understood as a symbol of balance and solemnity. Therefore, the stadium building presents a gondola-style boat shape in the overall form, which is a form with clear direction. The circular pool around the building is a model of the temple moat in Angkor culture, and also makes the concept of the boat more clear. The crane tower shaped like a two-handed ten and the Angkor Longdu flower pattern on the metal blinds on the façade are all inheritors and developments of the Buddhist cultural and historical heritage.
The 99-meter-high herringbone crane at the Cambodian National Stadium combines traditional elements such as Cambodia's "Heshi Ceremony" and the roof of ancient architecture. China News Service reporter Ouyang Kaiyu photographed
The above elements are integrated through smooth and free architectural lines, which ultimately forms the overall image of cambodia's national stadium. The Cambodian side believes that the new national stadium is a good expression of Cambodia's national image and national personality.
China News Service: What innovative technologies have been adopted in cambodia's stadiums, and how do these new technologies support building design and construction?
Ding Jian: China Zhongyuan Structural Design Team has independently developed a complete set of hybrid rigid-flexible combined spatial structures, which are original in the world. The stadium has a 99-meter-high freeform herringbone tower at the north and south, which lifts the crescent-shaped canopy on the east and west sides through a cable-stayed cable, and a back cable is set behind the tower. The canopy adopts a cord truss structure, covering the PTFE membrane material, and set up ring beams and oblique columns along the outer perimeter of the canopy. In view of the complexity of the structural system and the difficulty of construction, the simulation analysis of the whole process of construction was carried out at the time of design, which fully verified the safety and feasibility of the structural system, which has important guiding significance for the construction of the project.
China News Service: China's Zhongyuan project has spread to dozens of overseas countries, especially those countries that jointly build the "Belt and Road". How to cross the geographical and linguistic barriers from the design, so that architecture can become a "cultural symbol" for people-to-people communication?
Ding Jian: China Zhongyuan has completed hundreds of overseas projects, covering nearly 50 countries on six continents, covering feasibility studies, survey and design, general contracting (EPC), project management, and complete sets of equipment, involving public buildings, medical buildings, stadiums, residential buildings, schools, industrial engineering and other fields.
The first is to respect the local history and culture and fully exchange views. We designed the Cambodian Sino-Cambodia Friendship Medical Building project, taking into account the local people's deep belief in Buddhism, and the history of Cosma Hospital was founded by local monks with funds, the final design retains this temple that carries blessings, faith and historical feelings, and ensures the efficient and safe operation of the hospital as a whole by optimizing the traffic organization and doctor-patient flow.
The second is to do practical and detailed field research, and the effort is outside the "poem". During our visit to Senegal, we focused on the sporting crafts of traditional wrestling in the region. For example, traditional wrestling competitions actually focus most of the time on the performance link, so we specially set up the performance area and the national performance ramp, and introduced modern sound and light control equipment and live broadcast and broadcast interfaces; we further optimized the flow of athletes and spectators, to achieve the greatest degree of separation, to ensure the safety and convenience of the event. After the completion of the wrestling field, it has become a scene in Dakar.
The third is to share China's experience and contribute Chinese wisdom. From 2015 to 2017, China Zhongyuan compiled and published the English version of the G101 series of national standard atlases with the highest reputation and the widest application scope in the field of construction engineering in China on two occasions. In the design of the Lebanese National Higher Conservatory of Music, the English version of the G101 series of national standards series atlases was fully applied. Li Fang engineers have always admired the European standard, when we took out the English version of the atlas compiled and published, and explained in detail, after many rounds of communication, we finally expressed recognition and respect for our work.
We believe that in the process of architectural design and project implementation, only by doing the above three points well can we truly let the buildings and projects we design cross the barriers of mountains and rivers, dissolve language barriers, bridge the cultural gap, become the carrier of world cultural integration, and become a beautiful witness of sincerity and solidarity and people-to-people bonds. (End)
Expert Profile:
Ding Jian, Secretary of the Party Committee, Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission and General Manager of China Engineering International Engineering Co., Ltd., Chairman of China Zhongyuan International Engineering Co., Ltd., Vice Chairman of the Architectural Society of China. He has successively served as a technician of the Design and Research Institute of the Mechanical Department, an assistant to the director of the Design Research Office, a deputy director of the Research Office, a director of the Business Planning Department, and a vice president, and an executive vice president of Zhongyuan International Engineering Design and Research Institute (presiding over the work), a dean, and a deputy secretary of the Party Committee.