Fired the school without a word
And the mainstream is against the tone
This master builder is not ordinary
A building standing on the banks of the Yangtze River in Nanjing caught my attention, with undulating podiums like cascading waves on the Yangtze River, sparkling in the sunlight.
This is the newly completed Nanjing Yangtze River International Convention Center, and it is Murphysis Architects that gives it life.
Founder Tom Mayne (hereinafter referred to as "Mayne") won the Pritzker Prize, a name you may be unfamiliar with, but you will definitely be attracted to these irregular buildings.
Growing out of the perot Museum of Nature in the rocks, or the "weird box" of the Cooper Union College in New York that stands out from the centuries-old complex, Mayne is always challenging the usual order.
Perot Museum, USA
Cooper Union College, New York
Before winning the Pritzker Prize, Meyne's work was known for its quirkiness. For a long time, he was not accepted by the mainstream architectural community, his work was controversial before it was completed, and his architectural career was not smooth.
01
Counterattack in China
Mayne's first project in China didn't get him much attention.
In 1996, he took over the taipei Sun Moonlight Visitor Center project, which is a collection of exhibition, conference and event spaces. However, the project encountered difficulties in terms of architectural drawing, resulting in a one-year delay in construction.
Until he won the Pritzker Prize, he "painted" a dragon in the Chinese mainland, the building was built on the lake, the "dragon head" part was close to the water, and the building was meandering and undulating, forming an ink painting with the artificial lake, which caused everyone to discuss.
At this time, he finally made a small name in China.
Shanghai Songjiang Giant Group Headquarters Building
In May 2020, the Hanjing Center in Shenzhen was inaugurated, which was a challenge to the boring high-altitude buildings launched by Mei En.
Hanking Center is the tallest pure steel structure building in Asia, using a unique giant frame support system, the biggest difficulty lies in the core tube separation technology, the split core tube allows the working environment to have more natural light, but also expand the internal space.
It is not uncommon for high-altitude buildings to use a detached core, but in Shenzhen, this is the world's tallest building with a split core.
The 80-storey building, with its simple polyline, seamlessly connects the main tower to the commercial podium in one go.
Mayne thinks that the traditional-looking buildings are too boring. Therefore, when building the Hanjing Center, he saved the area of commercial space on the first floor, thus forming a natural and wide urban living room.
As you navigate through the building, you'll find that each floor is different, with an external core tube that allows people to switch between public areas and private office spaces. At the same time, people can enjoy the city view as they walk through the building.
02
Giant sailing ship along the Yangtze River
The Nanjing Yangtze River International Convention Center, which was inaugurated last December, is the latest work in China by Meyn-led Murphyses Architects.
The towering tower of the conference center resembles a Chinese sailing boat sailing on the Yangtze River, and the architecture is also inspired by the great rivers, looking like the churning Water of the Yangtze River, sparkling under the reflection of the sun.
Unlike Shenzhen, the Yangtze River has always been China's main transportation route, driving the historical development of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. Mei'en integrated this vital river into the building, meaning that the New North District of Nanjing, where the convention center is located, will become a global business hub.
The materials used in the building are also exquisite, and the northern part facing the city is metal shaded. During the day, metal curtain walls provide shade, and at night, the lighting system on the wooden grab gives the building a unique look.
The Yangtze River, which faces south, is made up of more than 90,000 special anodized aluminum plates and glass, allowing people to enjoy the natural scenery at a glance.
The convention center consists of a podium and a tower, a hotel with 340 river-view rooms, and the conference hall and exhibition space are gathered in the podium.
The podium is connected to the tower by a central corridor, and a huge skylight provides natural light to the main entrance and atrium of the podium, making it easy for visitors to look up at the tower. At the same time, it is connected to the VIP entrance and the hotel tower.
03
An extraordinary path of architecture
How do you make your work acceptable to the outside world? Mayne thought.
At the time, his work was only hanging in the gallery, and he used this advantage to present himself as a conceptual architect. In the process, he transformed his ideas, structures, social, cultural, and political concepts into figurative fusions into the building.
The project at Dalmond Ranch High School in California was a turning point for Mayne. He said that this school was my first opportunity to unify aesthetic behavior and social behavior, and that was where I really started.
He was 40 years old and had been in the construction industry for decades.
He transformed the surrounding environment of the school into a computer network model, and built the basic form of the building through the computer. He embedded the school in natural terrain, looking down from the air, blending the school with its surroundings.
The school has a similar commercial pedestrian street as the core, and the teaching buildings are distributed on both sides, creating a space for teachers and students to interact.
Mayne's work tends to be drawn to appearance first, it's just too weird.
This eccentricity was not recognized by the public, so he always felt that he did not win the highest award in the field of architecture. When he learned that he had won the Pritzker Prize, he sat in the taxi feeling too unreal and pinched himself hard.
What earned him the Pritzker Prize was the design of the California Transportation Authority's District 7 headquarters, and finally, he was recognized by mainstream architecture.
California Transportation Department's District 7 headquarters covers an entire block of Los Angeles, with the entire building facing the street, forming an entrance aisle and public plaza.
The most obvious appearance is marked with the number "100", which is the number of the street where the building is located.
The larger of the two buildings is 13 storeys high, and the smaller one has 9 floors that extend from the edge of the other building to form an L-shaped layout.
The artwork by Mayne and artist Keith Sonnier is placed in an outdoor hall where neon lights are always reminiscent of the lights of a California night car Mercedes.
04
In the 1960s, the American hippie movement influenced a large number of young people, including Mayne, who was still a college student in his 20s.
Young people consciously distanced themselves from mainstream society and began to look at the world with a rebellious and skeptical eye, and Mayne was deeply affected.
After college, Mayne taught at the California State University of Science and Technology. At the time, the school was opposed to unconventional architecture, so the head of the department, Ray Capa, was driven away, and the young and vigorous Mayne was dissatisfied with the decision and fired the school with another master builder, Frank Gehry.
Later, Mayne and six architects, including the head of the department and Gehry, founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Today, it is the dream school of many architecture students.
From not being recognized by the mainstream to winning the Pritzker Prize, Mayne admits that he was just completely fascinated by architecture.
As he said when he founded Morpheus Architects in 1972, we do the hard things because they're hard to get done, and the difficulty is the value.
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