liu jiakun: rebirth brick project

‘rebirth brick project’ by liu jiakun, 2011 shenzhen & hong kong bi-city biennale image © designboom

chinese architect liu jiakun showcases his ‘rebirth brick project’ at the 2011 shenzhen & hong kong bi-city biennale of urbanism\architecture. the project began in june of 2008, one month after the earthquake in sichuan, china, as a response to the need for individuality and self-sufficiency. made from the aggregated debris from the disaster site, straw fiber and cement, the bricks have been used to build and reconstruct the damaged areas, creating new meanings to the ideas of renewable materials and the regeneration of a community. the blocks were part of the chinese pavilion at the venice architecture biennale ’08 as shown in this designboom article.

as the project nears completion the bricks have become mass-produced and are being used in the construction of public buildings and residences. jiakun is currently looking into further applications of the product and alternative production methods.

built structure using the recycled material image © jiakun architects

image © designboom

image © designboom

bamboo is used instead of steal bars to reinforce the structure image © designboom

material connections and details image © designboom

process of crushing the debris to final product image © designboom

various colors of bricks image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

image © designboom

— the 2011 SZHK biennale in shenzhen, china ran from december 8th through december 11th 2011. the scale of certain projects is such that the architect becomes not only a designer of buildings but also city planner and landscape architect and the shenzhen & hong kong bi-city biennale of urbanism \ architecture reflects this in its theme: architecture creates cities – cities create architecture. the SZHK biennale is the first to focus on urbanism as an ongoing theme to explore issues of the city as an active agent in contemporary culture. the program included more than 30 exhibitions, symposiums, panel discussions and performances. terence riley has been appointed chief curator (he is the first international curator for the event). the hong kong edition will work to complement the shenzhen biennale in an integrative way and is curated by gene king and anderson lee currently under preparation and due to open in february 2012. designboom is the principal international media partner of the SZHK biennale.