maze installation by people’s architecture office references old beijing neighborhoods
the narrow hutong streets of the chinese capital have been relocated to hong kong's K11 art mall.
billed as ‘the world’s first art mall’, hong kong’s ‘K11’ regularly hosts art installations from a global pool of creative talent. for its latest exhibition, the shopping center asked people’s architecture office to develop an immersive installation for its underground gallery. the work, titled ‘stuff wall’, references the metal security screens that are commonly attached to homes in old beijing neighborhoods.
all images courtesy of people’s architecture office
‘originally designed to keep out unwanted guests, the screens inadvertently become spaces for storing stuff,’ explains PAO. ‘in these neighborhoods of winding alleys called hutongs, only security screen windows hint at the lives of people on the other side of long brick walls.’
windows permit views through the multiple layers of screens
contained within the maze’s walls is waste from three different cities: beijing, where the design was conceived; guangzhou, where it was produced; and hong kong where it is exhibited. in relocating the narrow hutong streets to K11, the display seeks to represent the significant changes that characterize contemporary china.
the exhibition references the metal screens attached to homes in old beijing neighborhoods
‘there is a story behind each piece of waste,’ continues the design team. ‘in beijing, the nation’s cultural center, we collected remnants of torn down traditional courtyard houses from historic neighborhoods, just a small sample of the buildings demolished on a daily basis. in guangzhou, a manufacturing powerhouse, we gathered massive amounts of leftover fabric from the production of new clothing in garment factories. and in hong kong, a global capital of consumption, we looked for used goods from street markets and stalls.’
contained within the walls is waste from three different cities: beijing, guangzhou, and hong kong
PAO has asked passersby to engage with the maze by cutting windows into its walls. consequently, the installation, which can be seen by people on their way to the subway or the mall, permits views through the multiple layers of stuffed screens. as well as encountering the stories told by the presented artifacts, visitors are encouraged to embed their own belongings within the walls, which have been left partially empty.
the display seeks to represent the tumultuous change that characterizes contemporary china
passersby are encouraged to engage with the maze
visitors are able to embed their own belongings within the walls
hong kong’s K11 mall regularly hosts art installations
‘stuff wall’ can be seen by people on their way to the subway or the shopping center
axonometric view illustrating the layout of the installation
project info:
client: K11
location: hong kong
area: 230 sqm
completion: november 2016
principal: he zhe, james shen, zang feng
project team: feng ziqing, pablo herraiz garcia de guadiana, wei jiachen, zhang zhen
photography: people’s architecture office
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