“不求恒久遠，但求意未盡。”
——安東尼·德·圣埃克蘇佩里

（文/圖）：Neri&Hu

“不求恒久遠，但求意未盡。”
——安東尼·德·圣埃克蘇佩里

（文/圖）：Neri&Hu

"We Do Not Ask To Be Eternal Beings,We Only Ask That Things Do Not Lose All Their Meaning."– Antoine De Saint Exupery

如恩設計研究室作為一家多元化的建筑師事務所，堅信建筑是文化生產和社會變更的產物，目的在于通過高度依賴語境和跨學科的設計方法建構價值與意義。

如恩立足于上海這個色彩斑斕卻又讓人迷惑的城市。上海城市建筑的飛速發展使我們不得不面對一個割斷了記憶、偏重行動而遠離思考的城市。現實有些讓人遺憾，卻為我們提供了機遇，也激發我們從新的路徑思考舊物改造和修復歷史遺跡的問題，這是對傳統模式和意識形態的挑戰。我們認為必須以批判而審慎的方法保存城市肌理和建筑記憶，在我們的環境特性中展示時代精神，而非簡單的復制。通過精心處理和協調矛盾，我們已經在許多建筑作品中證明，可以在歷史建筑中創建充滿驚喜的空間體驗，并賦予其新的生命力的可能性。

如恩認可環境的重要性。我們也敏銳地意識到建筑從來都不是純理性思維的產物，也不是環境作用的直接結果。它始終是反映個人與文化的愿望與理想。我們不會回避傳統遺產。已建成的世界讓我們知道并記住自己是誰，嵌入身份之中的不僅僅是我們共同的中國遺產，當然還包括我們的教育、先輩、不斷地參與持續中的對話，以及每個人的理念。我們確實一直癡迷于我們的文化身份及其在本民族和世界范圍內的典型價值。我們得到了許多的支持，希望挑戰被曲解的中國形象，同時重新闡釋并定義中國的美學。

如恩認為在如此復雜的條件下工作，需要更廣泛地界定設計師的領域。我們堅信多樣性及其形成設計跨學科方法的重要作用。因為當代建筑問題的新情況已經超越了傳統的邊界，我們的實踐包括所有層面上的設計思維。經過十年的實踐，我們的工作覆蓋了建筑設計、室內設計、產品設計、平面設計等領域。一直以來，建筑師對空間以及物質性的視角都是我們研究的焦點。

如恩堅持以研究作為一種設計方法，因為每一個項目都有各自獨特的相關問題。批判性地探索項目、場地、功能和歷史的獨特性，對于創作嚴謹的設計作品是必不可少的。在研究的基礎上，我們希望將工作牢牢扎根于運動、細節、物質、形式和光的互動，而非遵循刻板化的風格。通過具象和抽象的表現為建筑形式賦予意義，是每個項目的終極追求。

Neri&Hu as an architectural duo strongly believes in architecture as a paradigm for cultural production and social change, aiming to create meaning and significance through its highly contextual and inter-disciplinary approach to design.

Neri&Hu established its practice in Shanghai, as colorful and as confusing a place as one could hope for. The massive rapidity of Shanghai's urban construction forces us to confront a city disconnected from its memory, a city that prefers deeds over deliberation. This somewhat unfortunate reality turns into an opportunity for us, provoking new ways ofthinking about the issues of adaptive-reuse and historic restoration that challenge traditional modes and ideologies. We believe that urban fabric and architectural memory should be preserved with a critical and sensitive approach that exemplifies a zeitgeist within the specificity of our context, and is not merely reproduced. Through a delicate handling and negotiation of contradictions, we have shown in many built works the possibility of creating unexpected spatial experiences in historic buildings, giving them new life.

Neri&Hu recognizes the importance of context, we are also keenly aware that architecture has never arisen from purely rational thinking or directly as a result of its context. It has always reflected personal and cultural aspirations and ideals, and we do not shy away from that heritage. Our constructed world enables us to understand and remember who we are, and embedded in that identity is not only our shared Chinese heritage, but certainly our education, mentors, continual exposure to ongoing discourses, and personal obsessions. We have indeed been obsessed with our cultural identity and its representative value both within the national borders and on the global stage. We operate on many shores and desire to challenge China's misrepresented image, while contributing to the defining of a re-interpreted Chinese aesthetic.

Neri&Hu believes that working under such complex conditions necessitates a broader definition of our scope as designers. We believe in diversity and its profound contribution to creating an inter-disciplinary methodology for design. Because new sets of contemporary problems relating to buildings now extend beyond traditional boundaries, our practice embraces architecture's supremacy in design thinking on all levels. Through our ten years of practice, we have shown extensive work in the realms of product design, graphic design, interior design, alongside our architectural explorations. All the while, the architect's perspective on space and object-hood is always at the center of our investigations.

Neri&Hu insists on research as a design approach as each project bears its unique set of related issues. A critical probing into the specificities of program, site, function, and history is essential to the creation of rigorous design work. Based on research, we desire to anchor our work on the dynamic interaction of movement, detail, materiality, form and light rather than conforming to a formulaic style. The ultimate significance behind each project comes from how the built form creates meaning through its physical and metaphysical representations.

創明鳥上海辦公室（攝影：Dirk Weiblen）