William Alsop's Mark in Chongqing： A British Architect Turns Abandoned Plant into Cultural Creativity Park

□　Written by Yang Yan　Photograph/ Interviewee

William Alsop's Mark in Chongqing： A British Architect Turns Abandoned Plant into Cultural Creativity Park

□Written by Yang YanPhotograph/ Interviewee

Professor William Alsop is a famous artist and architect from Britain. He is also the winner of the Stirling Prize， the top prize from BIBA （Royal Institute of British Architects）. As an eye-catching contemporary artist and a master of architecture， William Alsop's design work sprawls around the globe from a single small spoon to a big plan of a city. In 2002， he won the second title in the competition held by the world-renowned Pompidou Center at his early age of 23 and was awarded in the same year， the Commander of the Order of the British Empire and the Stirling Prize， which makes his fame rise worldwide in the architecture fi led.

Apart from unceasing world prizes， his eminent work also wins him such high reputation as member of both the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and BIBA. Because his design is full of his own style and novelty， William Alsop is ranked 1st on the list of the world's most creative architects issued by the famous US business magazine， Fast Company， and considered as one of the most visionary and imaginative designers in the contemporary era. He used to do architectural design for a number of brilliant buildings such as Peckham Library and Ontario College of Art and Design. Now in Chongqing， we can also find William's design work， which is the reformation design of an abandoned plant on the Erling Street.

A strong building in Chongqing

There is a 77-year-old abandoned plant on the Erling Street NO.1. The old buildings of the plant still remain after relocation in 2012. Government of the Yuzhong District decides to rebuild it into a cultural creativity park and William Alsop is the chief designer of the reconstruction project.

William once turned an obsolete dairy product factory on the riverbank of the Thames into a multi-functional art space TESTBED 1， which is now the most well-known incubator of art and fashion in London. And this old plant in Chongqing is named as the TESTBED 2 after reconstruction. That's why William takes up the post of chief designer.

When talking about the first impression on it， William Alsop said eloquently： “This is a strong plant building.” Meaningfully he used the word “strong” to describe the plant. For him， the building is interesting itself. It is the symbol of an era， a symbol of a city， and a recollection that belongs to those who used to work here. It will be really a pity if the reconstruction work is all about demolition and rebuilding. So he likes this building which is not over designed. His will focus on a progressive procedure to breath new life into the abandoned plant， making it the second TESTBED—a multifunctional architecture group that attracts more peoole.

Adding new elements to old plant

William Alsop is especially concerned with the need of people in his design. For example， the design of Ontario College of Art and Design， one of his typical masterpieces， is subjected to the neighboring residents' will that they do not want the new building block their eyesight since its location is near to parks and main streets. After a long-term communication with these residents， whose opinion is to make the new building suspend up in the air， William did suspend the rectangular building with several cement steel columns to meet the request. “Likewise， this time adjustment will also be made continuously according to the need of settlers. We will adjust our design according to different users of the building.”

During the interview， the journalist had found in numerous blueprints the following lines： “It is our design tenet to respectold buildings and history. New building may rise every day. But even if it is of high quality， it may lack spirit and profound history background.” And “The most beautiful ones in urban renewal work are possibly those lives already exist at the sites.” These words again express the design philosophy of William and his team： “We will not do over design. The old buildings are cool themselves and we are just making it cooler so that the old and new can be integrated texturally.”

Preference to Chongqing than Beijing and Shanghai

Six years ago， William Alsop came to Chongqing for the first time. “Chongqing left me with the first impression that it is a very interesting city. I came here for a couple of times later and each time it stroke me with something new. Chongqing develops really fast and I love this city of change.” However， the rapid change also causes him misgiving and regret. “Personally I hate it when some of the old buildings of Chongqing are gone and the new ones make it more and more of an international city because the most prominent feature of Chongqing lies in its unique geography， especially the two rivers that fl ow across the whole city. They make up the very unique advantage. I'm also impressed by the typical architectural form of Chongqing. The construction quality is very average though. So I'm worried that the new booming buildings are against the future development of the city.”

“The weather here is rather hot and humid. But in many designs of new areas， the need of the pedestrians is not fully considered. Some old districts of Chongqing have towering old trees to provide shade for residents and walkers while the new architectures there are not given enough consideration on their orientation and natural ventilation. It will be better for the urban development if more work is put on the heat insulation and sunscreen of new buildings. It seems to me that most of the new architectures are designed to maximize the profi t. And if every building is built that way， it will lose the people-oriented value.” As an artist and architect， William Alsop also shows his own opinion on the development of Chongqing. “There are two rivers surrounding Chongqing. We can not only set up more bridges to connect the rivers but also enhance the connection between the residents and rivers with our design and buildings so that they can blend in each other.”

“A building is a kind of cultural symbol itself. But not all building is creative. The problem of Chongqing is that I can not find any example that makes things creative. In order to make the city a better place， good architects should be invited and they should be given enough time to communicate with the residents to explore the possibility of making buildings creative and pragmatic. "

William Alsop has such architectural works in China as the Raffles Square in Beijing and the Shanghai International Transportation Center. In addition to his company set up in London， he chooses Chongqing as the address of his company in China. Besides the reconstruction project of the abandoned plant， more of his work will appear in Chongqing. “I like doing interesting things with interesting people. I prefer Chongqing to Shanghai and Beijing because Chongqing is more open than Shanghai and Beijing and gives you more surprise. The roads here are not as straight as those of any other cities. The twists and turns will never let you know what's coming up at the next turn.” The city makes him feel more cozy and natural. As he puts it， “It makes my heart throbbing.”

As infrastructures and traffic connection are indispensible for international city nowadays， William pays much attention to the traffi c construction of Chongqing. “Chongqing's effort on traffi c has been obvious. But it is still very hard to get on a straight fl ight from Europe to Chongqing. I really hope things will change in near future because the number of tourists here are less than other big cities in China and a brilliant city deserves more travelers to come to feel her charm.”