A Structure of Feeling

Introduction

Twenty-five years ago, Aedes presented TUMU, an exhibition that brought a generation of young independent Chinese architects to international attention for the first time. A Structure of Feeling builds on that legacy, turning its gaze towards a new generation working under changed conditions.

The title draws on Raymond Williams’ concept of the ‘structure of feeling’: a shared experience in the process of becoming, which resists straightforward description. The exhibition follows the traces of that shared experience, making them legible through concrete works — as a snapshot of shifting architectural practice.

This accompanying talk brings together perspectives on the adaptive reuse of existing structures, the transformation of rural areas and emerging forms of spatial production at a moment when a period of rapid expansion in China is giving way to a more differentiated mode of development. The discussion opens these positions, with their insights and challenges, to a broader international debate.

Programme

Welcome and Introduction

Dunya Bouchi, Aedes Berlin
Gao Changjun (Kris), Curator, Shanghai

Short presentations

• Bu Xiaojun & Zhang Yingfan, Atelier Alter Architects, New York/Beijing
• Fan Beilei, genarchitects, Shanghai
• Meng Fanhao, line+ studio, Hangzhou & Shanghai & Hong Kong
• Liu Kenan, Atelier XÜK, Shanghai
• Shui Yanfei, Yanfei Architects, Shanghai
• Qi Shanshan, Studio QI Architects, Hangzhou/New York
• Zhuang Ziyu, BUZZ | Büro Ziyu Zhuang Architects, Beijing/Shanghai/Berlin

Discussion

• Gao Changjun (Kris), Curator, Shanghai
• Erhard An-He Kinzelbach, Founder, KNOWSPACE, Berlin / Professor, Department of Architectural Design and Building Construction, Bochum University of Applied Sciences
• Eduard Kögel, Curator and Urban Planner, Berlin
• Binke Lenhardt, Co-founder and Partner, Crossboundaries, Beijing / Frankfurt a. Main / Professor Sustainable Design, Faculty of Architecture, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Dortmund
• Wilfried Wang, President of CICA / Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai
• moderated by Jacopo Benedetti, Assistant Professor, Tongji University, Shanghai / Academic Editor of A Structure of Feeling

Followed by a preview of the exhibition A Structure of Feeling and a get-together