Contemporay Chineses architectural design in post theory era

Abstract

Either being conscious or unconscious, contemporary Chinese architectural design indeed reflects the current debate on post-criticality and Pragmatism in the design of city and architecture. “Our experiences within cultural institutions, academia and urban regeneration revealed that many people were, unwittingly but in significant ways, legitimizing aspects of the new strains of neo-liberalism across cities and thus themselves ushering into the field of state of de-politicisation or post-criticality” (Deepa Neik & Trenton Oldfield, The Urban Industry and its Post-Critical Condition, Critical Cities, Ideas, Knowledge and Agitation from Emerging Urbanists, p18, Volume 2, 2010) Envisaging uncertainties of the future, most architects can only DO but not think, in China there is simply no time for contemplation. Whichever direction Chinese architects are leaning to, the pragmatism in Chinese contemporary architecture exhibits one common feature, i.e. to result in new knowledge and reliable experiences out of engagement of specific conditions and requirements based upon case by case analysis of specific issues. The theory of pragmatism in contemporary architectural design is therefore, to creatively challenge the architectural autocrat which secures the interests of some seniors with the belief of perpetual norms based on old realities at expense of others, to continue the criticality in the post-critical time, to theorize new practice or constantly rectify old theories with provision of high quality architectural products rather than trying to labeling new practice with old indexes.

無意識被動也好，有意識主動也好，我們中國的當代建築恰恰是高強度的驗證了西方學術界最新的議題-後批判(post-criticality)或者實用主義（Pragmatism） 。 “我們在文化機構，學術界和城市更新的經歷，雖然沒有意識，但卻極具意義地使跨越不同城市的新自由主義（neo-liberalism）新血統合法化，結果是引領到'去政治化'（de-politicisation）或者'後批判'的狀態。” 在這樣的條件下，建築師面對無法預知的未來，更多的是＂做＂而非＂想＂，在中國更是沒時間想。無論選擇哪個方向，實用主義的中國當代建築都有一個共性，那就是見招拆招，具體問題具體分析，從事和麵對現實特定條件的各種問題，​​從結果的效果中提取經驗和知識。如果上升成為實用主義建築設計的態度和做法，就要不被既定的建築專制束縛，就要延續後批判的批判性，就要依靠相關行業的進步實現高質量的完成度，從實踐中悟出新理論，再從實踐中不斷修正舊理論。