Architects and artists fancy a utopian city

The works of 20 teams of bold and creative Chinese architects and artists are on display at the “Reconstructing Utopia” exhibition at OCT Art & Design Gallery, where they are envisioning the future of buildings, cities and communities.

The artworks, in the forms of installations, models, videos and photos, are classified into three groups exhibited on each of the gallery’s three floors. Curator Ye Cheng aims to rethink China’s past rapid urbanization and critically analyze the future — which will likely be dominated by smart technologies — and finally reexamine the nature of architecture and cities.

“While constructing the real world, humans always fancy a parallel imaginary world, which is exemplified by the Garden of Eden in the Bible, ‘Inferno’ in ‘The Divine Comedy’ by Dante, ‘Republic’ by Plato and ‘Utopia’ by Thomas More. The construction of a utopia usually comes out of the pursuit for a perfect world, or the expectation of the blueprint for the future, or a criticism and satire of reality, or at last even clinging to rebellion and receding into dystopia,” said Ye, founder of Wild City Architects in Beijing.

“Entering the 20th century, breakthroughs in construction technologies brought long-term structures and high-rise buildings into reality, with buildings extended both horizontally and vertically. The emergence of utopian cities at this time was a response to the demand for high-population-density metropoles and a necessary for the development of modern cities,” he explained.

“DenCity · A Reachable Utopia in Shenzhen” by Shenzhen architect Liu Xiaodu and UPRD. Cao Zhen

At the exhibition, Shenzhen architect Liu Xiaodu and his URBANUS Program Research Design team members presented the bold “DenCity · A Reachable Utopia in Shenzhen,” a giant wood and acrylic building model that may accommodate a whole city’s residents. The work was displayed at the 2016 London Design Biennale where Liu explained that it is a new and sustainable co-living environment drawing inspired by the idea of a utopia. “By appealing to newcomers with its entrepreneurial spirit, Shenzhen has expanded not only to the limit of its land resources, but also to the ceiling of affordable housing for immigrants. What’s the solution for such a rapidly growing metropolis?”

Beijing artist Yin Xiuzhen creates her “portable” cities by carefully arranging discarded clothes on a line of pagoda-like installations made up of suitcases, stainless steel, tail throats and exhaust pipes. At a time when many people are traveling on a regular basis, being at home everywhere and nowhere, the project, titled “Seven,” is an interesting attempt towards the thought of “living out of one’s suitcase,” illustrating the actual loss of our local identity and culture.

Dates: Until May 20

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., closed Mondays

Tickets: 8 yuan (students and teachers), 15 yuan (adults), free to the public Tuesdays

Venue: OCT Art & Design Gallery, 9009 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山区深南大道9009号华·美术馆)

Metro: Line 1 to OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C