Ren Building, Shanghai
August 17, 2008
Architecture in China never ceases to amaze us case in point the REN Building. Copenhagen’s Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) proposed this eye-catching design over a year ago to coincide with Shanghai’s “Better City, Better Life” 2010 World Expo .
As we all know, Chinese characters evolved from pictures, this one “人” in particular from a picture of a man walking. There are lots of discussions going on about the building such as the cultural image used is translated too literally, communism promotes ‘better’ architecture than capitalism, staircase vs elevator vs escalator, and so on.
The building is conceived as two buildings merging into one (one symbolic of mind and the other symbolic of body). The first building, emerging from the water, is devoted to the activities of the body, and houses the sports and water culture center. The second building emerging from land, is devoted to the spirit and enlightenment, and houses the conference center and meeting facilities. The two buildings meet in a 1000 room hotel, a building for living. The building becomes the Chinese sign for ‘The People’, and a recognizable landmark for the World Expo in China.
Posted in building, Architecture
