A TRIP TO BEIJING
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I just got back from a one-week trip to Beijing. It was my first real trip to Asia (I visited India a few years ago). Overall it was very eye opening in the aspects of how sustainable a city cannot be. The pollution and chaos we saw here was pretty surreal.
The Forbidden City was amazing. We were there while it was closing and I made sure to be one of the last out. Seeing it vacant of human activity made it even more grand.
I absolutely love the red tones of the walls in their structures.
We visited a few projects by artist Ai Weiwei. Beautifully crafted urbanism.
I am a total sucker for the CCTV by OMA. I love how is sits differently within the city from different vantage points.
Linked Hybrid by Steven Holl had to have been one of my favorite projects I have ever visited. It was extremely well orchestrated and put together. I was glad my friend and I decided to sneak behind a cafe to find an elevator to the bridges.
I loved the economic stratification that was so present within the city. Here we see a typical poor hutong neighborhood with Zaha Hadid’s newest project looming empty in the background.
The social housing reminded me of my time with Pier Vittorio Aureli.
They had pockets of great urbanism. All good roads should end with a visual prominence. In this case, the Bell Tower.
Our last day was spent with a quick trip out to the Great Wall of China. The pollution was still present, but it gave a sort of morning myst romanticism to the wall.
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