On October 15, 2021, Yuan Ye, ChiefArchitect of CSCEC, gave an academic lecture on the topic of"Reconstruction of Meaning" at the School of Architecture of TsinghuaUniversity. This lecture is the first lecture of the "Tsinghua ArchitecturalDesign Instructor Lecture Series" in the fall semester of 2021. Teachersand students from Tsinghua University and hundreds of online audiences listenedto Yuan Ye's wonderful speech.

Lecture scene

Teacher Yuan Ye giving a speech

In this lecture, Mr. Yuan Ye explained tothe audience the following topics involved in this lecture, that is, where the"meaning" of architecture comes from and what aspects should beinterpreted from it, and explained his philosophical thinking on architecturaldesign by explaining his thoughts and perceptions in six practical projects,that is, the meaning of building architecture through the response to man andnature.

First of all, Mr. Yuan Ye introduced theconcept of "meaningful form" by presenting a series of Chinese andforeign philosophical theories and artworks, and interpreted it from multipleperspectives.

Mr. Yuan Ye believes that architecture, asKarl Popper proposed the "three worlds", is the unity of the materialobject world, the inner psychological world and the objective product worldproduced by the mind.

The artwork exemplified by Mr. Yuan Ye：<The arch of suspense> Martin·Puryear

After that, Mr. Yuan Ye put forward theunderstanding of "meaningful form", and explained it through modernartworks, leading to the discussion and explanation of the concept of"architectural meaning" by Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin, and then putforward the understanding of the relationship between the three"meanings", that is, hoping to realize the "meaning" ofarchitecture by creating "meaning" and "artisticconception".

This methodology is also based on the desire tosolve contemporary problems. Taking Le Corbusier's urban planning thought as anexample, Professor Yuan Ye compared the scale of urban blocks in China withthose of other Western countries, and raised the contemporary question ofChinese cities: can urban history and culture be solidified in such a scalewithin the large-scale blocks where the sense of space is lost? Is the loss ofmeaning caused by the accumulation of symbols of power and commerce endangeringour cities and civilizations? How should you cope as an architect?

LeCorbusier's theoretical model of urban planning

Comparison of domestic and foreign block scales

In the face of these contemporary problems,how should the "reconstruction of meaning" be carried out? Mr. YuanYe used his own life experience and the works of several contemporaryminimalist artists as examples to express his understanding and recognition ofthe construction of natural and concise elements and formal language.

《Te Tuhirangi Contour》 Works by Richard Serra 《Te TuhirangiContour》

As for the question of how to conveymeaning, create artistic conception, and reconstruct meaning, Mr. Yuan Ye tookMies's Farnsworth House as a guide, and put forward his consistentarchitectural design logic by introducing his work "Tree House" inthe early stage of architectural learning: finding the path, forming the logic,establishing the order, introducing the form, and starting the design.

Mr. Yuan Ye's early work "Tree House"

Based on this logical line, Mr. Yuan Ye putforward the design methodology summarized by himself in thinking and practice,and began the introduction and discussion of the actual completed project inthe second half of the lecture.

The first project is the Tangshan EarthquakeSite Memorial Park, which is built on a 40-hectare site next tothe earthquake site in the old factory area of the Nanhu Development Zone inTangshan City. The design was successfully implemented in 2007 when it won aninternational competition for the Tangshan Earthquake Site Memorial Park.

Part of the competition drawings

The spatial structure of this project isdesigned to present a monumental character in the most concise plane form andcarefully planned path, with the four quadrants formed by the intersection ofthe memorial road and the abandoned railway as four different"scenes", and make it produce the strongest commemorativesignificance at the intersection.

Initial sketch of Tangshan Earthquake Site Park

At the same time, in terms of siteelevation treatment, the project hopes to show a step-like gradual upwardtrend, reaching the earthquake ruins at the highest point, forming a long andhighly monumental path.

Initial sketch of Tangshan Earthquake Site Park

During the construction of the project,practical difficulties were also encountered; However, in terms of largerspatial structure and scale, the project was able to adhere to the originalconcept of site structure construction, so as to present a site character withboth monumentality and vitality.

The names of the 240,000 victims areengraved on the black granite stone wall, echoing the water surface on theother side of the memorial road, presenting a quiet and grand spatial feelingin an abstract and natural way.

Director Feng Xiaogang's "TangshanEarthquake" was also filmed here

The second project is the Tangshan City Library. Continuing the abstract natural andhumanistic expression of the former, the problem of this project is to conveythe value of books and knowledge in the industrial city in the form of"book mountain", and at the same time achieve its humanistic weight,it also hopes to give the readers inside the building a "window ofknowledge" to look at the city from afar, create a grand and far-reachinginternal space with a sense of transparency, and show the great value of publiccultural space to the city.

During the construction of the project, practical difficulties were also encountered; However, in terms of larger spatial structure and scale, the project was able to adhere to the original concept of site structure construction, so as to present a site character with both monumentality and vitality.

幕墙与屋顶的钢结构体系

图书馆室内的“书山”

第三个项目是亳州市体育馆。该项目以创造开放共享的公共空间、体现城市历史文脉、展现现代体育精神以及传达东方文化力量感为出发点，打造将公共空间还于民众的现代公共场所。

建筑形体与表皮的灵感来源于对亳州历史文化的传承和对体育建筑性格的独特解读，三角形立体桁架形成的现代“柱廊”，成为建筑与城市之间的开放空间边界。

初始概念草图

在实际建造过程中，亦进行了表皮上的细致推敲与结构创新设计。结合室内外光线的微妙变化和丰富的公众活动场景，呈现出别具一格的视觉效果与空间感受。

而建筑最终也通过这一缓冲的“灰空间”设计实现了高效的人流组织和低碳运行的目标。

第四个项目是姜庄村改造项目，位于河南省台前县夹河乡的黄河岸边，基于周边的自然风景与原始村落环境，进行乡村整体有机更新与建筑改造。在这一项目中，主要面临的问题为场地文脉与风景的延续、旧建筑的保护、改造与新建建筑的协调融合，并体现对自然环境和地域文化的高度尊重与响应。

破败但充满自然气息的古村落

在此过程中，不仅要以自然的语言构建现代化的使用空间，同时还需要关注乡民的生活以及与其发生关系的空间场所。在整个项目的建设过程中，袁野老师及其团队在当地进行了长时间的调研与在地设计，采集地方建筑语汇，希望能以最为自然的状态重塑乡土的意义。

姜庄更新改造总体鸟瞰

项目延续了场地上的原有建筑风格与建构手法，对建造方式进行在地实验，以传统的生土技艺与砖砌结合的方式进行房屋的建造，并尽可能保留房屋内部如木梁、苇席吊顶等的原始结构，从而呈现出乡土建筑最为本真的状态。

改造后的姜庄

院落与黄河的对话

融入自然的新乡土建筑

以树屋与自然低调对话

同时，也为村民和游客建造活动中心和休闲酒吧等公共服务设施，以满足集会、休闲等集体活动的需求。

作为一个乡村扶贫项目，村民通过入股合作社的方式实现脱贫，成为主要的受益人。建筑的改造施工均由当地村民完成，从而再现和延续了当地传统的乡土建造方式，并由此强化了乡村社区的认同感和凝聚力。

村民文化中心院子

镂空砖墙的光影

第五个项目是黑河市中俄文化艺术中心，项目着力塑造公共建筑与公共空间之于民众的城市意义。该项目希望能够将文化中心建筑群及公共空间与南侧的文化公园有机结合，营造具有地标性和文化价值的城市公共文化活动中心。该项目目前处于施工阶段，预计将于明年落成。

最后一个项目是袁野老师为2020年北京国际设计周所设计的艺术装置“记忆之屋”，此装置的搭建目的是希望以最快速和最简洁的方式营造一处有意义的场所。

该装置由钢脚手架、物流运输的搁木架与半透明阳光板等廉价材料，以最为简洁的风车平面形式构成一个光的立方体，其中放置了一张钢板桌子和纸笔，人们能够在此进行短暂的停留和沉思，并写下对2021年的难忘记忆。

柯布西耶及其妻子的墓碑

在讲座的最后，袁野老师讲述了柯布之墓对其职业理想和人生观的影响，并由此以路易斯·康的一句话作为结语：

“Architecture is the thoughtful making of space.”

在讲座后的提问环节，现场师生以及线上听众与袁野老师热情互动，针对“浅显与意味”、“构筑物的互动性”、“建成项目中的再解读”以及“建筑设计的学习与实践”等问题进行了学术互动和深入交流。

供稿：张若恬

编辑：许宁婧