Wallpaper - 10.2019

WRITER: MICHAEL WEBB

Architects often create models to

develop their concepts and enlighten

clients but, once construction begins,

these often-beautiful objects are usually

relegated to a high shelf to make

room for new projects. As an architect

whose company, Shanghai Fengyuzhu

Exhibition Co, fabricates models, Li Hui

thought the public might enjoy seeing

these exquisitely crafted miniatures,

so he opened a museum in his Shanghai

office building. A labyrinth of white

steel tubes divides up the space and

support a mezzanine gallery around

the periphery. Wooden models are

displayed on cantilevered steel shelves,

which can be viewed from different

angles and distances. The designer

of the model museum, Yu Ting of

ROLE MODELS

A museum celebrates the importance of an architect’s mini vision

architecture studio Wutopia Lab,

imagined a future city where buildings

are stacked one above the other

to define space in three dimensions.

To share his poetic vision with visitors,

he keeps them in a state of constant

surprise. Walls dissolve, vistas open

up, levels shift, and models are reflected

or silhouetted against streaming

natural light. Intimate red, yellow and

blue rooms open off the main space,

and slot windows frame the high-rise

cityscape. It’s a playground in which

ideas take wing.

wutopialab.com. The China Architecture

Model Museum is open by appointment

only. Fengyuzhu Building, 9th floor,

191 Jiangchang 3rd Road, Jing’An District,

Shanghai, tel: 86.21 6503 8765

Where’s the fun in renovating a

scruffy old city when you can

construct a ‘smart’ mega-city from

scratch? Songdo, Neom and Eko

Atlantic – techno-urban visions

brought to you by South Korea,

Saudi Arabia and Nigeria – are joined

by a string of new creations with

names like Vision City and Forest

City. Every generation has had its

own megalomaniacal urban projects –

Brasilia and Chandigarh in the 1960s,

Nur-Sultan (Astana) in the 1990s,

Naypyidaw in 2012 – but today’s

citymania is driven more by

economics than architect ego.

Asia still leads the way, but keep

an eye on Africa – we may be

witnessing a changing of the guard.

MEGA BLOCKS

INCOMING | JOHN WEICH

Photography: CreatAR Images

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