January 15 – March 4, Emilio Ambasz: Architecture Toward Nature

Emilio Ambasz：Architecture Toward Nature
埃米利奥·安柏兹：建筑面向自然

What is architecture and what makes a building more than merely a sum of its parts? How does one inhabit a place? Can buildings peacefully coexist with nature? Should architects strive to create emotionally charged total works of art? These are some of the questions that are central to the work of Emilio Ambasz. Architecture Toward Nature exhibition, organized by the New York-based Curatorial Project, examines the ideas and buildings of Ambasz, an architect, designer, curator, and writer who has been designing and building radical green projects for 40 years. He is a crusader whose work and ideas were, in the words of James Wines, the “forerunner of Green Architecture.”

Ambasz believes that architecture must be pragmatic, but its primary reason for being is to move us emotionally. It is for that reason that his architecture has a very poetic and solitary quality. It does not belong to any particular age, and does not necessarily belong to any particular place either. His projects are more like dreams, in which one stumbles upon these fantastic fusions of architecture and landscape. The architect says: “The ideal gesture would be to arrive at a plot of land so immensely fertile and welcoming that, slowly, the land would assume a shape – providing us with an abode. And within this abode – being such a magic space – it would never rain, nor would there ever be hardships of any other sort. We must build our house on earth only because we are not welcome on the land. Every act of construction is a defiance of nature. In a perfect nature, we would not need houses.”

什么是建筑，什么使得建筑不单单是各部分构件的拼插？人如何居住于一个场所？建筑和自然能和平共处吗？建筑师应该努力创造一种情绪化的艺术作品吗？这些问题是埃米罗·安伯斯的工作核心。由纽约策展人弗拉基米尔·贝罗戈洛夫斯基策划的展览“建筑走向自然”重新审视了建筑师、设计师、策展人和作家埃米里奥·安柏兹的想法和建筑。近四十年里，安柏兹一直在设计和建造先进的绿色建筑项目。他就像是名十字军战士，用詹姆斯·瓦恩斯的话来说，他的工作和思想就是“绿色建筑的先行者” 。

安柏兹认为，建筑必须务实，但其存在的首要原因是感动我们。 正因为如此，他的建筑才具有强烈的诗意和孤独的品质。 它不属于任何特定的年龄，也不一定属于任何特定的地方。 他的项目更像是梦想。人们在建筑和景观梦幻般的交融中蹒跚而行。 安柏兹说：“理想的姿态应该是，当你抵达一片如此宏大而肥沃的土地，慢慢地，它将迎着你的到来，呈现一个形状——为你提供一个居所。 在这里，在这样一个神奇的空间里，永远不会下雨，也不会有任何其他的灾难。 我们必须在地球上建造我们的房子，是因为我们在这片土地上并不受欢迎。 每一次施工都是对自然的蔑视。 在完美的大自然中，我们不需要房子。”

Curator 策展人:
Vladimir Belogolovsky
弗拉基米尔·贝罗戈洛夫斯

Assistant Curator 助理策展人:
Kelsi SU 苏杭

Thanks to 鸣谢：
Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong  香港大学建筑学院
Anderson Lee 李亮聪

Opening Reception and Lecture 开幕讲座
7:00PM, Monday, January 15, 2018
2018.1.15 19:00

Date 展期：January 15 – March 4, 2018
2018.1.15 – 3.4

Opening Hours 开放时间：
9:00AM – 6:00PM (Last entry at 5:30PM) 
Opens on all national holidays. 9:00 – 18:00 (17:30最后入场)，所有国定节假日均开放。

Venue 地点：
HKU/Shanghai Study Centre
298 North Suzhou Road, 
Hongkou District, Shanghai
Metro Line 10 or 12, Tiantong Road

香港大学上海学习中心
上海市虹口区北苏州路298号（近四川北路）
地铁10 或12号线 天潼路站3号口