Urban design | Region ought to keep traditional Cantonese architecture

Keshi Chen (center)

The British Business Association of Macau (BBAM) held a Business Luncheon yesterday featuring Keshi Chen, the leading designer of the Zhuhai Opera House and also the director of the Peking University Center for Urban Design.
The discussion, held at the St. Regis hotel, featured a presentation of Chen’s designs of the cultural facility, selected over 33 international firms’ submissions in the international bidding process for the right to design the building.
“This is the first time that a Chinese firm has won a contest involving international bids,” he said. Chen considers this to be a landmark for Chinese architecture.
The Opera House was one of the four cultural projects under construction, involving a total expenditure of more than two billion yuan. The projects represent the largest investment in this sector since the city was established as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 1980, according to data presented during the event.
Prof Chen told the Times that he was rather concerned about citizens’ opinions on the Zhuhai project.
“The most important thing is to create an opera house that belongs to Zhuhai and its people […] the building should be unique but most importantly, citizens should love the architectural design,” he explained.
Henry Brockman, chairman of BBAM, commented that the Opera House will “greatly improve Zhuhai’s tourist facilities and cultural environment, leading to an increase in the number of visitors to the area and its financial growth.”
Prof Chen is also the leading designer and consultant of the Tibet Tourism Town Lulang, which is supported by the Guangdong government. He believes that the project will help Tibet develop its tourism industry.
“It’s a huge project. The biggest project [in Tibet] in 60 years and it’s going to stimulate the Tibet tourism industry.”
Commenting on the local
architecture, Chen said that several buildings are quite interesting as Macau’s character is “incredible.”
“I hope that Macau can retain its Chinese traditions and the local Cantonese traditional architecture because there is a long history of Guangdong [in Macau]. The architecture, from my perspective, needs more ecological style,” he commented.
He also suggested that Macau architects could
practice in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other cities, and vice versa, Mainland architects can work here in the city in a program of exchange.
“Macau should be more open-minded, to introduce more architects from mainland China,” he added. Staff reporter

marreiros: ‘symbolism related to zhuhai’

Local architect Carlos Marreiros is expecting the Zhuhai Opera House project to be a success. “It will be an iconic building in Zhuhai because it has a visual impact on the skyline of Zhuhai. The symbolism is very related to Zhuhai because Zhuhai is linked to the sea and up until now, the city […] is connected to oyster cultivation and all kinds of things related to the sea,” he said.