China and The Future

I started thinking about the situation in China, about tradition in China and the future. I was especially concerned about the disaster of traditional buildings being knocked down everywhere. It produced a large amount of waste material so I used lots of recycled materials in my buildings, not just in small experiments but in large-scale projects such as school campuses, museums and a huge public building.

But I am giving people time to embrace my ideas. It is very important to focus on recycling and sustainability. Then, there is the Chinese culture. We have to think long and hard about it. It is not just about doing popular things. In China, everything is popular now but, if that is all they do, the Chinese culture will die and it is coming very close. I think raising this awareness is the purpose of my work.

China is a huge country that is developing very fast and increasingly influencing the rest of the world. If it does not take the right path, it will be disastrous for the whole world. It needs to do some serious thinking and take action. When people ask about the meaning of my work, I say that I may not be perfect but my message is that in China the impossible can become possible.

by Wang Shu