“People Mountain People Sea: A Celebration of Everyday Life" at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale

Liu Jiakun is an internationally renowned architect and founded Jiakun Architects in 1999. The firm organizes and participates in a number of international architectural collaborations, exhibitions and exchanges.

On May 26, 2016, at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, Jiakun Architects presented the exhibit "People Mountain People Sea - A celebration of everyday life" -- a derived installation of architecture West Village. Located in a newly urbanized area in the northwest of the provincial capital of Sichuan Province, West Village is a huge urban complex that combines public life and commercial space in Chengdu.

People Mountain People Sea: A Celebration of Everyday Life

The city grows madly; memories are vanishing; public space has been slowly eroded; so does the genius loci and conventional ways of life. The so-called architectural traditions have become merely a symbolic existence. Daily life, especially people's leisure activities, is no more than a normative by-product of consumer culture.

Today's urban planning makes buildings in the city seem ever more divided into two categories - either a monument/landmark or a folk house: the former is attention-seeker and vacuums its surrounding area; the latter loses its standand withdraws into corners. The hierarchy of spatial configuration downgrades public spaces and severely undermines local spirit. It seems like, creativity, imagination and passion for life can only thrive on leftover spaces.

The site of West Village sits in middle of sweeping residential communities. The land is used for community sports activities - a plot ratio of 2.0 is allowed, with 40 percent coverage and the maximum height of 24 metres. Our task is to build an urban complex. Is it going to be a monolithic edifice centralizing the area or a collective combo containing diverse public spaces? This is our choice to make.

Is it possible to transfer the all-consuming nature of capitalism into a win-win case of sharing? To thrive on the gathering of often overlooked daily life contents? To regain the initiative of today’s vulnerable public spaces? To keep on the traditional cultural genes in contemporary cities? To turn the marketplace scene into art? This is our challenge.

The most distinctive feature extracted from West Village --- the circular ramp and public space, applying with exaggerated distortions, forms the steel installation placed in the exhibition stage. Little human figures are installed around the installation, not only demonstrating the scale of West Village but also creating a vibrant atmosphere.

Within the steel installation, there placed an interactive installation based on the design of West Village. By rolling steel balls, visitors are able to personally experience the relaxation and circulation of West Village. Screens on sidewalls show photographs, architectural drawings, construction details, videos, etc. Multiple layers of the exhibition response to the spatial relationship of West Village.

Xicun run - interactive installation

Xicun Run - interactive installation

Exhibition scene

Liu Jiakun at the Venice Architecture Biennale

A birdview of West Village

Unlike typical centripetal commercial complexes, West Village adopts a centrifugallayout that encircles the entire block to maximize the inner area of sports and green. The vast park-styled courtyard forms a green basin containing diverse public life; meanwhile it is a representation of the original low-land scape of Sichuan Basin - in both natural and cultural sense.

Smaller bamboo courtyards exist within bigger ones; and they are open to public and visitors can walk through freely. The spatial design carries on the ever-popular leisure lifestyle among locals and refreshes their former collective memories.

West Village's functional structure provides individuals with customizable spaces, their diverse expressions are integrated by the large scale of courtyard. In this way, the inner façade eventually becomes a parade of marketplaces cenarios.

An elevated runway entwined the whole courtyard, connecting each floors from the underground to the roof. It brings excitements of unusual experiences, especially for joggers and cyclists; meanwhile gives the project a dynamic look.

West village is a monumental attempt to assemble everyday leisure activities and responds to people's real appeal and simple dreams in the lost space. It is able to sustain and develop itself yet vitalize the public life of external surrounding communities.