Big Big Small Small

By Li Xiangning - 30 September 2015

Founder of one of the first independent architectural practices in 1993 with partner Lu Lijia, Yung Ho Chang has made his Atelier Fei Chang Jian Zhu (FCJZ) a legendary name in contemporary Chinese architecture. As one of the key figures of China’s Experimental Architecture in the 1990s, his practice continues to explore the dynamic between concept and craft, narrative and form while trying to cross over the boundaries between architecture and contemporary art, or between design and everyday life.

Yung Ho’s non-conformist ways do not end up with millions of square meters built up as many of his peers have done in China today, where “Bigness” has permeated most construction. Instead, testifying to his versatility and craftsmanship, his design works range from jewelry, tableware, costume, furniture, stage and interiors to architecture and micro-urbanism. Yung Ho takes all these forms of design, big and small, as a unity or as a piece of architecture. Moving across different scales gives the office opportunities for introspection, helping it to avoid all kinds of obvious architectural clichés.

From Split House (small house, 2002) to Hebei Education Publishing House (small city, 2004), from The Bay Houses (not so small house, 2010) to Chang An Canal Club (big mansion, 2011), from Anren Museum Bridge (small museum, 2012) to King’s Joy (not so big courtyard, 2012), and from Vertical Glass House (smaller experimental house, 2013) to Great Wall Amphitheatre (big stage, 2014), the playful juxtaposition of big/small stands out in their recent architectural projects. The alternating sequence of big and small projects unexpectedly coincides with Yung Ho’s story-telling approach to architectural conception.

A close reading of two projects, Chang An Canal Club (big mansion) and Vertical Glass House (smaller experimental house) reveal the common and differentiated...