“Divergent Convergence: Designing China”
An Exhibition presented by the USC American Academy in China
Beijing Urban Planning Centre
August 23 — September 23, 2009
How does the next generation of Western architects see China?
What is the Western perception of Chinese art, architecture and urbanism?
From the Curator’s Statement:
“Divergent Convergence will, for the first time, collect in a single exhibition the work of students and researchers from across American architecture schools, produced over the past decade. Projects will range in scale from individual works of architecture to proposals on an urban scale. More specifically, the selected projects will illustrate the responses of students and researchers to a series of questions critically relevant to the Chinese city today: How can architecture adapt to a hyper-compressed design and construction schedule? Should ancient neighborhoods be demolished to make way for new construction? Can cities accommodate rapid demographic change without opening up irreparable social rifts? How dense should cities become? How can sustainability be achieved in the context of increased industrial production? Ultimately, this multiplicity of investigative angles will constitute an in-depth study of Chinese urbanism and architecture in the context both of global economy and local culture . . .”Key Dates:
The proposed exhibition schedule is as follow:
| June 15 to Aug. 14 | Curatorial work |
| July 31 | Pre-Exhibition Forum at Tongji University in Shanghai |
| August 22 | 2nd Forum at Beijing Urban Planning Centre (Keynote speaker: Exhibition Curator Joseph Grima) |
| August 23 | Show Opening and Third Forum (Keynote speaker: Dean Qingyun Ma) |
| September 23 | Show Closing |
