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January 8, 2017

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Informality infuses Xintiandi architect’s home

BEN Wood, the renowned architect behind city landmark Xintiandi, found his ideal home in Shanghai on Jinan Road, not far from his first project in China.

“In my professional practice as an architect I rarely do interiors,” he said. “Of course, through the plans and sections I do set up the spaces which become the interior of a building. But when it came to my own home I was going to do all the design. Who else would I want to design the place I spend almost half of my time?”

As the architect of the apartment complex, there were already aspects of the apartment Wood had built into its design. The apartment met his criteria for an ideal living space: abundant natural light, north- and south-facing windows allowing for plenty of ventilation, some outdoor space (a large roof top deck), and no more than a 15-minute walk to work.

“The more modern the architecture the better,” Wood said. “High ceilings allowing for hanging large artwork are a must. My apartment has 2.9 meters floor to ceiling, and a two-story space with a skylight at the top over the staircase.”

He was able to remove several walls since there were no columns in the way. All beams span the entire width of the apartment. “I opened up the kitchen to the rest of the first floor and can now entertain many guests while I personally prepare them dinner.”

When asked about his decoration ideas for his personal space, the architect said: “I consider myself a designer, not a decorator.”

“The principal difference between the two is that the latter involves selecting finishes and furnishings from various collections created and produced by commercial home design houses. The former is more of a creative process which can be very personal,” he said. “My house is very personal. Much of what I did were deliberate explorations in visible transformations using natural and artificial light and colors to change the perception of space in the same way an artist does with the third and fourth dimensions to what is otherwise a two-dimensional representation.”

He proudly pointed to the large coiled orange plastic industrial duct that he placed in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. “When the sun rises, this orange ‘sunflower’ is illuminating the interior and literally brings the sun into the room.”

There is also a large polished stainless steel cylindrical ventilation fan that reflects the skyline at night. “Again the placement of the shiny industrial object in front of a large window fills the interior space with a constantly moving pulsating urban cyclorama,” Wood said.

Wood uses strong colors on the first level. “The green I chose came from what I call the ‘Shanghai green’ of the house number plates that are found next to every doorway. The number plates identify the street name and the address of each building. The green background color for the number plate is phosphorescent which means it glows in the dark. I paid a local antique dealer 8 yuan (US$1.16) each to collect 144 number plates from buildings being demolished in and around my Xintiandi neighborhood. I think of my number plate wall as a living legacy given to me by the former inhabitants of these houses.”

The penthouse apartment is filled with objects of art Wood has collected over the years. “The origins of most of the artwork are as personal as the rest of the design.”

There are two large black-and-white photographs next to the staircase. “They are photos of a young woman I met at my bar in Xintiandi. She was an aspiring model when we first became acquainted. At over 1.9 meters tall she did not fit into the conventional image of an Asian beauty. I hired a photographer who was not in the fashion business to help with her portfolio. I told the photographer to have her lose her make-up, dress in jeans and a plaid shirt, and do a shoot in a ‘raw’ industrial location. The results were stunning. Soon afterwards she found work, moved to New York City and had at least 15 minutes of fame.”

“There are two very large color photographs of rural landscapes by Yu Ping. I discovered his work on a trip to Xi’an. Last year I organized an exhibition of his work at my gallery in Xintiandi.

The exhibition was entitled ‘Design Without Designers’ and feature 22 high-definition photographs of several remote villages in the west of China, many of which have now vanished. The photographs are evidence of the catastrophic diaspora of rural culture that occurred in the wake of the greatest urbanization in the history of mankind,” Wood said.

There are many other interesting pieces in Wood’s art collection.

“I do admit having a preference for ‘non-pedigree’ vernacular architecture and art. One exception is a Yang Fudong photograph which hangs at the top of the stairs. The photograph is of a young woman in an almost empty room on a very modest bed getting dressed. She is almost ready to leave the room and the only evidence of why she was there is a man’s coat hanging from the bed post.”

As for Wood’s life at home he said he spends much of his time sitting at a large table in the middle of the living room. He doesn’t have a formal dining room. “For that matter, nothing in my house is intended to be ‘formal’.”

The table is made of five slabs of rosewood. The slabs do not join to form a seamless top.

“Irregular voids occupy the space between slabs, making the table even more alive and organic. I think this table best reflects my philosophy of design: the only real aesthetics are those found in nature. All the rest are superficial.”

Most of the furnishings are from three of Wood’s favorite places in Shanghai: Beijing Road E., Jinxing Market, and his own secret wood shop and furniture maker.

“Living in Shanghai has been a great adventure. And the future is what we imagine it to be. So for me, the road ahead here looks pretty good.”




 

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