Layering Screens: Wutopia Lab’s Endeavor to the Magical Realism of Architecture

Description of project by Wutopia Lab

Wutopia Lab, founded by Yu Ting and Ming Erni, was established in December 2013 in Shanghai. To celebrate their five-year anniversary since starting the studio lead architect Yu Ting invited Professor Fan Wenbing to curate this celebratory exhibition, located at the third floor of Sinan Books. In this space that is also designed by Wutopia Lab, Yu Ting and Professor Fan did not see the purpose of following the typical architectural exhibition prototype of displaying architectural drawings, models and videos and of course did not have the time to reconstruct a whole exemplary space. They decided to try something that is different from the usual to reproduce Wutopia Lab’s practice of Magical Realism in Architecture.

Layering Screens
As a pragmatic idealist, Yu Ting sees the renovation of Sinan Books as a starting point to his story. Followed up by the installation of a set of miniature mountain display boards within the third floor of Sinan Books, the exhibition is continuation of Wutopia Lab’s journey. Professor Fan chose 12 projects from the studio’s portfolio and thus 12 mountains were formed. These overlapping display boards that form a mountainous landscape is also like the folding screens of tradition Chinese culture, hence, the name Layering Screens. Only one photograph and the name of these 12 projects are kept in the display as a table of contents. The audience, by scanning the irrespective QR codes, is able to access the complete information about these projects through online journal articles. Illustrated on the back of each mountain is a keyword that corresponds to the given project followed by a key phrase that summaries the essence of the project.

Magical Realism
The studio’s expression of the red mountains is inspired by Yu Ting’s practice of two major artistic approaches, which are Song Dynasty Shan Shui and German Expressionism. The overlapping screens of the red mountain-scape also demonstrates Yu Ting’s experiments in architectural techniques, including semi-transparency, materiality, layered elevations, color and shadow. The illustrated words and photographs displayed on the red mountains seems to be floating in the air. The coinciding red of the mountains and the green of the Sinan exhibition room creates an environment for Yu Ting’s endeavor towards an aesthetic of Magical Realism.

An Ambition
At the far end of this mountain-scape is a map encompasses all the projects done over these three years that are apart of Yu Ting and Dai Chun’s Urban Micro Space Revival Plan. This map continues to fill and expand as small changes to the everyday grow to influence the bigger urban atmosphere, contributing and nourishing the greater city of Shanghai.