"中國製造"在新世界,新經濟,新格局中的新含義
Lyndon Neri is one half of the architecture duo Neri & Hu, whose Shanghai-based 'design and research office' he founded almost a decade ago with his pArtner and wife, Rosanna Hu.
郭錫恩是建築設計雙人組如恩(Neri & Hu)的成員之一。大約在10年前，他與妻子兼合作伙伴胡如珊共同在上海創立了他們的如恩設計研究室。He is also a designer of products such as starkly minimalist tea sets made from zisha clay, found only in China's Jiangsu province, and furniture inspired by the country's humble street stools, made in collaboration with Dutch brand Moooi.
他也跨界設計造型極其簡樸的紫砂茶具（它的製作原料紫砂泥只有江蘇出產），以及靈感源自中國街邊普通板凳的傢俱，並與荷蘭家居品牌Moooi合作生產這些傢俱。This year marks something of a milestone for the practice, which now employs 90-odd people in Shanghai, London and New York. The breadth of Neri & Hu's work is being featured in a retrospective at Mexico's Museum of Modern Art, which opened this week, alongside that of Mexican architect Luis Barragan.
對於如今已在上海、倫敦和紐約僱傭了90餘名員工的如恩而言，今年算得上一個里程碑。他們廣博豐富的作品與墨西哥建築師路易斯?巴拉甘(Luis Barragan)的作品一同在墨西哥現代藝術博物館(Mexico's Museum of Modern Art)的一個回顧展上亮相，該展覽已在10月下旬開幕。
The pair's research-driven projects are rooted in a sense of place, with local references often abstracted: Take Spanish shoe brand Camper's China flagship, a 'building within a building' inspired by surrounding alleyways, and a derelict Shanghai lane house transformed into an angular experiment in private versus public space, with glass walls replacing the structure's facade.
這對夫婦注重研究的設計項目植根於一種地方感，常常提煉借鑑建築與所在地的關係。以西班牙鞋履品牌看步(Camper)在中國的旗艦店爲例，它被設計成了“樓中樓”，靈感則來自它周圍的里弄，它從一座廢棄的上海里弄建築轉變爲關於私密空間相對公共空間的棱角分明的實驗性建築，房子之前的立面被玻璃 所取代。Most recently, the duo was behind the loft-like interiors of Hong Kong's Pentahotel, which Mr. Neri describes as a 'zero-star' hotel intended to regenerate the city's East Kowloon district. Over a cup of Hong Kong-style milk tea served in a Neri & Hu cup, Mr. Neri spoke to the Journal about redefining 'Made in China,' collaborating with his spouse, and being a modern-day Renaissance man. Edited excerpts follow.
前不久，這對夫妻檔又操刀構思了香港貝爾特酒店(Pentahotel)那種類似loft的室內設計，郭錫恩稱它是一家爲復興香港東九龍地區而打造的“零星級”酒店。此番他接受了《華爾街日報》(The Wall Street Journal)的採訪，一邊用如恩的杯子喝着港式奶茶，一邊談論了重新定義“中國製造”、與妻子的合作以及成爲當代博纔多學之人等問題。下文爲經過編輯的採訪節錄。WSJ: The label 'Made in China' still has negative connotations, and yet that's something you've embraced. What does the term mean to you?
《華爾街日報》：“中國製造”的標籤依然具有負面含義，不過您接受了這一點。這個詞對您而言意味着什麼？A: I'm ethnically Chinese. I look at myself in the mirror and it doesn't matter where I went to school, it doesn't matter what company I work for, it doesn't matter how much respect I get in America, I am after all Made in China, through my DNA.
郭錫恩：我是一名華裔。無論我在哪兒讀書，在哪家公司工作，也不論我在美國獲得了多高的聲望，看着鏡子中的自己，我的血統終究是源自中國的，這是我的DNA決定的。WSJ: You grew up in the Philippines, studied at Berkeley and Harvard in the U.S., and started your career in New York. Why did you move to China?
《華爾街日報》：您在菲律賓長大，在美國的伯克利(Berkeley)和哈佛(Harvard)求學，又在紐約開啓了您的職業生涯。後來您爲什麼搬到中國？A: When I went to China I was very critical at first. At a certain point in time I was very critical of people spitting on the floor, wearing socks and PJs on the street. Then I really thought about it and I said, That could have been my uncle. That could have been my father. These people were not given opportunities that my grandfather and my parents were.
郭錫恩：剛開始來到中國時，我非常挑剔，有一段時間我非常看不慣那些往地上吐痰和穿着短襪和睡衣走在大街上的人。後來，我着實思考了一番，然後我想，那個人本可能是我的叔叔，也可能就是我的父親。他們只是沒有獲得我的祖父和父母所得到的機遇。I was heading back to New York and I said, Instead of being critical, why don't I do something about it? When you look at history, during the Qing Dynasty, during the Ming Dynasty, the finest crafts were made in this region. I decided that it was time to come back and create something here.
後來，在我返回紐約時，我就在想，我可以不要那麼挑剔，我爲什麼不爲此做點什麼呢？回顧歷史，你會發現在清朝和明朝，最精美的手工藝品都產自於此，於是我決定是時候回到這兒創造一些東西了。WSJ: Both you and your wife, Rosanna Hu, worked for American architect Michael Graves before setting up on your own. What's it like working with your spouse?
《華爾街日報》：在成立你們自己的公司之前，您和您的妻子胡如珊都曾爲美國建築師邁克爾?格雷夫斯(Michael Graves)工作過。與自己的伴侶一同工作是什麼感覺？A: We both have very strong personalities. The one thing we respect with each other is innately in both of us is a passion for culture, a passion for things that will leave a legacy and have a lasting meaning.
郭錫恩：我們倆的個性都非常強。我們互相尊重的一點是我們內心裏都熱愛文化，熱愛可以傳承、具有深遠意義的東西。WSJ: In what ways do you complement each other?
《華爾街日報》：你們如何實現互補？A: Rosanna designs by writing. Conceptually she would say, ''I believe this house should be about transparency.' I design with my hands, by drawing. We both love to design. But my wife and I, there's a difference between the two of us. She's very good with public relations. I'm not. I'm good marketing but I'm very bad at PR. That's two very different things.
郭錫恩：如珊通過書面進行設計。她會提出想法說：“我覺得這座房子應該設計得有透明度。”我則通過畫圖用我的雙手進行設計。我們兩個人都熱愛設計，但我和她有一個不同之處。她非常擅長公關，我則不擅長，我善於營銷但對公關很不在行。這就是我們非常不同的兩個地方。WSJ: What's your design process like?
《華爾街日報》：你們的設計流程是怎樣的？A: Oftentimes when we do a project, first we will scout out an area and we will understand the history of an area. We don't just come up with a form and go, This is what we do. It's hard for people who are used to this 'Where's the front door? Where's the back door?' kind of mentality.
郭錫恩：通常當我們開始一個項目時，首先我們會去當地實地勘查，瞭解那個地方的歷史。我們不會隨便想出一個大概然後就動手去做。這是我們設計的方式。習慣了“把大門設計在哪兒？把後門設計在哪兒？”這種設計思維的人會覺得我們的方式很難。WSJ: Can you talk about a favorite product you've made?
《華爾街日報》：能談談您最喜歡的自己設計的產品嗎？A: There are these small cups, whose colors are natural colors from the soil. In Chinese it's called zisha. The sha is really purple clay, which is found in a particular region in China. They always use this color only, and the brown color, but never yellow and black, and oftentimes they put serpents and dragons all over the cups. It's rather ostentatious.
郭錫恩：最喜歡的是那些小杯子，它們的色彩就是陶土天然的顏色，它在漢語中被稱爲“紫砂”。它真的是紫色的陶土，只有中國某個地區出產。製造師傅一直只採用這種顏色，另外還有棕色，但絕不會採用黃色和黑色，他們常常還在杯身上刻滿蟒和龍。它的造型是極其炫耀的。The first thing we did was to simplify. We're not celebrating the dragon or the serpent. We're celebrating the material itself, which takes on the flavor of the tea that you're drinking. That's why tea makers use it. We created a really simple cup that makes people go, what's the big deal with this cup? Then the story comes: It's the material.
我們做的第一件事就是簡化它，我們要突出的不是龍和蟒，而是這種材料本身，它會吸收你所飲之茶的芳香，所以喝茶的人喜歡用它。我們設計了一種非常簡樸的紫砂杯，它會讓大家納悶這種杯子有什麼了不起的？答案很快就出現了：它的原料。WSJ: How did you become an architect?
《華爾街日報》：您是如何成爲一名建築設計師的？A: I went to Berkeley for my undergraduate. My dad wanted me to be an engineer, so I lied to him. He was in the Philippines at that time. He asked, What are you studying?, and I said, Engineering, mechanical engineering -- when in fact I was studying art, painting, my first passion.
郭錫恩：我在伯克利讀的本科，我的父親希望我成爲一名工程師，所以我對他撒謊了，那時候他還在菲律賓。他問我學的什麼專業？我說學工程，機械工程，而實際上我學的是藝術和繪畫，我最熱愛的東西。At the end of my second year my dad calls me and says, I think I need to be close to you guys. That's when I panicked. I went to the school and tried to transfer, but there was no way you could transfer from art to engineering, all the requirements are so off. Architecture was a happy medium.
到了大二快結束時，父親打電話給我說，他覺得有必要和我們大家呆得近一些，那時我開始恐慌了。我找到學校試圖轉系，但是你絕不可能從文科轉到工科，它們的各種要求都如此不同。建築系算得上一個令人滿意的中間學科。WSJ: Did your father approve?
《華爾街日報》：您父親同意嗎？A: When my dad landed, this was the '80s, the real-estate economy was doing very well. I said, Dad, maybe I should do architecture, and he's like, Yeah, that's not a bad idea, because obviously he was just thinking that it would make money. Little did he know that I was more interested in different things, the more experimental aspect of architecture.
郭錫恩：他來到美國時是80年代，房地產經濟非常繁榮。我對他說，爸，或許我應該去學建築。他回答說這個想法不錯，顯然他只是覺得學建築能掙錢。他不是太瞭解我對多種多樣的東西，即建築實驗性的那一面更感興趣。WSJ: Do you see yourself as an artist?
《華爾街日報》：您認爲自己是一名藝術家嗎？A: I'm foremost an architect. But I believe in the Renaissance. I do. I think when art and culture and architecture went from Europe to America, there was a need for specialization. So all of a sudden architects aren't architects anymore: There are architects, there are window consultants, there are door consultants, there are acoustic consultants, so every project merits 30 consultants, just to mitigate risk. By doing that all of a sudden you lose control.
郭錫恩：我首先是一名建築師，但我相信博學多才是有益的，我確實這麼認爲。我認爲藝術、文化和建築從歐洲傳播到美國時，確實有專業化的必要。因此，突然間建築師就不再是建築師了，建築項目中既有建築師，也有門窗設計顧問，還有聲學顧問，每個項目都得有30名顧問，這只是爲了減輕風險。正是因爲這樣，突然間你就失去控制權了。I want to take back what was rightfully given to architects: what Michelangelo was doing, what [Filippo] Brunelleschi was doing, what [Francesco] Borromini was doing. There's a movement toward that.
我希望能重新獲得建築師理應得到的東西，像米開朗基羅(Michelangelo)所做的一樣，像菲利波?布魯內萊斯基(Filippo Brunelleschi)一樣，像弗朗切斯科?博羅米尼(Francesco Borromini)一樣。現在建築界出現了一股向這個方向發展的動向。Great architects like David Chipperfield, David Adjaye, they're all coming back to a more multidisciplinary approach.
比如戴維?奇普菲爾德(David Chipperfield)和戴維?阿賈耶(David Adjaye)這些傑出的建築師，他們都重新以跨領域的角度進行設計。
