ROOF - room

14th International Architecture Exhibition

Location: Venice - Giardini - Central Pavilion

1103 AD

major carpentry:
yingzao fashi (state building standards)
Yingzao Fashi (YZFS), by state building supervisor Li Jie, is the oldest complete architecture
treatise found in China. Written in 1103 AD a time, like today, of immense growth in both
population and prosperity the Yingzhao Fashi offers a complete construction system de-
fined by the state for all types of architecture, at all scales: from imperial palaces to curtain
rods, and for all subjects from accountancy and construction management, to responsible
material use and design.

The Yingzao Fashis main aim was to curb corruption and improve the efficiency and quali-
ty of Chinese architectural production. Stipulating simple materials (wood, stone, earth) and
a limited number of components (dou), (gong), and (ang) the instructions could be
deployed throughout the entire empire, in all its climatic zones and seismic conditions. The
Yingzhao Fashis system was an integral part of Chinese society, which adopted its bureau-
cratic rites and rules as a basis for defining its architecture the free plan embedded with
elaborate social, economic, and sustainability strategies. Despite its seemingly rigid and ge-
neric nature, it contained space for local dialects and subtle differentiation and emphasis.
It is the product of a broader cultural renaissance powered by Song Dynastic rule and poly-
maths like Li Jie, who was also a painter, and a writer on topics including art, calligraphy, po-
etry, and philosophy, in which a close relationship between different interests, like botany
and building, was self-evident.

Only rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century at almost the exact moment in which
concrete and steel would start to replace traditional Chinese architecture a literal trans-
lation of the Yingzao Fashi to a foreign language doesnt exist to this date. Together with a
group of 18 Chinese students and supported by a number of Chinese experts, AMO looked
at the texts central component the construction of the Chinese roof and attempted a first
translation. Puzzled by the text, we re-prototyped the roof construction using blue foam in
two workshops in early 2014 at the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Ar-
chitecture.
AMO :with
Stephan Petermann & Cdric Van Parys
Experts: Dr. Jiren Feng, Fang Zhenning, Jia Zhao
Photography workshop: Marieke van den Heuvel

Students: CHEN Shanling, DENG Boren, HE Zicong,

LUO Yiqian, XIE Tianyang, ZHU Yuanzhi, DENG Boren,
HAN Wei, HUANG Jiayi, HUANG Minkun, LIANG Yuan,
LIU Jingxiang, LUO Yiqian, WU Sihong, XIE Tianyang,
YE Qing, ZHENG Xiangfa, ZHU Yuanzhi, ZHUANG Yanshan

Thanks to: Ole Bouman, Jorn Konijn, Vivian Zuidhof, RJ Models Shenzhen, and Alpha Suen
Developed with the support of the Dutch Creative Industries Fund.