Ordos 100, Eight Years Later
Back in 2008, Ordos 100 – 100 villas in Inner Mongolia designed by 100 architects – was unveiled. Master planned by Ai Weiwei and curated by Herzog & de Meuron, the project was a mix of American suburbia and avant-garde architecture:
[Interior spread from exhibition pamphlet for the Architectural League's "13:100 | Thirteen New York Architects Design for Ordos (Mongolia)" exhibition (hi-res)]
I've been under the assumption that the project basically died without any of the houses realized. I knew the surrounding "city" saw a museum and the usual brand of Chinese housing erected, yet the city and the Ordos 100 project were white elephants, plain and simple. But it turns out that some of the houses were built, at least to some degree, as some photos by Raphael Olivier (found at Dezeen) indicate:
[Ordos Art Hotel by EXH Design]
["An abandoned building from Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron's Ordos 100 Project," per Dezeen]
[HHF's Dunehouse, not the house they designed as part of Ordos 100]
[Ordos Restaurant by Yazdani Studio]
Yet, aside from the credited HHF project (substantially different on their website), I'm not sure which architects are responsible for these partially realized, abandoned Ordos houses. Any ideas? If so, please comment and I'll credit them accordingly.
[Interior spread from exhibition pamphlet for the Architectural League's "13:100 | Thirteen New York Architects Design for Ordos (Mongolia)" exhibition (hi-res)]
I've been under the assumption that the project basically died without any of the houses realized. I knew the surrounding "city" saw a museum and the usual brand of Chinese housing erected, yet the city and the Ordos 100 project were white elephants, plain and simple. But it turns out that some of the houses were built, at least to some degree, as some photos by Raphael Olivier (found at Dezeen) indicate:
[Ordos Art Hotel by EXH Design]
["An abandoned building from Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron's Ordos 100 Project," per Dezeen]
[HHF's Dunehouse, not the house they designed as part of Ordos 100]
[Ordos Restaurant by Yazdani Studio]
Yet, aside from the credited HHF project (substantially different on their website), I'm not sure which architects are responsible for these partially realized, abandoned Ordos houses. Any ideas? If so, please comment and I'll credit them accordingly.
The last one is a restaurant by Yazdani Studio, not a villa for the Ordos 100 project.
ReplyDeleteJudging by satellite image on google maps, none of these are actually within the 100 villas part of the site orchestrated by Ai Weiwei and Herzog & de Meuron but just off to the southeast (that empty spot to the left in the model photo you have at the top).
For example, on this map, the bend bar of this restaurant can be seen just across the street from the circular bubbles of the proposed concert hall (also by Yazdani). You can also see these buildings already in this masterplan that predates the Ordos 100 project.
(The Dezeen commenters have since identified the honeycomb building as the Ordos Art Hotel by EXH design and the HHF building as a separate project of theirs.)
Many thanks for the clarification, Trevor. That only leaves the second photo, the least appealing design of the bunch. And with the understanding that these are non-Ordos 100 projects, the need to figure that one out is gone.
Deleteyou can watch all built buildings in my video about ordos with enough close ups ;)
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