TEAM*
INTERVIEW /
Kevin K. S. Kim, AIA
PIC
Kevin K. S. Kim, AIA
PM
Jeff Kuhnhenn, AIA, LEED AP
PP
Jeff Kuhnhenn, AIA, LEED AP / Gregory Wieland, AIA
PD
KEVIN KIM, Jeff Kuhnhenn, Greg Wieland
GS&P’s design was chosen over several international firms as part of a design competition. Why do you think GS&P ultimately won?
currently have a government building, and they’re going to build a hotel and then the opera house. It’s becoming a cultural and entertainment area.
JEFF: The other designs were appealing to the architectural community, but not necessarily to that particular client. You could tell that their schemes were almost more addressing the latest architectural magazine or work from Holland or Denmark. The end result was that they were a bit displaced from this client, this location, this project. The client was looking for things that were a little bit more unique to who and where they were. It’s the only province of China that’s all island, so it’s a truly unique, amazing place. Their relationship to the sea is at the core of who they are.
It’s an amazing place, a truly unique location, and the only province of China that’s all islands. From a geological standpoint, these temporal barrier islands are predominately made up of things from the sea that may have accreted to create these islands over an incredibly long span of time. If you had a time-lapsed camera, you would be astounded at the change over time. They would almost appear to be wisps of smoke. Diatoms — the millions of microscopic organisms that die and fossilize — become the islands. So when we first started conceptualizing this project, it was just obvious to us that it had to be about the sea and this momentary transition on Earth. It’s not that hard to imagine literal interpretations of natural shapes, but to break it down to a microscopic level is a unique concept. What was the collaborative process like for the team?
We talked about the most absurd things you can think of. Good design firms have those discussions in most of their projects. They don’t just start drawing a floor plan.
GREG:
It’s absolutely a collaboration. We start talking and doing sketches and one idea led to another and…
Describe the site and the surrounding environment where the opera house will be built.
Kevin:
kevin: The city consists of several islands in a central location and is actually connected to the airport by a bridge. It was a low-lying sea area that they are trying to develop. They
GREG: Kevin:
We spin off of each other. One person’s idea evolves into another person’s idea.
*PIC Principle -in- Charge
PM Project Manager
PP Project Professional
PC Project Coordinator
PD Project Designer
A DD ’ L A d d i t i o n a l M e m b e r s
11
If you look at this design, it’s really organic looking, and your mind can create many different images. In one way it looks as subtle as a gentle mountain slope, and in another way it has the shiny scales of a fish. So it’s not really literally mimicking any one form, but one can conjure up many different images all related to nature and the sea. Kevin:
about the sea and this momentary transition on Earth
SHO W C ASE T W O
GREG: A lot of the design was driven by the requirements for a large auditorium and a couple of smaller buildings. So the building’s shape follows a little bit of that, but it has its own identity. A lot of the other entries looked like they were following a more traditional direction. They were very nice designs, but the more our team got together, the more we talked about different things that would mimic the sea and things you don’t see very often.
JEFF: