Nimrod Wong_Y5 |Unit 14 | Bartlett School of Architecture

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THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE FOR THE ONE BELT ONE ROAD NATIONS

NIMROD WONG YEAR 5

UNIT

Y5 NW

CHINA’S ITCOBORN

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NIMROD WONG YEAR 5 Y5 NW

nimrdowong01@yahoo.co.uk @nimrodwhatta01

C H I N A’S I T C O B O R N Venice, Italy

RESEARCH

T All work produced by Unit 14 Cover design by Charlie Harris www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2019 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

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he search for modern courage has led the project to research president Xi Jin Ping’s trillion pound BRI (Belt Road Initiative); often referred to as China’s most audacious global economic initiative’. One of the main goal of the initiative is to smooth economic integration between neighbouring states while expanding China’s trade capabilities. The initiative currently includes 71 countries and accounts for half of the world’s population and a quarter of global GDP Concerns about debt diplomacy on China’s expansive infrastructure megaproject - the BRI have become an increasing source of debate from Asia to Africa and the Middle East. Diplomatically, it promotes social mobility and economic cooperation between countries in the three continents.

propositioned to be one of the largest international economic organization in the modern era of increased globalization. The ITCOBORN particularly deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between the participating belt road countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to ITCOBORN agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. The organization prohibits discrimination between trading partners, but provides exceptions for environmental protection, national security, and other important goals.

BRIEF DEVELOPMENT

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he formation of the new organization has risen from the recent incidents, protests and trade injunctions around the world caused by the BRI. The new scheme serves as realised democratic and mediating arena which aims to foster multinational relationships as well as regulate economic activity within the initiative.

The proposed International trade centre for the one belt one road (ITCOBORN) aims to capitalize on President Xi’s trillion dollar foreign policy as a means of offering developing countries and emerging economies along the historic Silk Road route with an improved integration of socioeconomic interests.

Referencing the programmatic structure of the United Nations, the new organization functions as a multinational alliance that regulates, facilities, mediates international trade, as well as settle trade-related disputes within the BRI network. It is

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PUBLIC ENTRANCE

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APPROACHING THE COMMITTEE BLOCKS 80

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A TRANSPARENT BROADCASTING PROPAGANDA CENTRE

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All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Charlie Harris www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2019 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

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UNIT

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M O D E R N C O U R A G E

2019

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t the center of Unit 14’s academic exploration lies Buckminster Fuller’s ideal of the ‘The Comprehensive Designer’, a master-builder that follows Renaissance principles and a holistic approach. Fuller referred to this ideal of the designer as somebody who is capable of comprehending the ‘integrateable significance’ of specialised findings and is able to realise and coordinate the commonwealth potentials of these discoveries while not disappearing into a career of expertise. Like Fuller, we are opportunists in search of new ideas and their benefits via architectural synthesis. As such Unit 14 is a test bed for exploration and innovation, examining the role of the architect in an environment of continuous change. We are in search of the new, leveraging technologies, workflows and modes of production seen in disciplines outside our own. We test ideas systematically by means of digital as well as physical drawings, models and prototypes. Our work evolves around technological speculation with a research-driven core, generating momentum through astute synthesis. Our propositions are ultimately made through the design of buildings and through the in-depth consideration of structural formation and tectonic constituents. This, coupled with a strong research ethos, will generate new and unprecedented, viable and spectacular proposals. They will be beautiful because of their intelligence - extraordinary findings and the artful integration of those into architecture.

Inspired by the audacity of the modernist mind the unit’s work aspires to reinstate the designer’s engagement with all aspects of our profession.

Observation and re-examination of every aspect of current civilizatory development enables to project near future scenarios and positions the work as avant garde in the process of designing a comprehensive vision for the future.

Societical, technological, cultural, economic as well as political developments propel the investigations with a deep understanding of how they interlink to shape strategies and astute synthesis to determine a design approach.

We believe in the multi-objectivity of our design process, where the negotiation of the different objectives becomes a great source of architectural novelty and authorship. We will fight charlatanism with the aid of practical experimentation, scientific knowledge and technology. We find out about how human endeavour, deep desire and visionary thought interrelate as well as advance cultural and technological means while driving civilisation as a highly developed organisation. The underlying principle and observation of our investigations will be that futurist speculation inspires and ultimately brings about significant change. Supported by competent research the work is the search for modernist courage aiming to amplify found nuclei into imaginative tales with architectural visions fuelled by speculation.

Thanks to: RSHP, Zaha Hadid Architects, DKFS Architects, Heatherwick Studio, Amanda Levete Architects, Seth Stein Architects, Cundal Engineering, DaeWha Kang Design, Uni Stuttgart ITKE

UNIT 14 @unit14_ucl

All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Charlie Harris www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2019 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.