Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    FRENCH architect Denis Laming said Shenzhen’s designers have very good opportunities because Shenzhen is a young city in constant development.

    “Shenzhen’s architects are very fortunate, with vast spaces and areas in need of design and construction, which is an advantage over architects in other places of the world,” Laming said during a visit to the city’s creative industry in March.

    “Changes are constantly taking place in the city towards more futuristic development. The city is like a museum of modern architecture, with some exhibits good and others needing improvement,” he said.

    He said a building with good design could resonanate among its visitors, make people attracted to it and inspire willingness for closer experiences. Good architecture will not be outdated, though people may eventually tear them down.

    Now an established architect with a worldwide reputation, Laming achieved great fame at a young age with his design of Futuroscope, a flagship theme park in France. He said a good architect, like any other artist, should be inspired at a young age, only 5 or 6 years old, and have constant nurturing in the field.

    “To become a good architect is to become a good artist. Current architects may be required to earn degrees or have a lot of professional certificates, but certificates don’t make good architects,” Laming said. “Contemporary architects need to have good technical knowledge of construction, which can be acquired through education, but artistic skills are not something that can be learned.”

    While modern architecture focuses on diversified expression, architects are often at the crossroads of traditional construction style and modern design.

    Laming said traditional architecture, being closely related to lifestyle in past times, is not represented through a single architectural element, such as an overhanging eave, but should be integrated into a traditional lifestyle.

    “Architecture is building spaces for our lives. Lifestyle matters a lot with appropriate expression in modern architecture design,” Laming said. “Preserving traditional architecture is the greatest respect for traditions, and new architecture should be bold and forward-looking.”

    Laming will collaborate with a Shenzhen company to renovate an aging industrial facility in Shekou, Nanshan District, into an innovative cultural complex.