Synopsis
Building between two cultures, two architectural traditions and two political systems: the documentary by Christoph Schaub and Michael Schindhelm shows two very different building projects in China by the Basle-based star architects Herzog and de Meuron: the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and an entire district in the town of Jinhua. One is tailored to China’s international appearance; the other caters for the daily needs of the population.
The film illustrates how Chinese culture shapes the architects’ building activity: the particular architectural form and their strive for it tell of society, culture, and everyday life. Bird’s nest ‒ Herzog & de Meuron in China outlines the development of this important Chinese building project. On the one hand, the documentary attempts to make understandable the architect duo Herzog and de Meuron’s unique and successfully applied method of contextual building. On the other hand, the film follows the project’s Chinese component—intention, hopes, strategies—within this complex formation process. In discussion and commentaries, the artist Ai Weiwei and the entrepreneur and contemporary Chinese art collector Uli Sigg delve deeper into these two approaches.
