Heatherwick Studio’s exhibition “Building Soulfulness” just opened at the Bund Finance Center in Shanghai. Curated by Mami Kataoka, it will run from January 17th to March 14th, 2024. The display celebrates the studio’s designs, emphasizing their enduring connection with China. The exhibition is taking place at the Fosun Foundation inside the Bund Finance Center, which was designed by Heatherwick Studios and Foster + Partners back in 2017.
The display showcases models of the studio’s global work, including a full-scale model of Airo, an automobile intended to clean the air while in motion, and an assortment of whirled chairs. It also explores the story of the West Bund Orbit, the studio's most recent project in Shanghai. It includes models of the upcoming waterfront gallery and event space and an exhibition model.
The show's final section is titled “Humanise,” inviting visitors to discuss the emotional qualities of cities. Questions are printed on a 1.6-meter-diameter scroll, posing simple yet thought-provoking questions, such as: “Which buildings make you feel good just by walking past them?” Guests can draw their answers, sparking conversation, and a survey tool instrument to record people’s tastes and sources of inspiration for their living environments.
I feel such a synergy with Shanghai because when we built the Seed Cathedral for the amazing World Expo in 2012, my studio’s career became super-charged. Now, in honor of our debt to Shanghai, I have the chance to share many of the lessons I’ve learned over 30 years of practice. – Thomas Heatherwick, Founder
The show was commissioned by the Shangri-La Group, Roca Shanghai Gallery, and EFC Consulting. Emphasizing China’s potential to lead global urban development, the various parties have plans to collaborate extending into 2024. For instance, the collaboration includes a joint trainee program nurturing China’s next wave of design talent, as well as showcasing Heatherwick projects, and a book launch expected in 2024.
China can lead the world in urban development. With the confidence of its history of thousands of years of designing human buildings it can now create cities for the future that aren’t just based on theoretical logic and planning, but also increasingly on emotional intelligence. –Thomas Heatherwick.
Last November, Heatherwick Studio revealed a new district in the heart of Tokyo, which was opened to the public by the Japanese Prime Minister. “Azabudai Hills” is a neighborhood that features green space, and mixed-use activities and aims to integrate the urban into nature. Additionally, the studio recently unveiled the design of a new shopping district in the historic city of Xi’an in Shaanxi, China. The proposal aims to highlight the city’s rich heritage of ceramic-making and, through this, to create a sensory experience for visitors in opposition to the restricted act of online shopping. In his latest TED Talk, Thomas Heatherwick spoke about the “epidemic of boringness” that has plagued cities with monotonous buildings. He explains that the emotional function of a building is essential, connecting to different users of the space.
