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An international conference on Chinese architecture will close the cycle of lectures of MUGAK 2019 this Friday

  • The expositions of two Chinese architecture professionals belong to the activities around the exhibition “Journey Towards Tranquillity”, a tour through twenty Buddhist temples that can be visited from Monday to Friday at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU until the 24th of January.

 

The architectural culture of Chine was never so close to the Basque Country. Complementary to the exhibition “Journey Towards Tranquillity” that will take place at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the UPV/EHU and in the framework of the second edition of the Basque Country International Architecture Biennial MUGAK, two architecture professors from Shanghai, will visit San Sebastian this Friday at 12:00 h. to explore the intricacies of Chinese wood building tradition. 

The conference will start with an explanation of the tea ceremony in the space devoted to the Buddhist temple exhibition and move then to the two lectures in English. Liu Yan, a professor at the Tongji University – one of the most important in the country –, will be in charge of the first lecture entitled “Building Grammar of Chinese Wood Architecture”, in which he will explain two types of structure: “Tailiang” and “Chuandou”. “The Art of Avatamsaka: Chinese Buddhist Architecture Between the 10th and the 12th Centuries”, given by Ding Yao, a professor at the Tianjin University, deals with this movement contemporary to the European Baroque, whose concept can be translated as “as beautiful and complete as a flower”.

Curated by architect Weiqiao Wang, “Journey Towards Tranquillity” features drawings, photographs and models of twenty Buddhist monasteries located in the mountains of the Chinese province of Zhejiang, as well as of the Seven Pagodas Temple

The show includes two large-scale models and is open to the public from Monday to Friday at the Higher Technical School of Architecture of the UPV/EHU until the 24th of January.

Weiqiao Wang studied in Shanghai and at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, attending Harvard University and other educational centres for research stays. Her research focuses on comparing architectural spaces in Buddhist and Cistercian monasteries. For the purpose of this research, she visited over a hundred monasteries in China. She continues to conduct research nowadays with a focus on exploring space and monastic life.

Last two lectures of MUGAK 2019

The lectures of both Chinese architects will be the last ones in the programme of the second Basque Country International Architecture Biennial MUGAK, which started in October and whose exhibitions will remain open throughout January. In this period, 54 lectures and conferences were given by over 115 lecturers, all professionals from different fields, such as architecture, urban planning, design and other artistic disciplines.

About MUGAK

The International Architecture Biennial MUGAK (Boundaries, in Basque language) celebrates its second edition this year with a hundred activities aimed at bringing architecture closer to society and to other related disciplines. Organised by the Department of Environment, Regional Planning and Housing of the Basque Government, it intends to be a crossroads, a meeting point with a plural, transversal and multicultural character. Its aim is to promote and reactivate dialogue, discussion and reflection in order to confront new strategies and undertake solutions that explore the boundaries of architecture, expanding its borders to shape a more ethical, fair and balanced society.



The Programme is being prepared