a+u 664: Vector Architects documents a Beijing practice whose work is defined by an unusually attentive reading of site — from Qinhuangdao's coastline to Shenzhen's urban fabric — and a material intelligence that turns light, landscape, and existing nature into architectural argument.
About This Book
Founded by Gong Dong in 2008, Vector Architects has built a body of work in which site is not a backdrop but a generative force. This monograph traces that trajectory: from bold coastal gestures such as the Seashore Chapel in Qinhuangdao, to more restrained urban interventions like Jingyang Camphor Court in Jingdezhen, where the boundary between structure and city becomes deliberately ambiguous. Central to Vector's approach is a commitment to preserving what is already present — most strikingly at Liyuan Primary School in Shenzhen, where eighteen-metre trees became the nucleus of the design. For architects and students engaged with contemporary Chinese architecture and site-responsive design, this issue of a+u is an essential reference.
Key Features
- 160 pages of project documentation, photography, and architectural analysis
- Notable projects include Seashore Chapel (Qinhuangdao), Jingyang Camphor Court (Jingdezhen), and Liyuan Primary School (Shenzhen)
- Published by Shinkenchiku-sha, 2008
What You'll Discover
- How Vector Architects reads natural and artificial landmarks as a brief — ocean, mountain, and urban grain each producing a distinct architectural response
- The tension between bold formal gestures and a more recent tendency toward buildings that absorb into their surroundings rather than assert against them
- The role of material selection in capturing and directing light across radically different landscape conditions
- A design philosophy in which preserving existing nature — trees, topography, coastal edge — is treated as structural rather than incidental
About the Author
[Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 160
- Dimensions: 220 × 290 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9784900213265
- Publisher: Shinkenchiku-sha
- Publication Date: 2008
Perfect For: Architects and students interested in contemporary Chinese architecture, site-responsive design practice, and the relationship between built form and natural landscape.