Making porcelain is actually very cool
It’s a combination of traditional artistry and craftsmanship
It has to be ceremonial
Woodkiln BingDing is in Qiancheng village, Fuliang town, Jiangxi province
Leaning against hills and surrounded by bamboos
Jingdezhen used to be a part of Fuliang
Fuliang town is the origin of the capital of porcelain
Woodkiln is a traditional technique
Someone like professor Yu who knows how to build a kiln and how to operate it
If he owns a woodkiln
He can literally bring the skills of woodkiln
To a whole new level
November 2016, we met for the first time
Our hope is to represent the contemporary Jingdezhen woodkilns
With Woodkiln BingDing
The kiln covers a 5mu slot of land
Floor area 1,800 square meters
It takes a rectangular shape
The space with axis
Concrete arches and red bricks
The entire space centers on the furnace
It’s a two-arch structure
We didn’t have a blueprint
Or follow any model
It’s all in the kiln builder’s head
To build it
With minimum materials and the simplest construction logic
To emphasize on the kiln itself
Besides the bricks
There is only one other material used, concrete
The material, the structure and the space are integrated
Due to the requirement of production
Plenty of space is left in front of the kiln
And saggars stand on both sides
At the time of ignition
And starting the kiln
A place like this is necessary
Another dynamic route
Is for visitors
Porcelain fans would come visit
The entrance is located on the axis
It’s narrow
You feel like the space is squeezing in
Going up the stairs
And look back at the kiln from high up
You will experience a special sense of space
Controlling of the sense of light is important
There is an opening on the roof
To invite light in
Which makes the building kind of sacred
And the openings on the sides are long and narrow
Not much light penetrates through them
Professor Yu told me
That we must build a unique concrete house
Better than Tadao Ando 56 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:23,840 I was thrilled to hear that
And I wondered how can we beat Tadao Ando
He said we push it to the limit
We use zero wall anchors in the entire building
The kiln was finished in April 2019
The first ignition was April 29 and we started firing on May 4
About 2000 pieces of porcelain
With delicate figure
And smooth glazing
Unlike regular gas kilns
It has an annual production of three, four batches
At the 16th Venice Biennale
The first work across the entrance of the China hall is our Woodkiln BingDing
To express an ancient dying art in a contemporary way
Is the responsibility of a modern architect