SHENZHEN, Dec. 13 -- After years of quickly expanding cities and a boom in high-rises, Chinese architects and urban designers are now shifting their attention to the quality of life and the close relationship between a city and its architecture, exhibits at the First Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture show.

    The exhibition opened Saturday with "City Metamorphose," experimental theater director Meng Jinghui's stage performance reflecting the stressful existence of city dwellers.

    City-building strategies presented at the biennale could be of particular importance to contemporary China, which features "wide roads, aggressive buildings and boisterous advertisements," according to Zhang Yonghe, curator of the biennale.

    A proposal by Beijing University professor Yu Kongjian, exhibited at the biennale, employs a practice of "negative planning," or non-zoning planning to address the deteriorating relations between man and land.

    The problem of urban villages, a longtime headache for the Chinese Government, has attracted the attention of designers, exploring options apart from total demolition.

    In a design, Meng proposes building lanes and bridges between buildings and adding entertainment facilities on top of the housing.

    Several exhibits show a clear trend of returning to traditional Chinese culture. At least two exhibits, one Chinese and one German, used the layout of the traditional Chinese courtyard.

    Cui Kai, a Beijinger, designed a seven-block office compound that has uniform building heights, courtyard-type layouts. The project even used bricks of Ming and Qing dynasties on lanes and roofs.

    A group of German designers exhibited a model of their Boshan Four Seasons Residence, a project they built in Shandong Province.

    The biennale displays experimental and conceptual works, such as a virtual building by German designer Mathias Temmen. Temmen said the virtual building has 400 sections, designed by 400 people. He spent 18 months assembling the building on computer.

    The use of digital technologies in architecture can be found at the show. The exhibit of Taiwan designer Liu Yu-tung - a factory lobby with complex curved surface - is computer-designed. The factory, which took three years to build, is located in Longgang District.

    Apart from architecture, the exhibition includes graphic designs, photographs, films, games, and even food. A large number of visitors, including art students, designers, and local citizens, were drawn to the exhibition over the weekend.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily)