本刊記者 符媛

Carlos Gomez 卡洛斯

西班牙CRG 建筑設(shè)計(jì)咨詢有限公司創(chuàng)始人、合伙人兼董事

COAC—國(guó)際合作伙伴AIA

卡洛斯在巴塞羅那的加泰羅尼亞理工大學(xué)高級(jí)建筑技術(shù)學(xué)院建筑藝術(shù)系取得了碩士學(xué)位。2010 年，他又于 Elisava 設(shè)計(jì)學(xué)院獲得了高級(jí)建筑和數(shù)字設(shè)計(jì)進(jìn)修碩士學(xué)位， 專注于新數(shù)字模式對(duì)設(shè)計(jì)過(guò)程的影響。在超過(guò) 20 年的時(shí)間里，他一直都在國(guó)際知名公司擔(dān)任建筑設(shè)計(jì)師以及項(xiàng)目總監(jiān)，并參與了世界各地的多個(gè)項(xiàng)目。2010 年卡洛斯在巴塞羅那創(chuàng)建了自己的西班牙CRG 建筑設(shè)計(jì)咨詢有限公司。目前，他也開(kāi)始了在中國(guó)地區(qū)的多個(gè)項(xiàng)目。他用新鮮的建筑理念創(chuàng)造了新的建筑浪潮。

《中裝》：您在西班牙事業(yè)進(jìn)展不錯(cuò)，為什么選擇在中國(guó)開(kāi)始了新嘗試。在國(guó)外和中國(guó)工作有哪些明顯不同？

卡洛斯：首先，您說(shuō)我在西班牙有不錯(cuò)的職業(yè)起點(diǎn)，其實(shí)現(xiàn)實(shí)情況與您所想大不相同。許多中國(guó)人都認(rèn)為或相信，只要出生在西方國(guó)家，生活問(wèn)題就能夠自行解決?，F(xiàn)實(shí)與此大相徑庭。在西方國(guó)家的就職狀況和在中國(guó)是一樣的，甚至更不樂(lè)觀。這段故事可以在以后的采訪中再講。

之所以選擇在中國(guó)重新開(kāi)始，是因?yàn)?008 年災(zāi)難性的經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)席卷了歐洲和西方世界，直到2019 年的今天，這一危機(jī)仍未完全克服。19 世紀(jì)和20 世紀(jì)，未來(lái)和繁榮都寄托在了歐洲和美國(guó)。而在21 世紀(jì)，繁榮的未來(lái)將會(huì)出現(xiàn)在亞洲。

在我目前的職業(yè)生涯中，我在8 個(gè)不同的國(guó)家工作過(guò)。他們的語(yǔ)言、文化和社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況都各有不同。在中國(guó)和西方國(guó)家拓展工作有太多、太大的差異，對(duì)此如果將來(lái)有可能的話，我甚至可以寫(xiě)一本書(shū)。目前，我無(wú)法下斷言說(shuō)那些差異是好是壞，它們都是基于自己周圍的環(huán)境和現(xiàn)實(shí)，都有其特色和特殊性。當(dāng)然在中國(guó)工作一直、直到現(xiàn)在都是我一生中最復(fù)雜但又最豐富的經(jīng)歷。

《中裝》：您具備優(yōu)秀建筑師的哪些特點(diǎn)？您一直供職于國(guó)際知名事務(wù)所和公司，也在高校擔(dān)任教授，理論知識(shí)與實(shí)踐經(jīng)驗(yàn)都很豐富。您認(rèn)為哪方面對(duì)您來(lái)說(shuō)受益最大，原因是什么？

卡洛斯：其實(shí)我認(rèn)為不存在評(píng)判一個(gè)建筑師好或不好的基本規(guī)則，存在的是通過(guò)不斷學(xué)習(xí)獲得的知識(shí)多少。那些相信自己在大學(xué)畢業(yè)后就已經(jīng)成為建筑師的人對(duì)自我是盲目的，而盲目的自我本身就是建筑師最大的敵人。建筑師的道路從他第一次踏入建筑學(xué)校那天開(kāi)始，直到死亡才會(huì)停止。無(wú)論是充滿成功亦或是充滿錯(cuò)誤的職業(yè)生涯，持續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)都是最基本的工具。在世界知名的事務(wù)所工作也好，在大學(xué)擔(dān)任教授也好，我們始終都必須從我們遇到的所有人或事中學(xué)習(xí)知識(shí)，以及最重要的——自我批評(píng)。它是我們作為建筑師持續(xù)提升技能的基礎(chǔ)。盡管有時(shí)知識(shí)也來(lái)自于日常生活，很多情況下，我們還要從同事和建筑師朋友身上學(xué)習(xí)。就我個(gè)人而言，最令我最受益匪淺的正是如今正在缺失的兩樣?xùn)|西——有關(guān)建筑的歷史和對(duì)有見(jiàn)地的批判性文字的閱讀。這兩個(gè)基本要素能夠幫助了解我們留下了什么，并為我們提供關(guān)于未來(lái)的線索。

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《中裝》：您擁有豐富的國(guó)際工作經(jīng)歷。請(qǐng)問(wèn)您是如何將西方工作方式和多元化視角融入到中國(guó)的實(shí)踐中的？

卡洛斯：在西方和在中國(guó)都有多種多樣的工作形式。我曾在深圳和北京，一南一北兩個(gè)城市工作過(guò)，這兩個(gè)地方都有自己的特點(diǎn)和不同的工作方式。就業(yè)務(wù)方面而言，在西方國(guó)家啟動(dòng)項(xiàng)目很多情況下都僅僅是在專業(yè)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)。與客戶的個(gè)人關(guān)系是在項(xiàng)目結(jié)束時(shí)或工作之中建立的。在中國(guó)，情況則截然相反。在不認(rèn)識(shí)客戶也沒(méi)有與客戶建立親密關(guān)系時(shí)就接觸項(xiàng)目，取得客戶信任，獲得項(xiàng)目的訂單，這種情況極少出現(xiàn)。從這個(gè)角度來(lái)看，在中國(guó)獲得一個(gè)項(xiàng)目比在西方國(guó)家需要更多的前期時(shí)間，因?yàn)樵诮㈥P(guān)系和個(gè)人交往上要做許多工作。就項(xiàng)目本身而言，在某些情況下，客戶一開(kāi)始會(huì)偏愛(ài)西方的工作方式，盡管在項(xiàng)目進(jìn)展中他們逐漸表明希望采用本地做法。因而你必須可以足夠靈活地適應(yīng)這些要求。

幾年前西方工作方式在中國(guó)環(huán)境下實(shí)踐的視角比現(xiàn)今要多得多。目前，在經(jīng)過(guò)中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的長(zhǎng)期發(fā)展之后，客戶也已經(jīng)增長(zhǎng)了不少這方面的認(rèn)識(shí)。現(xiàn)在他們提出，工作方式需要將國(guó)際內(nèi)涵適用于當(dāng)?shù)靥攸c(diǎn)，這個(gè)要求比之前的更高了。這可以用著名的短語(yǔ)“全球化思考，本地行動(dòng)”來(lái)概括。

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《中裝》：建筑師是個(gè)需要大量努力和技術(shù)的專業(yè)職業(yè)。您認(rèn)為成為建筑師是否有捷徑可走？

卡洛斯：的確，建筑師的路途艱辛，需要掌握許多藝術(shù)和技術(shù)知識(shí)。盡管有時(shí)會(huì)出現(xiàn)很有天賦的建筑人才在一眾專業(yè)人群中脫穎而出，但一個(gè)年輕且經(jīng)驗(yàn)很少的人獲得國(guó)際建筑獎(jiǎng)并不常見(jiàn)。成為一個(gè)真正的建筑師或是一個(gè)合格的專業(yè)人士沒(méi)有捷徑可走。重要的是經(jīng)驗(yàn)、不斷地學(xué)習(xí)以及對(duì)這個(gè)美麗而艱苦的職業(yè)的熱情奉獻(xiàn)。

《中裝》：2005 年的集裝箱摩天大樓當(dāng)年備受關(guān)注，報(bào)道不斷。您能介紹更多的信息嗎？

卡洛斯：用海運(yùn)集裝箱建造的摩天大樓是我們?cè)趪?guó)際上最受好評(píng)的項(xiàng)目之一。它已被翻譯成25 種以上的不同語(yǔ)言，在30 多個(gè)國(guó)家和地區(qū)展示刊登，這足以說(shuō)明它從建筑風(fēng)格上來(lái)說(shuō)對(duì)公眾的吸引力。它獲得了國(guó)際上如此廣泛的關(guān)注，不僅僅因?yàn)樗H具創(chuàng)作力的美感，可能也因它在某種程度上有些激進(jìn)的外形，也由于它擁有足以引起社會(huì)爭(zhēng)議的特點(diǎn)。至今為止，還沒(méi)有人能夠?yàn)楸Ｕ闲陨鐣?huì)住房提供摩天大樓形式的方案。我們提出并獲得了幾乎全球的關(guān)注。這個(gè)項(xiàng)目我認(rèn)為從概念上到形式上都非常漂亮。鑒于在當(dāng)今社會(huì)，經(jīng)濟(jì)上處于最弱勢(shì)的人群有太多進(jìn)行自我建設(shè)的需要，借用集裝箱這種方式可以運(yùn)用在許多地方，它可以讓許多貧困家庭生活質(zhì)量得到提升。

《中裝》：CRG 的團(tuán)隊(duì)合作是什么形式的？團(tuán)隊(duì)有什么特點(diǎn)和優(yōu)勢(shì)？

卡洛斯：CRG 的最大優(yōu)勢(shì)在于人與人之間的友誼，它將我們團(tuán)結(jié)在一起，建立起彼此間的信任。這并非一朝一夕就能獲得，而是隨著時(shí)間的流逝，在并肩工作、共同經(jīng)歷困難的處境和解決復(fù)雜的問(wèn)題中結(jié)成的。所有人從中都自得其樂(lè)，因?yàn)閺母旧蟻?lái)看，如果你在工作中沒(méi)有享受到樂(lè)趣，那么也幾乎不會(huì)將對(duì)建筑的熱情傳遞給你的合作者。

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《中裝》：有人說(shuō)可持續(xù)性、手工制作、材料可能是不遠(yuǎn)未來(lái)建筑的三大特性。您是否認(rèn)同？您認(rèn)為未來(lái)建筑的走向是怎樣的？

卡洛斯：可持續(xù)發(fā)展已不再是未來(lái)。它是且必須是建筑的當(dāng)下之詞。如果我們不把可持續(xù)建筑作為建筑物的首要目標(biāo)，那么幾年之內(nèi)我們將沒(méi)有再建的地方了。

偉大的建筑師高迪，來(lái)自我的故鄉(xiāng)巴塞羅那，他是大量且出色地將工匠運(yùn)用到建造中的最后一人?！笆止ぶ谱鳌币辉~目前從建筑上來(lái)看就是個(gè)烏托邦。建筑中的工匠技藝在很多年前就已經(jīng)被市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)所淹沒(méi)。用工匠的方法并不能有效地建造，必須使用預(yù)制和機(jī)械化施工的工業(yè)方法（例如3D 打印建筑物）高效、可持續(xù)地進(jìn)行建造。

建筑材料可能是建筑領(lǐng)域尚未企及的革命之一。人們不斷看到技術(shù)行業(yè)對(duì)材料的改進(jìn)、創(chuàng)新和發(fā)明，例如石墨烯的應(yīng)用。這些創(chuàng)新遲早會(huì)應(yīng)用于建筑，徹底改變我們的建造方式和建筑形狀。

對(duì)建筑的長(zhǎng)期趨勢(shì)很難預(yù)測(cè)，因?yàn)樗鼈冊(cè)谠S多情況下是對(duì)社會(huì)行為模式、經(jīng)濟(jì)革命或科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)的反應(yīng)。今天，我們生活在經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會(huì)層面上最不穩(wěn)定的時(shí)期之一，而相對(duì)地，我們也生活在人類歷史上最快、最密集的城市增長(zhǎng)過(guò)程之中。所有這些，都反應(yīng)在建筑師正在構(gòu)建的建筑上，反應(yīng)在實(shí)際社會(huì)所需要的建筑上。

《中裝》：本土化是建筑師所要考慮的重要因素。您在項(xiàng)目中很好地尊重了建筑周邊的環(huán)境。您認(rèn)為您的哪個(gè)作品考慮了較多的當(dāng)?shù)匦?，也運(yùn)用得較好？

卡洛斯：實(shí)現(xiàn)一個(gè)好的概念，并以高效和可持續(xù)的方式進(jìn)行構(gòu)建，了解項(xiàng)目所在地至關(guān)重要。在我們的研究中，我們總是盡可能地尊重近處環(huán)境和遠(yuǎn)處環(huán)境，當(dāng)然環(huán)境也包括人為構(gòu)造的影響。請(qǐng)記住自從人類受孕以來(lái)，第一個(gè)棲息地就是母親的身體。那是一個(gè)可變的、可持續(xù)的、靈活的、溫暖的鄉(xiāng)土棲息地，沒(méi)有邊緣、沒(méi)有直線，完全可塑且具有動(dòng)感柔和的形狀。那應(yīng)該是人類建筑未來(lái)的目標(biāo)。當(dāng)前，參數(shù)計(jì)算的使用變得越來(lái)越廣泛。與用傳統(tǒng)構(gòu)想方式并手動(dòng)創(chuàng)建或繪制相比，參數(shù)計(jì)算更為高效快捷。參數(shù)化建筑（如果可能的話）使項(xiàng)目的位置變得更加重要，它為我們提供了更快的速度和更多的信息，從而能夠?yàn)槭褂谜邘?lái)性能和服務(wù)功能更強(qiáng)的高質(zhì)量的項(xiàng)目。我們的作品中，在參數(shù)化方面做過(guò)的最好的其中之一，是國(guó)際上最受贊譽(yù)的項(xiàng)目——在新加坡以竹子結(jié)構(gòu)制成的城市棲息地——也刊登在全球無(wú)數(shù)的建筑方面出版物上。

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《中裝》：習(xí)近平主席在一次會(huì)議中提出，不要搞奇奇怪怪的建筑。您認(rèn)為怎樣區(qū)分奇奇怪怪的建筑和富有想象力的建筑？您怎樣評(píng)價(jià)中國(guó)的建筑和中國(guó)的設(shè)計(jì)師？

卡洛斯：我清楚地記得第一次聽(tīng)到這一講話的那天，習(xí)近平主席談到了希望中國(guó)城市中不要再出現(xiàn)任何古怪的建筑。事實(shí)是，在中國(guó)的這些年，我見(jiàn)到了中國(guó)最近幾十年來(lái)所建的建筑，發(fā)現(xiàn)其實(shí)外國(guó)建筑師和中國(guó)建筑師都有這種弊端，就是他們總是想做一些與眾不同的事情。我見(jiàn)到過(guò)直接取形于“白酒”瓶的建筑，或者是諸如烏龜樣子的旅館以及蟹形房屋。這些都是奇怪的建筑的代表，以至于對(duì)這些建筑的評(píng)論和抱怨快要蓋過(guò)中國(guó)作為國(guó)際建筑界重要組成部分的成就。但實(shí)際上，中國(guó)所謂極具想象力的建筑物（不是上面提到的那些怪異的畸變）在國(guó)際上享有盛名的也不少，比如坐落在北京的央視大樓、奧林匹克體育場(chǎng)（鳥(niǎo)巢）、新建的大興機(jī)場(chǎng)等。在我看來(lái)，這些項(xiàng)目都是高質(zhì)量且富有想象力建筑的典范，在概念上具有高度的連貫性，而不是前面提到的那些建筑畸變。充分理解習(xí)主席的講話后，我認(rèn)為，在過(guò)去的幾年中，大家都像是普遍得了健忘癥一般，為了獲得更高速的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展，忽略、忘記了中國(guó)在過(guò)去的主導(dǎo)地位，以及曾有過(guò)的高度的文化繁榮?，F(xiàn)在已經(jīng)到了發(fā)展的緊迫點(diǎn)，反思過(guò)去，重拾古代先賢思想和中國(guó)文化身份，并將其轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橹袊?guó)新設(shè)計(jì)浪潮的時(shí)候到了。這就是習(xí)近平主席所說(shuō)的目標(biāo)，而我的許多中國(guó)建筑師朋友也正為此努力。

《中裝》：您近期有什么計(jì)劃？最近正在進(jìn)行中的項(xiàng)目有哪些？中國(guó)市場(chǎng)是否是主攻目標(biāo)？

潤(rùn)方生物總部 REDPHARM HEADQUARTER

卡洛斯：最近，中國(guó)高速發(fā)展的建筑市場(chǎng)正在放緩，甚至還有整體停滯的感覺(jué)。與美國(guó)的貿(mào)易戰(zhàn)影響到了公司和投資者。鑒于市場(chǎng)的不確定性，他們寧愿等待觀望、慎重投資。這就是為什么我們最近根據(jù)市場(chǎng)趨勢(shì)開(kāi)展了多個(gè)室內(nèi)設(shè)計(jì)項(xiàng)目，而不僅僅是建筑類的。本月，我們剛剛完成了我們室內(nèi)設(shè)計(jì)最重要的項(xiàng)目之一——對(duì)北京一個(gè)室內(nèi)辦公空間進(jìn)行整體翻新和重新設(shè)計(jì)。我們目前正在進(jìn)行的項(xiàng)目，有一個(gè)西安的火車站，一個(gè)新的革命性的機(jī)場(chǎng)概念的競(jìng)賽，還有在沿海地區(qū)為各種非洲社區(qū)設(shè)計(jì)的漂浮房屋等等。與此同時(shí)，最后一個(gè)問(wèn)題的答案也呼之欲出。如您所見(jiàn)，我們并不以地方主義的方式理解建筑。對(duì)于我們來(lái)說(shuō)，地球就是我們的家。因此，我們不僅在一個(gè)國(guó)家中尋找項(xiàng)目，而且還要在包括中國(guó)在內(nèi)的多個(gè)國(guó)家同時(shí)尋找項(xiàng)目。

THE PRACTICE OF AN INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECT IN CHINA

Q&A

IAC:You had a good start in your career in your country. Why did you choose China to set up a new beginning? What are the obvious differences between working abroad and working in China?

Carlos：Well, first of all, it is a surprise that you tell me that I had a good career start in my country, because the reality is very different. Many people in China think or believe that by the simple fact of being born in a western country you already have your life solved, and nothing is further from reality. Professional life in the western countries is the same or sometimes even more difficult than in China. But we'll leave that story for another interview. The reason I chose China to start a new beginning was the disastrous economic crisis that hit Europe and the Western world in 2008, which still today in 2019 has not been completely overcome. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the future and prosperity were in Europe and the US. During the 21st century, the place where the prosperous future will be found is Asia.

Throughout my career I have been able to work in 8 different countries, with different languages, different cultures and different social and economic realities. The differences between developing my profession in China or in western countries are so many that I could write a book about it. Someday I may write it. At the moment I will only say that not all differences are good or bad, but that each one of them has its peculiarity and its specificity, depending on the environment and the realities that surround them. And working in China, of course, has been and is, the most complicated but in turn the most enriching experience of my life.

IAC:What characteristics do you have to become an excellent architect. As we know, you have been serving world-renowned architecture offices and acting as a professor in college for years, with a good mastery of both theories and practices. Which part do you think benefits you the most and why?

Carlos：There is no basic established rule to be a good or a bad architect. What does exist is knowledge through continuous learning. Those who believe they are already architects when they have finished college are blind of ego, and the self-ego is the worst enemy of an architect. An architect's path begins the day he sets foot in the architecture school for the first time, and ends the day he ceases to be in this world. Continuous learning is the basic tool for a career full of success, but also for a career full of mistakes. We must always try to learn from any situation or person that we find in our way, whether we are working in world-renowned architecture office or being professors in the university, knowledge and, above all, self-criticism, are the basis of the continuous improvement of our skills as architects. On many occasions we also learn from our colleagues and architect friends, although sometimes that knowledge also comes from the situations in which we find ourselves in everyday life. Personally, the two things that benefit me the most, are something that is being lost today, the reading of a good critical text, and the history of architecture. Two essential elements to know what we left behind and give us clues about what lies ahead.

IAC:With your international working experience, how do you incorporate western way of working and multiple perspectives into your practice in China?

Carlos：There are many forms of Western work and many forms of work in China. I have lived and worked in Shenzhen and in Beijing, North and South of China, and both places have their own characteristics and different ways of working. As far as the business side is concerned, the way to start a project in the Western world is on many occasions something purely professional, establishing personal relationships with clients at the end of the project or at the end of its construction. In China it is totally the other way around. On very rare occasions you can start a project without having known and established a personal relationship of friendship with the client, to gain their trust and thus receive the order of the project. From that point of view, achieving a project in China requires much more previous time than in Western countries, since much effort must be invested in building those relationships and personal contacts. When talking about the project itself, on some occasions the clients prefer the Western way of working at the beginning, although during the development of the project they gradually suggest that they prefer the local way of working, and you must be able to be flexible enough to adapt to those requirements. The perspectives of the practice of the Western way of working in China some years ago were much more numerous than today. Currently, customers have already learned a lot after the long years of economic development in China, and now they are much more demanding than before, asking that the way of working had international connotations adapted to local peculiarities. This is summed up in the famous phrase "think globally, act locally".

IAC: Architect is a profession with a lot of hard work and professional skills in it. In your opinion, what it takes to be a qualified architect and is there a shortcut to be a real architect?

Carlos：It is very true that the path of an architect is arduous and that you need to have a lot of knowledge, both artistic and technical, and although sometimes there are natural talents for architecture that stand out from the great mass of professionals, it is not very common that someone who is so young and with so little experience stands out receiving an international architecture award. There is no shortcut to be a true architect, or a good qualified professional. Here what counts is the experience, the continuous learning, and the dedication with passion to this beautiful but hard profession.

IAC:Steel City Container Skyscraper won a great deal of attention in 2015, as we have found a series of reports concerned with it. Can you tell us more about it?

Carlos：The skyscraper made with shipping containers is one of our most internationally acclaimed projects. It has been published in more than 30 countries and translated the text into more than 25 different languages, which speaks for itself of its own attraction to the public architecturally speaking. It has probably gained so much international attention not only for its creative aesthetics and perhaps somewhat aggressive shape, but also for its socially controversial character. Until today nobody had been able to propose protected social housing in the form of a skyscraper. We did it and we got the attention of almost the entire planet. It is a project that I think is very beautiful, both conceptually and formally, which could be implemented in many of the places where today the self-constructions of the most economically disadvantaged people in our society are piled up, and that could improve the quality of life of many families in a situation of poverty.

IAC:What is it like of the teamwork in CRG? What are the features and advantages of CRG?

Carlos：The greatest advantage of CRG Architects is the friendship that unites us, the trust we have with each other, which is not earned in a single day, but is forged over time, working side by side, going through difficult situations and solving complex questions, all together always trying to have fun, because ultimately, if you do not have fun working in your profession, you will hardly transmit that feeling of passion for architecture to your collaborators.

IAC: It is said that sustainability, craft, materials are the three key words marking the feature of the architecture in near future. Do you think so? How will you tell the trends of future architecture?

Carlos：Sustainability is no longer a word of the future. It is, and must be, a word of the present in architecture. If we do not think our buildings with the first target of being sustainable constructions, we will not have any planet where we can build in a few years. The last great architect who made use of artisans in a massive and great way was Gaudi, in my hometown, Barcelona. The word “craft” is currently a utopia. The craft in architecture is already many years ago overwhelmed by the market economy. It cannot be built efficiently with artisan methods. It must be built efficiently and sustainably, with industrial methods of prefabrication and mechanized construction, such as 3D printed buildings. The construction materials probably are one of the revolutions that are yet to reach the architecture. Improvements, innovations and inventions in materials used by technology industries are constantly being seen, such as graphene, and sooner or later these innovations will be applied to architecture, revolutionizing the way that we build and the shape of our buildings. Long-term trends in architecture are difficult to guess, since they respond in many occasions to social behavior patterns, economic revolutions, or scientific discoveries. Today we live in one of the most unstable periods in history, economically and socially, and in turn we are living the fastest and most dense urban growth in the mankind history. All of this is having a reflection on the architecture that we the architects are producing, and the architecture that the actual society demands.

IAC:Locality is an important factor for architects to consider. In your projects, we find that you gave a good respect to the environment around it. In which work have you considered localization the most and used it the best?

Carlos：Understanding the location of projects is essential to be able to realize a good concept, and to be built with efficiency and sustainability. In our study we always try to have the utmost respect for both the immediate environment and the distant environment, which is also affected by the artificial constructions of man. Remember that the first habitat of man since it is conceived is the body of the mother. It is a transformable, sustainable, flexible, warm and vernacular habitat, without edges, without straight lines, fully malleable and with dynamic and soft shapes. That should be the goal of the future of man's constructions. At present, the use of parametric calculations is becoming increasingly extensive, which can be made and created in a much more efficient and faster way than the human hand when creating or drawing projects conceived in a traditional way. The parameterization of the architecture has allowed the location of the projects to be more important even if possible, since it has provided us with greater speed and a greater amount of information to be able to carry out a better-quality project with better performance and service functions for its users. In our case, one of our best examples in parametricism was another of the most acclaimed projects internationally, an urban habitat made with bamboo structure in Singapore, also appeared in countless architecture publications worldwide.

IAC:Our General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed once in a meeting that we should not build strange buildings. How will you tell a strange building and an imaginative building? What is your opinion and evaluation on Chinese buildings and architects?

Carlos：I do remember perfectly the day when we all heard that speech for the first time, in which President Xi talked about the nonacceptance of any weird buildings in Chinese cities. The truth, and after these years of experience in China, seeing what has been built in recent decades, there has been an abuse, both by foreign architects and by Chinese architects, in the fact that they always want to do something different. I have seen examples of buildings literally transformed into “baijiou” bottles, or animals such as a turtle-shaped hotel, or a crabshaped house. These are examples of strange buildings that have covered the comments and complaints of a good part of the international architectural community regarding what is happening in China. On the other hand, there are the so-called imaginative buildings (not weird aberrations such as those mentioned above), as one of the best-known examples internationally, the CCTV building, the Olympic stadium (Bird's Nest), or the new Daxing Airport, both three in Beijing. In my opinion those projects are a great example of quality imaginative architecture and with a great coherence with respect to their concepts, and not constructive aberrations like those mentioned before. I also fully understand President Xi's speech from the point of view that, during the past years in China there has been a kind of general amnesia, in which almost everyone has ignored or forgotten the Chinese hegemonic and cultural past, in favor of faster economic development. At present we have reached the algid point of that development, and the time has come to reflect on the past, and to gather ancestral ideas and Chinese cultural identity, transforming them into the new wave of design in China. That's what I think was the target of President Xi, as many of my Chinese architects' friends are doing today.

CRG Architects is a leader design company, formed by a multidisciplinary team of renowned specialists which have come together to combine their know-how and experience in their different fields：Architecture, Interior Design, Master-planning, Real Estate Consultant and Project Management.

IAC:What is your recent plan? What are the projects in process now? Will you focus mainly on Chinese market?

Carlos：Lately the architectural market in China is slowing down at high speed, even having a certain perception of total stoppage. The economic war with the US is affecting companies and investors, who prefer to wait and not to spend money, given the uncertainty of the markets. This is the reason why lately we have carried out several interior design projects, and not just only architecture, following market trends. This month we have just finished building one of our most important interior design projects, the refurbishment and redesign of a whole interior office space building in Yichuang District, in Beijing. Among the projects that we have in progress at the moment, for example, a train station in Xi'An, the competition for a new and revolutionary airport concept, or floating homes for various African communities in coastal areas. As you can see after that answer, we can in turn answer the last question. We do not understand architecture in a localist way. For us the planet is our home, and as such, we do not just look for projects in one country, but in several at the same time, including China, of course.