"The leisurely elegance under the strong cultural heritage"
ID-china: Your designs always reveal the leisurely elegance of ancient literati. How did you accumulate such a strong sense of elegance? Chinese traditional cultural heritage?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: First of all, my family background has a lot to do with the education I received since childhood. Recall: outside the window, the sweet-scented osmanthus blooms freely in the season of refreshing golden breeze. As the afternoon sunshine of Dadu Mountain reflects the shadow of the trees, a child is drinking at the small table in front of the window and reading a gold-plated hard-cover book given to him by his father. A collection of Song poetry, in which he diligently practiced cursive calligraphy while wandering around his motherland thousands of years ago. The air was mixed with the fragrance of books from his father's literati study room and the fragrance of fine pine smoke and ink sticks after careful grinding. When I was a child, I used calligraphy to learn Tang and Song literature, used the spatial artistic conception of Song poetry to learn cursive writing, and even introduced Chinese cultural space to understand. These experiences for our father and son were something that seemed relaxed and romantic on the surface but was actually a very serious matter at heart. If it is not done well, you will be blamed; because everything that looks like the interaction of warm family life is actually full of cultural connotations.
Secondly, my father had a profound influence on me. He was an exiled student in the Chinese Department of Nanjing Central University. He was born into a scholarly family of a prominent local family in Anhui Province. He loved his motherland and must have loved everything that belongs to Chinese culture. things; in that era of material scarcity, he did everything he could to allow his children to appreciate Chinese culture in some way and to temper their literati temperament. My father often said that he was a revolutionary soldier who loved China. More often than not, I saw him as a serious scholar who inherited Chinese cultural traditions to a certain extent. That was a common Taiwanese phenomenon in the turbulent 1949 society. As their next generation successor in Taiwan, whether you are willing or not, you must accept a certain degree of rigorous education in classic literature or traditional oriental art.
My father allowed us to see how in the modern livelihood of traditional literati and the peaceful rural life in central Taiwan full of the spirit of natural places, ancient China is linked in an extremely subtle way in the ordinary daily life. Classics, and rumination on the elite thoughts of Chinese Confucianism and Taoism. In this kind of "classic reading", I naturally developed a modern environmental culture and philosophical experience of my own, and at the same time developed a personal aesthetic experience of environmental space creation. When I got older and turned to pure painting, the transition was smooth. Later, I not only became a graphic design artist, but also spanned space, architecture, landscape and urban design.
ID-china: In recent years, you have entered the Chinese mainland market. What different design concepts have you brought or what different design ideas do you want to convey?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: I am engaged in environmental design art in contemporary Taiwan and mainland China, and I still carry with me the worldview and cultural outlook that my father left me forty or fifty years ago. So I like architects who can follow the modern world while appreciating the local area at the same time, and even respect Chinese culture as the matrix of creation. There are people who have really tried hard to do this, but it is extremely difficult to do it well, so it is rarely practiced. The entire design trend in contemporary Taiwan is rather like the pursuit of business opportunities; it has no ideals and no cultural heritage. The current situation is that architects and space designers in China or Taiwan are always attracted to this type of construction projects oriented by the urban real estate economy to a great extent. Therefore, new buildings cannot always transform into the existing Taiwanese local life or be born out of it. in Chinese mother culture.
From an aesthetic and cultural perspective, many cities in Taiwan are not as charming as Taipei. This type of urban speculation style that mixes political and business interests with little cultural revitalization may be why I think cities like Taipei are not attractive. The reason why it is so unattractive is of course that a large number of developing cities in Taiwan and China have already tilted towards this development model; this is not a so-called Asian opportunity, but a Chinese cultural crisis. A flashy economic and urban development model that is separated from culture is easy to make short-term profits, but it will definitely harm long-term economic interests. As cultural elites, we cannot ignore it, nor can we easily treat Taiwan's mixed urban landscape as a unique regional aesthetic like short-term foreign tourists.
If we casually regard this kind of "speculative chaos" that floods the streets of Taiwan as a kind of so-called post-modern aesthetics by foreign tourists, it will really insult the sanctity of modernity, post-modernity and aesthetics. The rich layers of racially diverse society and history and culture are ruthlessly used by designers like empty slogans by politicians. They are used in many political, business and environmental development speculations in the name of modernity and postmodernity, but in essence they have not been translated to the contemporary era at all.
ID-china: In recent years, what different design concepts and ideas have you brought to the mainland?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: I think designers must humbly understand that the city is an effective place for the protection and growth of countless real-life individuals in the horizontal space, and it is also a vertical clue for the continuation of history and culture; we do not It can be separated, but it should not solely solve the economic problems of the builders. It is true that they are also a small part of the real social problems. If we can look at the benign integration of urban development, cultural development, historical continuity and design aesthetics across domains in this way, then there are thousands of them.
The globalization of the world economic and trade system is accompanied by the digitization of information life, and is coming overwhelmingly in China and Taiwan, which have not yet clearly defined modernity; the tradition has not been truly modernized, but it has entered digitization and globalization! Will this allow developing countries like Asia to increase their so-called GDP more quickly? Or in the coming era of cultural economy in the future, some people will lose their parent culture.
In the future, designers will be the protagonists in demonstrating the power of cultural and economic subjects for every country, nation or region; the cultural renaissance of each nation’s mother body will be integrated with the economic renaissance, we will wait and see.
ID-china: What is the reason that keeps you immersed in adhering to traditional Chinese culture and applying it to the design itself?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: The reason why I immerse myself in the country’s local culture is that I have a strong sense of mission to live as authentically as possible. The need for authenticity is indispensable to an architect or designer. I believe that if you want to claim that the result of the painting is real, you cannot create a real painting by simply copying other people's works and painting from a photo. If you want authenticity, immerse yourself in that environment. The same goes for architecture or interior design.
The fact that I bury my artistic side in the local landscape does not mean that I reject global influences. I travel to keep an open perspective, to learn the roots of foreign cultures, and to study their art. I have noticed that as architects or designers, we tend to focus on the East and the West, but rarely pay attention to the design realm that exists between these two polar cultures. The real questions about globalization lie with those countries that dominate or label the emerging phenomenon.
I believe it is my responsibility to influence and educate the general public. My expectations are very small, and I know that my influence on the public is insignificant, but I sincerely feel that as architects and interior designers, we have an obligation to help this society properly deal with the issue of internal identity. My job is to influence people's inner and outer character through the hardware construction of architecture or design. This mentality makes me not very popular with modern large urban real estate developers, but it is also another reason why I want to move out of the city - to follow my own path. From this point of view, you could say that I am a pioneer.
ID-china: You travel between the Mainland and Taiwan. What do you think are the differences in the design environment?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: Both Taiwan and China are facing an identity crisis. In the blink of an eye, we have leapt from an ancient culture to a highly modern one. On the other hand, cultural changes in Europe have been long-term and gradual: between the Renaissance and the postmodern society of modern Europe in the post-Cold War period, it developed gradually over several centuries. In Asia, we are rushing into a future for which we are not fully prepared, either socially or intellectually. The result is that we are in a serious crisis of losing cultural heritage. This is a real challenge for architects or interior designers in Taiwan.
We must catch up with the West, but at the same time, we must also carefully protect the roots of our ancient culture.
ID-china: What things inspire your design or where does most of your design inspiration come from?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: The reason why I moved from the city to the suburbs was a small step I took after careful consideration. I did this to reposition myself and immerse myself in a place where I can get inspiration and myself. In a nurturing environment. I don’t mean to deliberately veto or deny the comfort that technology can provide us, and I don’t mean to reject modern life either. But I do feel a deep desire within me to incorporate the richness of ancient indigenous culture into my work, and the only way to do this is to immerse myself in an environment that inspires me to do so. One of the most important elements in my design process is the art of appreciating the surrounding environment. I am a painter, and I need to find inspiration from my environment before I can produce works.
"To be the master of yourself"
ID-china: Can you first share with us one or two works that you are currently working on or that are most touching to you?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: (2013) An ongoing "highly difficult project", which is an area in a cultural tourism real estate project. I am responsible for the planning, architectural design, interior design, landscape design and arts and crafts design of the entire project.
Wudang Mountain is the birthplace of Taoist culture, and both Taoist thought and martial arts culture play a decisive role. The eastern route of Wudang Mountain is a tourist attraction with a steady stream of tourists. For the development of the Western Front, we want to create a place where people can escape from the urban jungle, calm down, and slow down the pace of life or work.
I feel that some of the so-called traditional buildings in mainland China have never been able to get out of the historical mold. They are too rigid in form and ignore the cultural heritage they should have. The biggest blind spot in urban real estate or tourist real estate now is the lack of design but the accumulation of so-called design symbols.
For me, how can I express design ideas and cultural heritage through architecture? How to achieve an ideological fit with Wudang Mountain in everyone’s impression, how to integrate traditional Chinese culture with architectural design, how to completely protect the local natural ecology and historical relics, how to make use of local geographical conditions or how to overcome nature The problems brought about by tourism, how to perfectly integrate new tourist attractions with the original ones, how to carry forward the ideas of Wudang Mountain and create a quiet and quiet resort, etc., are all issues that I have to consider and handle these issues well. , and it is difficult and challenging to present it to people perfectly.
ID-china: You have many outstanding design works, so what do you pay most attention to when designing?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: I pay most attention to the introversion and extroversion of my works. The so-called extroversion refers to the proportion and texture of the building. The shape of some buildings is very novel, but it does not achieve the proportion of art. I think Only perfect proportions can turn a work into a work of art, and the shape must be in harmony with the natural ecology and local culture to be a good architectural work.
I have been fond of ink painting since I was a child, so my interior design space must first have the space structure method of Eastern thinking, the way of looking at mountains like the literati ink painters: high, far, and flat. How to use this It has become particularly important to create an indoor space that is impressive, livable, travelable, and feasible, and to express the charm of a literati painter in interior design.
ID-china: What do you think the industry responsibilities and even social responsibilities of senior designers are?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: As a Chinese designer, I think practitioners should understand that he is a senior intellectual, a Chinese scholar, and an influential cultural elite. Only in this way can we indirectly influence our owners so that they can be aware of and promote this kind of thinking. I think designers should be like Guo Xi, Fan Kuan, and Su Shi in ancient times. They should use design works as a new medium for inheriting cultural heritage.
Art creation is also a new medium for inheriting culture, so when I do design, I will get inspiration from my favorite ink paintings, taking into account the harmony between man and nature, the appearance of the space has perfect proportions and texture, and the interior space It contains the elegance and elegance of a literati painter and the escape style of a hermit, and reaches the highest level of design.
ID-china: What do you think is the most attractive thing about the design industry?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: I can say with certainty that it is creativity and reform energy. These two are causally related, with reform ability as the cause and creativity as the effect. The so-called reform ability is not a model or a slight change based on a model, but a bold breakthrough, so that creative works can be produced.
ID-china: Why did you accept our invitation to select assistants (new design talents)?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: Interior Design is an authoritative magazine on interior design in the world, and I trust it very much. Interior Design Chinese website is run with great sincerity, and the content of the website is also very fresh, fashionable and high-end, unconventional. This is the seventh time that the Interior Design Chinese website has held a master selection event. It has received a lot of praise in the industry and many designers have introduced it to me. In addition, the purpose of the activity of selecting a master's assistant is very good. The traditional recruitment model has less interactivity, dialogue and in-depth understanding. This platform just provides the opportunity to have more conversations, understand more, and interact more with the contestants, other masters, and the jury.
ID-china: What qualities do you think an assistant should have?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: First of all, I am sensitive to international fashion. On the other hand, if there is a cultivation of understanding of Chinese culture, if there is no depth of understanding of traditional Chinese culture, then his creativity will appear weak, there will be no motivation for reform, and the design will have no soul. To be sensitive to international fashion is not to copy foreign design symbols, but to understand the creative ideas and designer styles of foreign designers, as well as the creative process of the works. International fashion is then applied to designs with an oriental character. In addition, one must be sincere, enthusiastic, active, responsible and courageous in reform and innovation towards design and work.
ID-china: How does your company pay attention to and cultivate the younger generation of designers?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: I attach great importance to the master-apprentice system. I treat them not as apprentices but as disciples, because disciples can discuss with the master. It is a relationship like Aristotle and Plato, and it is a mutual relationship. Respectful. The success of a disciple requires the inspiration and guidance of the teacher. Aristotle and Plato had a good theory called dialogue theory. So I care a lot about dialogue and thinking with disciples or students. Only in this way can we have our own thoughts and souls, and only then can we have reform and innovation.
ID-china: If you are lucky enough to work as an assistant in your company, what kind of opportunities and challenges will you face?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: He may have changed a lot from before. I treat my employees not as superiors and subordinates, but as partners. They are like-minded creators and reformers. Master and apprentice working together. In work practice, you can learn a lot of things that you can't learn on campus. In the process of dialogue, I understand the way I want to work and design. Discuss the methods before making each design plan. Different projects and different owners have different entry methods. I hope that the atmosphere of things is to treat every job like a game, which is also a dialectic of thought and behavior. Therefore, completing a job also completes the attributes of a personality, so that people's thoughts and methods are always active, not static.
ID-china: What are your expectations when you come here to select assistants?
Cheng Shaozhengtao: I hope to find cultural elites who belong to the future of the Chinese language. In addition, I would like to say to the contestants: Believe in your own abilities, believe in the cultural atmosphere and atmosphere you have. Even if it is a grain of sand, you must exert your greatest energy in order to achieve success. To be the master of yourself, when you participate in the master selection of assistants, you are not choosing me, but you are choosing yourself.