Italian architect on the rise of China and why details annoy him
Massimiliano Fuksas, the 74-year-old founder of Studio Fuksas, whose designs include Terminal 3 of the Shenzhen Baoan International Airport and the Cultural Centre in Beijing, says, at heart, he is still a six-year-old child with a paint brush
What is your architectural vision? “It’s a powerful instrument that can bring light, culture, art and energy into the city. Architecture is not about the details: [they] annoy me.”
Where do you get your ideas? “It usually happens in the early morning, when I’m still in bed. With my eyes shut, I can imagine the shape of a new structure and the light dimming through it. I always have three kinds of lights within this vision: the direct one, the indirect one and the ‘magic’ one.”
“Later, I paint what I saw, with brush on canvas. Then people in my studio construct models – a lot of models, so many I could donate them to public libraries – but that is only to allow others to understand my vision. Otherwise, to me, the project is complete, done, when I put down my paint brush. That is probably because, deep inside, I am still six years old.”
A building is just a building: stout, stupid. I chose stainless steel and a mirror finish to define the volumes of the Cultural Centre, because I love the idea of having life that unfolds outside the building reflected on its surface, like an instant movie
What do you mean by that? “I lost my father at that age, and it is a moment frozen in time. I am still basically just a child who follows his dreams. Everything else comes down to professional experience that counts practically, of course, but not in substance.”