Suddenly This View
Suddenly This View begun as a series of architectural models and evolved into a collection of model photography. It is an ongoing project investigating everyday spaces, exploring how architectural models and their derivative creations can be used to convey spatial narratives.
The subjects of Suddenly This View are everyday buildings that we encountered in ordinary urban spaces; a linear-shaped warehouse, a roundabout with a tall statue in the centre, and a house with a mini basketball court built on the balcony. Each 1:100 model was crafted in a couple of days from basic materials like paper, cardboard, tape, and fine wire. This approach results in a collection of models that blend the objectivity of the real world with our sensibilities.
It was a challenge to determine what to retain and what to omit working at a small scale. The features of each building are simplified using modest materials and techniques. Walls and roofs are constructed from a single layer of paper; doors and windows are portrayed as flat elements; and small objects are suggested by scraps of paper. We celebrated the imperfections in model-making, traces of glue, rough edges of torn paper, and patches to correct previous mistakes.
Equally we explored the imperfections in everyday life: wheels scattered in front of the bicycle repair shop, trash cans lying on the ground at the recycling centre, empty baskets piled in the market, and lanterns for New Year celebrations hanging between the trees. These traces of life often get overlooked but it is precisely these details which add vitality to ordinary places. They become essential narrative elements that define the models, providing viewers with insight into how spaces are used and experienced. Through these meticulous details, each model captures a particular moment in the building’s life cycle.
We explored the narrative quality of these models further through photography; using long-focus macro lenses to capture the life inside the models. The lenses allowed us to enter the models as microscopic worlds, as if walking, moving, and selecting specific angles and moments within a real city. One of the models features a bus parking lot situated underneath an elevated highway in Beijing. Our photo shows the highway bustling with busy traffic above, while below a security guard sits at the entrance, reading the news on his smartphone. A moment of peace in the vast and fast-paced metropolis. Each photo is given a name that reads like the beginning of a story; here, the title is the security guard’s news headline, ‘Only 16 months after its founding, the security robot company became a $1 billion unicorn’. It focuses on the everyman’s position in a world of extreme wealth and advancing technology.
The photo’s invitation to look deeper at everyday situations was explored when they were exhibited at the ‘Hometown Spring’ exhibition at the Pingshan Art Museum in Shenzhen last year. They were reproduced in a large format, asking visitors to step into the scenes, becoming the paper figures themselves. This manipulation of scale resulted in distinct perceptions of the same spatial environment, offering viewers varied and compelling experiences of the work.
Drawing Architecture Studio was established in 2013 by Li Han and Hu Yan in Beijing. They are committed to the practice of architectural drawing, architectural design, and urban studies.