{"id":580,"date":"2025-09-29T09:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scientificmediagroup.com\/?p=580"},"modified":"2025-10-02T16:10:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:10:48","slug":"if-a-client-wants-a-specific-style-its-kind-of-boring-to-us-says-open-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.scientificmediagroup.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/29\/if-a-client-wants-a-specific-style-its-kind-of-boring-to-us-says-open-architecture\/","title":{"rendered":"“If a client wants a specific style, it’s kind of boring to us” says Open Architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Open<\/div>\n

Open Architecture<\/a> has risen quickly to become one of China<\/a>‘s most influential studios and is now set to design a major exhibition in Sydney. In this interview<\/a>, married founders Huang Wenjing and Li Hu explain their unusual approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since establishing its Beijing office in 2008, Open Architecture<\/a> has developed a reputation for experimental buildings that often look like something else altogether.<\/p>\n

\"Open
Open Architecture founders Huang Wenjing (left) and Li Hu (right). Photo courtesy of Open Architecture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“People come to us, normally they are not quite sure what they want, but they know they want something different, something special,” Li told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“If a client wants a specific style, it’s kind of boring to us. We want to push the boundary, do something different, something we’ve never done before.”<\/p>\n

The studio’s recently completed Sun Tower<\/a> (top video) is a 50-metre-tall concrete cone that functions like a giant sundial. Li explained that it originated from the broadest of instructions from the client.<\/p>\n

“We are more interested in a project that is a question,” he said. “We worked on a lot of projects with very simple briefs.”<\/p>\n

“For Sun Tower, the brief was to make something substantial. We enjoy the process of helping the client to define the project.”<\/p>\n

\"Powerhouse
Open Architecture is designing the opening exhibition for Powerhouse Parramatta, due to open late next year. Photo by Rory Gardiner with Colby Vexler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was also the case for Task Eternal<\/a>, the opening exhibition<\/a> at the under-construction Powerhouse Parramatta in Sydney<\/a>, due to open in late 2026.<\/p>\n

The announcement was made by Powerhouse Museum<\/a> today that Open has been commissioned to design the exhibition \u2013 an aerospace showcase informed by Ted Chiang’s science-fiction short story The Tower of Babylon.<\/p>\n

It will be presented in Ps1, the largest museum space in Australia<\/a> measuring more than 2,100 square metres and 18 metres in height.<\/p>\n

Li and Huang were approached by Powerhouse Museum to help shape the ambitious project.<\/p>\n

Usually a studio would be given a brief and object lists before diving into the exhibition-design process, but Open did not receive a clearly defined brief from Powerhouse Museum. Instead, they worked collaboratively with the in-house curatorial team to come up with the initial concept.<\/p>\n

\"Concept
Open’s concept for Task Eternal aims to prompt visitors to consider humanity’s expansionist tendencies. Image courtesy of Open Architecture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“It’s literally a museum within a museum,” Li said. “We really want to push the form of exhibition making, combining architecture, concept and curation.”<\/p>\n

The expansive and immersive exhibition will invite visitors on an ascending journey through four acts \u2014 Skyward, Power, Off-Earth and The Return.<\/p>\n

Open structured the exhibition based on the experience of watching a film, in which they created 35 different scenes for the four main acts, from early navigation stories, to the commercialisation and weaponisation of space, to exploring space and then returning to Earth.<\/p>\n

Their hope is that Task Eternal will encourage visitors to reflect on the human urge to strike out into the unknown.<\/p>\n

“There’s so much we don’t know, but there’s a lot more we need to hold on to. That is the Earth, where we are grounded,” said Huang.<\/p>\n

\"Powerhouse
The exhibition will take place within the biggest museum space in Australia. Photo by Rory Gardiner with Colby Vexler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibition is the latest example of Open moving beyond the landmark design it is known for, with Huang and Li believing is necessary adaptation in a complex and changing world.<\/p>\n

“We are less arrogant than we used to be, humbled by how fast things can change,” said Huang.<\/p>\n

“The way to cope with the changing world is to learn more skills, do more things, explore more territories so we can always adapt. In Chinese, we call it ‘skill in 18 types of combat’,” she added.<\/p>\n