The 798 Art District & the Conditions for Confluence of Politics, Art, and Architecture

Abstract

In the post-industrial era, the bond between architecture and art has become more fluid and organic. Emergence of the minimalist art in the 1960's marked a moment in art history when artists actively began to form new alliances with architects, by turning their art into industrialized objects that are precisely tuned within an architectural context. Recently, the object and the context have often switched their roles, as the primary architectural background for exhibition has changed from pristine white cubes to tough and raw industrial shells. Major institutions like the Tate Modern and the Dia Foundation initially pioneered the trend in adaptive reuse of industrial architecture for art exhibitions, and the recent opening of the Prada Foundation in Milan has signaled the moment of full maturity for the phenomenon. Unlike these precedents in the West, which are mostly initiated and funded by major institutions and corporations, the 798 Art District, located in a former German industrial complex in Beijing, was originally founded by independent artists who moved into the abandoned industrial buildings in search of cheap live-work studios, until the government gradually took control of its overall organization and operation. Now a curious hybrid of exhibition spaces, artists' studios, and commercial establishments, the 798 Art District is more deeply rooted within its cultural, economic, and architectural context than its Western counterparts. Moving beyond a static physical adaptation, it provides a new form of convergence between art and architecture, in which both are in a constant state of organic transformation. By highlighting the unique condition of organic confluence between art and architecture, as embodied in the 798 Art District, this paper will offer a new set of reasons for preserving the industrial architectural heritage in Asian cities.