AR (chi) Tecture: art, consciousness, architecture

This paper examines the changing relationship between East and West, and art and architecture in the context of a transient cultural consciousness emerging out of the urban phenomenon of the twenty-first century. Focusing on the curatorial practice of Hou Hanru, this paper addresses how Hou's mode of practice - that is, designing cultural interspaces where intersections between artists, architects, publics and urban space take place - and reflection on that practice, critiques shifting conceptual boundaries. I argue that while a study of Hou's practice is not definitive in its value, the observation and analysis of such modes of practice, in particular those emerging out of the Chinese experience of rapid urbanisation, contribute to a fuller understanding of the nature of the shift in consciousness towards East = West, and art = architecture, through the prism of 'urbaness' 1 or the urban mindscape.