China News Agency, Beijing, June 14th, title: Hao Chuandong: a dream chaser who integrates Chinese and Western architecture
China News Agency reporter Xu Wenxin
"At this moment 23 years ago, I flew into New York's JFK International Airport, stayed up until dawn, took a two-hour drive north to Manhattan Coach Station, and arrived in Albany, the capital of New York State. Start a business." April 12, 2022 was the 23rd anniversary of the arrival of Chinese-American architect Hao Chuandong in the United States. In the middle of the night, he couldn't help recalling his first visit to the United States.
As one of the first first-class registered architects in China, Hao Chuandong has a decent job and a stable family in China, but he has not realized his dream of integrating Chinese and Western architecture.
In 1999, he made up his mind to go to the United States alone.
"It's a self-defeating decision - language barrier, struggle to zero, starting from scratch."
After arriving in the United States, Hao Chuandong first got a job in a Chinese architectural firm in New York, while racing against time to improve his English.
Five years later, he obtained a New York architect license, but he did not rush to set up a studio, but chose to continue his work and study in a large design company. During this period, he was exposed to green and environmentally friendly architectural concepts and rigorous and orderly project management experience. .
After ten years of accumulation, Hao Chuandong established his own architectural office, and began to undertake new construction and reconstruction architectural design and interior design projects.
Since then, under the concept of creating excellence in design, his firm has achieved many successes.
“In 2011, an old home remodeling project won me the first NYC Queens Chamber of Commerce Architecture Award. Since then, I have won the award 9 times. The architecture award, established in 1926, is the oldest architectural design competition in New York City one."
Among Hao Chuandong's design works, there are not only modern designs that seek changes with curved ceilings and use mirrors to expand the space; there are also traditional elements that integrate tea ceremony culture and divide the space with cabinets; and to protect the appearance of old buildings, lighting is transformed through design. and sustainable concept of air circulation.
In his view, "Architecture is a combination of technology and art. China has a long history and a splendid culture. Using the knowledge I have learned to serve the society, to promote the Chinese architectural culture and improve the quality of design is my direction. Pursuit The harmonious integration of man and nature, continuous innovation, and striving for perfection are my motivation.”
With many outstanding architectural design projects and contributions to changing the appearance of Queens, New York, Hao Chuandong won the title of "Queen of Queens" in 2015.
In 2018, he was elected director of The Society of American Registered Architects, the first time an Asian American has held the position.
"China's development has played a role in boosting my career. In the past ten years, I have participated more in Chinese architectural design and opened branches in China, looking forward to contributing to China's construction." Hao Chuandong said bluntly, Chinese cities The construction and development of the city used to pursue scale and speed, but now it is increasingly pursuing quality and quality, and pursuing optimization on the basis of existing urban construction.
Now many Chinese architects have more and more good works recognized internationally, which is a very gratifying situation.
Hao Chuandong said: "As the chairman of the Professional and Technical Committee of the American Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, I will introduce advanced architectural concepts to benefit my hometown, and will work hard to strengthen Sino-US architectural cultural exchanges and assist Chinese design units to go overseas." (End)