Community Building in the Washington, DC area!!

SFP Editor: Do you think your Chinese Heritage influences how you approach design? Jimmy Shu: I think there is some, such ways as Feng Shui. I try to design some buildings during my school year with the idea of balance and harmony. Whether it was with nature, a path into different rooms, a focal point where the main piece of the building should be more seen or admired by people that walk through or just by standing. Which in a way is the chi in feng shui. So there is some influences in my design by looking at it in a deeper perspective.

SFP Editor: How did you become interested in architecture?

Jimmy Shu: During my senior year in high school I noticed that one of my classmates had a strange tube. I asked him what was it. He said that it was a tube for drawings. I thought it was art. He said no it was plan drawings. The drawings were neat and clean. I thought that was cool. So that's how I got started.

SFP Editor: What kind of schooling is needed for this profession?

Jimmy Shu: It can be any school. It really depends upon what you are looking to do as an architect. There are programs for urban planning, design, sentimental architect, etc. Some schools have large programs for it, and some have small programs for it. The main program or classes is usually studio design. Studio design is where you can create ideas of art with living areas (for people that is). These ideas or creations are sometimes held back with a program, which is handed out by your professor. Studio design also have crits, where other professors or their friends would come into the school and help you out with your design. Studio is your main class and usually the most class credits in the architectural program. There are other class requirement too, such as physics, English, calculus, structural, even philosophy. It all depends upon the school you attend and their requirements.

SFP Editor: Do you think your Chinese Heritage influences how you approach design?

Jimmy Shu: I think there is some, such ways as Feng Shui. I try to design some buildings during my school year with the idea of balance and harmony. Whether it was with nature, a path into different rooms, a focal point where the main piece of the building should be more seen or admired by people that walk through or just by standing. Which in a way is the chi in feng shui. So there is some influences in my design by looking at it in a deeper perspective.

SFP Editor: Do you have a favorite architecture style and why?

Jimmy Shu: I like industrial and modern architect. The reason is that you sort of get to see the components of the building as an art. So it can be a main focal point or just a special display of art. An example of industrial architecture is the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. The architect that designed this building was Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. In the outside of this building it looks like a warehouse factory, but inside it a shopping center. As for modern architecture, I think of the new Disney Theater in Los Angels, California. The architect is Frank Geary. The ideas that make it modern is that it defines the traditional form. If you look at the theater. it's not boxy, it's curved with edges. There are not a lot of straight areas. So these are some of the architects and their buildings that make it look like art.

SFP Editor: Where were you born and how did you get to the US?

Jimmy Shu: I was born in Hong Kong, which was governed by the British, which means that I may still have the obligation to move to England and become a British citizen there, or a Hong Kong citizen. Which was offered to me one time in Hong Kong when I traveled back during 95. But now Hong Kong it is governed by China Which I would not be so interested now - being that its turned slightly strict. The transfer of Hong Kong back to China was in 97'. I came here in the states at the age of three. Both my parents was print shop workers. They basically were the workers that put books and magazines together. My parents met each other at work. Talk about rule number one for me. Never date a co-worker. The reason why my parents came to the States is what everyone wanted ti. The American dream for them and their kids was to have a better life with no government looking over your shoulders. I think living in the US there are more rules in safety and health. In China, there aren't as much rules because I would think it's harder to try and control millions and millions of people. In both areas you have the same situation, such as crime, homelessness, people trying to make it through life. The only thing that makes it sad is that China doesn't have a caring program or system for the elderly. So I've seen elderly people picking up cans and bottles to be sold for money. Which to me is sad, but that the government for ya.

SFP Editor: What architectural feats do you find impressive in Washington, DC and why? Jimmy Shu: The architectural feature that I like best was the National Monument, when the scaffolding was wrapped around it. I love it during the night time, because it was so noticeable and bright. With the scaffolding on it. It gave an illusion of large bolder, which make the monument pretty large. The reason for the scaffolding was that they were pressure cleaning the stone and patching up any cracks that can cause water leakage into the monument. Because once water gets into the building, certain things will start to grow or create decay. I would have loved it if they had kept the scaffolding because it was much more cooler have it glow from the inside, instead of having large spot lights shining at it.

SFP Editor: Any place in the world you would like to visit to study architecture - why?

Jimmy Shu: The place that I would love to study at is Europe. There is some much to see and learn about the past and where it all began. Such places as Rome, Italy where building have been standing for centuries. I bet if the building can talk. It would have a lot to say about the different changes in power of the government, the people, the culture, etc. There is so much in Europe that I can study there forever. But Europe is also becoming a lot more modern and industrial on their buildings. Such buildings a the Guggenheim II in Barcelona, Spain. The new frame work for the London Library created by Norman Foster. Now that Germany is united again, lots of new buildings are being designed and with a futuristic approach to it. Now that technology is so well developed. So I think Europe would be my main chose to study aboard.

SFP Editor: What is all this feng shen stuff - does it really work?

Jimmy Shu: Feng shui is basically a study of balance and a movement of circulation within the rooms. Does it work? Well, I thing it doesn't, but it's a matter of how you look at it or if you believe in it. I could be wrong about it. So far what I've read in books. There is really no drastic changes that everyone think it does, you have to practice this believe to make it work for you. I really can say whether it works or not, because I haven't study long enough to tell you that it works. To give you some ideas of how it works. Looking at your home as if you were a stranger in it. I would start at the front yard, patio, or foyer. The way that I would work on it is by omit things that are either out of season, such a ornaments from Christmas, Halloween, etc. Another thing is removing dead plants and replacing them with a new and healthy ones and keeping it alive. So that new chi will arrive with new life. From there on I would look at the over all rooms to see how things are spaced, and if there is anything that needs to be removed or placed somewhere else. With certain things being removed or placed somewhere else, chi and flow more freely like a river or stream flowing through. So these are some basic idea, that you can look at. But to really get the feel of it you have to practice it with a believe of what works and what doesn't. There wouldn't be a drastic change which some people believe there is. It is all stereotype.