黑料不打烊

The Head, The Heart & The House: Migration and Modernism in King-lui Wu鈥檚 Domestic Architecture foregrounds the life and work of Chinese-born architect King-lui Wu (1918-2002), an active and influential member of the Modernist movement in the United States. Educated under Walter Gropius at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Wu鈥檚 vision for a post-war society merged the intellectual rigor of architecture (the head) with the emotional resonance of space (the heart). The exhibition showcases three residential projects in Connecticut鈥攖he Rouse, Dupont, and Manuscript houses鈥攁s prime examples that demonstrate Wu鈥檚 adaptation of Modernist aesthetics. They also highlight his attention to light, integration of the site鈥檚 natural surroundings, and use of simple materials. In each of the featured projects, Wu experimented with designing for domesticity. The exterior simplicity of Wu鈥檚 houses contrasts with their interior vibrancy, suggesting that a domestic life unfolds from the center outwards. Through the strategic use of wooden panels, sliding doors, and clerestories, his homes mediate the tension between inside and outside: privacy and public life.

Wu envisioned American Modernism as a movement defined by 鈥渢olerance, sincerity, and moral courage,鈥� principles that he believed could facilitate harmonious living environments. He sought to incorporate a 鈥渟ense of adventure鈥� within his projects that he thought were intrinsic to traditional Chinese literature, philosophy, and his family garden, the Panyu Yuyin Mountain House, which produced layered aesthetic qualities of irregularity, concealment, and surprise. Throughout his forty-three year tenure as a professor at the Yale School of Architecture, Wu鈥檚 course syllabi often echoed his affinity for Chinese gardens.

Wu鈥檚 narrative is a critical lens through which Asian immigration to the US can be examined, particularly during a time of heightened anti-Asian sentiment throughout the 20th century. It also intersects with a significant movement of European intellectual elites migrating to the US during and after WWII. The three houses feature collaborations with German-born artist Josef Albers. Yet, the contributions and careers of these architects and artists who fled Europe are often told in a markedly different manner than those of Chinese-born Wu. This exhibition aims to shift that narrative and spotlight Asian immigrants to the US who shaped the Modernist movement, like King-lui Wu. The lessons from Wu鈥檚 story are relevant today as the US finds itself in a parallel moment of heightened political tension, engages in similar exclusionary immigration policies, and stokes episodes of anti-Asian sentiment.