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Thursday June 26. Day 2 of the second phase presentation of ORDOS100. Another 36 architects presenting another 36 villa’s. From 9 o’clock onwards the bombardment started, only to end 9 hours later.

At the end of these two days, one starts wondering what one has seen, what the messages were that came through. One couldn’t help that villa’s started blurring into each other, the borders between kitsch and criticality were torn down. After two days it was too early to make conclusion, as some proposal are deeply embedded into the Chinese construction reality, others seem to come from outer conceptual space. Some villa’s were tailor-made, others could be anywhere. At the end everybody was exhausted, thrilled, tired and hyper. And this gathering wasn’t even half-way.

At the end of the evening the architects who presented on the first day got their comments from the jury. Cryptic and critical messages were passed around, debated, deciphered. Some were nice, others not so nice, some were short, others lengthy. During a long night food, cigarettes and alcohol heightened the euphoria and eased the disappointment. A snapshot impression.

Pictures by Bert de Muynck & Mónica Carriço | movingcities.org