ANGLES
Haobo Wei and Jingsong Xie
Hello! Please introduce yourself.
Hi! We are Haobo Wei and Jingsong Xie from
West-Line Studio. We graduated from Chongqing
University and Xi'an University of Architecture and
Technology respectively.
With the practice we founded, we have been
focusing our work in our native province, Guizhou, in
southwestern China. Our architecture is informed by
and appreciative of the region’s rugged and complicated
landforms, and seeks a conversation with our rich
and diverse subcultural heritage. We feel that the
combination of traditional handicraft skills unique to
the region and modern production methods create an
effective, memorable and relatable architectural design
output. It is identifiable as belonging to its surrounding
community.
of the community’s general lack of self-confidence in
traditional methods and age-old practices, and this has
led to the gradual neglect and decay of some of the
distinct subcultural heritage of southwestern China.
We fear that in such cases, regional integrity will get
swallowed up.
What made the studio decide to limit practice
in the southwestern part of China? What makes
the region special and especially accommodating
for your brand of architecture? Are there plans
to eventually expand to other parts of China or
even Asia?
Guizhou province is our home, and we feel a strong
connection towards it. We also feel that is a place of
great potential to champion the cause of contemporary
vernacular architecture because of the region’s character.
In terms of topographical features, Guizhou is unique in
that it is where the karst landform is most concentrated
in China. From the perspective of social character,
Guizhou historically has been a place of migration,
where different ethnic settlements co-exist. As a result,
Can you tell us a bit about how the firm
started? What were some of the challenges you
encountered?
We founded West-Line Studio back in 2004 and
we currently practice exclusively in Guizhou Province.
The biggest challenge we encountered is the discovery
08