The Rhythm of Tiles That Echo the Ancient Past
Four thousand two hundred twenty square meters are distributed along Sanlitun West Street, where the colorful tile facade is not a decoration, but a rhythm. Each ceramic tile reproduces the pattern of the hutong roofs, not with historical accuracy, but as a visual signal intended to be recognized by those entering the city. The structure rises among the shadows of modern towers, a body that seeks to be contemporary without denying the past. According to Jacob van Rijs, founder of MVRDV, the challenge was to create a space “that feels rooted in its surroundings” while expressing the global ambitions of the brand.
The architectural gesture is not an homage, but a strategy: the imitation does not limit itself to form, but extends to the process. The tiles are produced in series with industrial techniques, but treated to simulate the natural deterioration of ancient roofs. This exchange of materiality implies a change of time: what is made in the factory lasts for decades, while the original wears out over the seasons. The facade does not live the same history as its historical model; it only imitates its rhythm.
The Weight of Reproduced Memory
In 1957, when the United States launched Sputnik, a bottle of Colheita Port wine was still underground in Portugal. The following year, the vineyard was cultivated for a wine that would not be bottled until 2026. The preservation of this wine – vinified in the pre-digital era and kept for almost seventy years – is not only a technical choice, but a ritual act of permanence. The Colheita Kopke, Best in Show at the DWWA 2026, represents the ultimate in organized longevity: a product that exists to be discovered after decades.
In contrast to the facade of Beijing – where memory is reproduced with modern materials and industrial processes – this wine demonstrates how time can become matter. It’s not about copying the past, but making it last beyond all expectations. While the tile in architecture simulates the past on a single surface, the Colheita contains it in a thermodynamic flow over time: each year passed is a physical accumulation of oxidation and maturation.
The Tension Between Imitation and Permanence
In 1957, the Colheita Kopke had already been produced. In 2026, MVRDV’s facade was completed. These two events do not compare in time, but in their relationship with the very idea of memory: one is a programmed return to the past; the other only imitates its visual sign. The wine exists to be discovered in the future; the facade exists to be recognized in the present.
The difference is not aesthetic, but operational: where the Colheita requires a physical storage system – cellars with controlled humidity, total darkness, constant temperature – the facade depends on a logistical network of industrial production. The wine requires a long and fragile physical supply chain; architecture needs it for the transport of tiles, but not for its functionality.
The Invisible Code of Recognizability
Today, the identity of a place is no longer built on its history, but on its mark. Colheita Kopke was awarded because its long preservation has become proof of quality; MVRDV’s facade was recognized because it reproduces a visual code that the public has learned to decipher. Both are examples of invisible manufacturing: you don’t see the process, but you perceive the effect.
Global consumption is no longer driven by material scarcity, but by symbolic recognizability. Where once quality was measured by the cost or physical durability of a product, today it is assessed by its integration with an affiliation code that can be reproduced in series. Wine lasts if preserved; architecture lasts if recognized.
The constraint to monitor is the ability of physical structures to maintain a connection with time without having to live it. A second key indicator: how long does the visual code remain active before being replaced by new iconography.
Photo by Zhen Yao on Unsplash
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