ZZ02 Zhaizhi Rural Training Center 2018

Zhaizi Rural Development College is an architectural design to provide educational and training spaces in Zhaizi village, Shanxi. Zhaizi village is well-known for its practices of rural cooperative development and serves as an attraction for other villages who seek to learn from its experience. To transform local experiences into further formal education programs, a rural development college was proposed to provide all weather facilities and a centre for education-related activities for up to 200 people. Insitu Project working with the community conducted comprehensive survey works to understand local building materials and technology, brief and programme needs and developed design concepts. During the design process, villagers were invited to provide suggestions among design models. The final design consisted two new buildings with angled roof with an existing building on site, defining a triangle courtyard space. It serves as a multi-functional space for class programs, outdoor activities and traditional rural events.

Sketch Plan for training centre.
Discussion with villagers.
Final design model.
Final design presentation.
Final design presentation.
Final design presentation.

ZZ01 Zhaizhi Street as Commons 2019

Hou Tou Street Design project was a participatory and cultural planning workshop for the design of a communal neighborhood street in Zhaizi village. In the collection of memories and imaginations for planning and design of street the workshop consisted of three steps: making models, mapping memories and visioning future. Firstly, the design team invited villagers to collaboratively make a 1:20 street model by completing their own individual house. After making the site model, villagers were encouraged to share their memories about the street life on the model through images and models. Lastly, a serious of design toolkits are provided for villagers to trigger their imagination and display future street space. The workshop generated a 20 meter-length design model, documenting a collective storytelling of over 30 villagers.

Residents from the community street.
Aerial photo of the community street and training centre site.
Site visit and survey of the street conditions.
Workshop with residents making model components.
Residents making house models.
Street model completed after workshop.
Street model completed after workshop.

BHG02 Beihuanggu Children Activity Space 2018

The Children’s Activity Space in Beihuanggu village was designed in participation with the local community and Weifang Yuandu Volunteer Service Centre. It converted an underused courtyard house in the village to provide all weather multi-functional community facilities for children gatherings that included study areas, library and play areas for the village. Local stone-mason masters and the Insitu Project team worked on site to explore ways to modify stone architecture to a more open type of space, and source local resources and skills to construct the spaces. The project was completed in January 2018.

Renovation of existing building for children’s activity room.
Thatching process for new roof.
Completed children’s activity room.
Inauguration of children’s activity room.

BHG01 Beihuanggu Communal Space Planning 2017

In 2017, Insitu Project commenced working with the local community and Weifang Yuandu Volunteer Service Centre in Beihuanggu village in Shandong on communal space in the village. The collaboration explored ways of activating public space based on public events, festivals and local habits. Students from SZU joined the project to document the local architecture and life stories, the stone architecture building traditions and later developed designs linking the Children Activity Space together with the public space with the provision of public amenities in the village. The work was constructed with participation of local stone-masons in 2017.

Raw material in Huanggu village.
Stonework and masonry processes.
Gathering raw materials.
Huanggu village context.
Wall detail with re-used roof tiles.
Village children in square.

XNX03 Xianniangxi Community Kitchen 2019

Xianniangxi community kitchen is participatory design and making project that arose from the need to relocate an existing social enterprise run community kitchen. Located in an unfinished concrete structure, the kitchen and dining area function as a community gathering space, giving character and memeorable spatial experience to the daily life of visitors and villagers. Using a material repurposing approach, villagers and participants collected waste materials to construct the external walls. Serving to both clean up the surrounding village and to enable participants to value found material. The project was made possible under a Poly U APSS Service Learning programme and involved both SZU and Poly U students.

As a second stage two groups from School of Design and SZU constructed devices and fittings for the space to provide special features for the community kitchen. These were made in classes taught by Kuo Jze Yi in both schools and transported and installed in the Community Kitchen.

View of unfinished dining space.
Community Kitchen (under construction).
Recycled wall construction.
Community Kitchen participant meeting.
Front door assembly.

MXS MiaoXia Village Survey 2017

Miaoxia village, once home to over 500 people now houses 150 inhabitants. Built during the late Ming Dynasty it comprises of a series of courtyard houses, some with sophisticated woodcarvings that reveal social status. The predominance of wooden buildings – some over 120 years old having withstood many earthquakes – are witness to a declining tradition of wood craftsmanship skills; the village formerly known for its expertise in carpentry. No survey or historical records exist for this village, so the survey outlines the primary wooden building stock.

Survey sketch

Survey sketch

Using a local tool to remove spider webs from structures to be surveyed.

Close up of the tool.

Villagers helping out the survey team.

 

MXW3 MiaoXia Narrative Workshop 2017

Miaoxia Narrative Design Workshop, the third workshop held in Miaoxia was held in summer 2017. It made present the hidden intangible myths, legends, beliefs and everyday stories through the making of films and narratives. The investigation and mapping of local habits, and reinterpretation into the semi-fictional films aimed to trigger understanding and new ideas about the life of the village. These were narrated into four three minute films These films engaged villagers as storytellers, actors and willing participants in the films.

Miaoxia, Miaoxia

Land of Temple

Changing Stones

Nature

Official screening at Miaoxia Village.

Narrative design workshop.

MX02 MiaoXia Community Guesthouse 2017

The Miaoxia Village Community Guesthouse and social enterprise completed in 2017 was constructed through a participatory design process. The renovation of an existing house and construction of a new extension accommodating 20 people, provides six guest bedrooms, training spaces for disaster preparedness, a social workers office, a tea room, activity spaces for children’s play and study, as well as bathroom and laundry amenities in a total of 250m2. Generous external bridges and deck spaces provide spaces of delight, informality and community are integrated into the overall design to contribute to place-making and flexible usage. The guesthouse run as a cooperative venture to provides revenue for the villagers, permits visitors to stay overnight or longer and to engage in other activities in the village. It also forms part of a community waste management system.

Guesthouse in context.

Mirroring elevations of the existing and the new built.

Upper floor corridor.

Local craftsman constructing on site.

Structural frame erection, involving local builders, villagers, students and social workers.

Engaging with social workers.

 

MX01 MiaoXia Community Kitchen 2015

The Miaoxia Village Community Kitchen, a cross-disciplinary research project, implemented a community kitchen and social enterprise in 2015. The collaboration developed ‘software’ through Action Research (local understanding, dialogue and engagement; social systems and services) and ‘hardware’ through the applied research methodology of Participatory Design processes (design process, constructed spaces, capacity development and skill extension), involving over 100 participants. The resulting kitchen enables larger events to be catered for including festivals, weddings and visiting groups, and generates revenue for the villagers. It fosters positive change in the village, activating skills, self-organising capacities and higher levels of community cohesion.

Community Kitchen in context.

Upper floor of the kitchen, looking out into the village.

Roof tiling.

Frame erection, conducted by villagers.

Design model.