Category: Sites

MCCC01

The Integrated Eco Design and Building Experiments Workshop held from August to December 2020 was a research, education workshop and practical building project for the eco-design and collaborative construc- tion of a temporary multi-purpose building in the Chun On Monastery in Yuen Long. The workshop and project was conducted by Insitu Project for MCCC. It explored new possibilities for experimental building in Hong Kong by exploring recycled building and waste materials that are found in the city. The project also intended to foster and develop a holistic and integrated approach involving permaculture, eco design as well as passive and environmentally friendly design principles. The first stage was successfully completed in January 2021 involved 10 Hong Kong participants from very different backgrounds and experiences, working intensively together with a dedicated Insitu team, with like-minded collaborators and builders and a number of waste material donating individuals and companies. Future stages seek to expand on this solid foundation exploring ecological site planning and permaculture planning principles including the integration of water harvesting, composting toilets and other suitable ecological approaches for Chun On.

Besides the educational and physical outcomes which are presented in this documentation, this project has established a platform or starting point for this kind of project in Hong Kong. Therefore from our point of view, it has been successful in initiating the following:

1. Fostering an urban collectiveness (Building positive change and energy). 2. Learning by doing (Co-learning and Self-learning) 3. Urban upcycling (Fostering ecological awareness) 4. Low-tech ( Enabling skills with low-cost solutions) 5. Value Creation (Generating collective values)

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The House of Dreams is a rural development and training facility constructed in Zhou Shan village in Henan, stage one was completed in 2018 with stage 2 completion in August 2020. Zhou Shan village is a former cave village in the loess plateau area and has many derelict caves that remained after people relocated and rebuilt their houses on former farmlands above the caves during the last few decades. These changes to the village settlements diminished both socio-cultural abilities and damaged the patrimony of the area, so restoration and revitalization of these abandoned caves towards shared community benefit was determined through intensive community engagement to be a mutually beneficial endeavor.

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For centuries, the local sanitation custom in Miaoxia relied on the village’s pig house, where manure of human and pig are stored and regularly delivered to fertilise farmlands. However, this manual sanitation practice poses potential hygiene risks and is labour inefficient, especially inconven- ient for the elderly residence.

In response, an ecological septic tank is proposed to operate in harmony with the local habitat and offers productive landscape possibilities. Miaoxia septic tank is a low-tech sanitation system treating wastes from modern showers and toilets of the adjacent guesthouse and neighbouring households. This underground system is equipped with a micro power and piping system demonstrating a new sanitation system in rural area. During the course of this project, various participants including villagers, designers, social workers and an ecological consultant actively contributed through cross- disciplinary collaboration.

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Xianniangxi village hall is a cross disciplinary project for the design and construction of a community hall, farmers market, craft workshop and social enterprise. The project includes 5 key village groups, Lugeng Social work station, SD and SZU in collaboration and in participatory design process. The resulting design of around 350m² provides a flexible framework and a big roof under which the various activities take place. Infill of the walls utilizes repurposed waste materials such as bottles, plastics, earth bricks as a means to develop new approaches to environmental management of village waste. This also seeks to initiate possible new enterprises and skill sets in the village. The building is currently awaiting funding.

The community participatory design and making project engaged a large number of villagers in the making of a village square in Xianniangxi village. The square is used as a gathering place for social activities. After discussion the villagers cleared and prepared the chosen space and divided the area into 1.5m squares. As well the villagers gathered unused masonry and collected rover stones. Small teams of villagers and visitors were given the responsibility to make their own pattern and story for their 1.5m square using recycled bricks, tiles and river stones. Individual stories and patterns collectively make the square, and at the same time help to clean up the village.

As an integrated part of Miaoxia guesthouse and community waste treatment system, the guesthouse garden uses the treated nutrient rich wastewater to irrigate an adjacent garden, which will be later planted with fruit trees. The garden was designed and constructed in by Tan Ming with the Miaoxia community participation. Irrigation systems, planter beds, seating and paved areas allow foe guesthouse residents and villagers to use daily. An adjoining square was paved by service-learning students from 4 different areas of Asia working un collaborating with villagers.

Phase 2: Design and construction part 1 of the House of Dreams continues the project of the House of Dreams phase 1 completed in October 2018. Anticipated completion is January 2021. Villagers desires to further explore alternative approach of rural development under the guidance of Liang Jun continued through exploration of training and rural education work, requiring further facility development. These initiatives included over 20 trainings, conferences and workshops to universities, secondary schools, institutions and governments. In May 2019, phase 2 planning began, construction started in September 2019 and it is expected to complete in October 2020. Phase 2 continued the communal participatory design and construction focus adapting further disused caves and providing additional meeting and training facilities. The key focus has been to explore upcycling method as a way of building, mainly using demolished houses as construction material and initiating upcycling home daily waste as part of the building. Phase 2 provides 2 court yards with 8 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and laundry, 1 exhibition space, 1 classroom for 60 people and a shop for local products.

The House of Dreams is a rural development and training base constructed in Zhou Shan village, stage one was completed in 2017. Under the direction of Liang Jun (梁军), who initiated community groups for cultural and social developments in the village since 2002 and together with Dr Ku Hok Bun (APSS), Insitu Project worked with the community on the design of the training centre as a research base in the village. The research base serves the community to consolidate skills and foster community values whilst exploring bottom up develop development methods and approaches in China. As a training centre the facility refocuses and strengthens the village in ways that can allow for training and sharing to other villages, with guesthouse, communal cooking, event spaces and training spaces. Located partly in existing village caves, the project constructed and organized new facilities and amenities as well as public spaces. Insitu Project worked with villagers on site to collect left over building materials, natural material and demolished buildings, to collectively construct the House of Dreams – the villagers chosen name, as these caves are their childhood homes and remain only in their dreams.

Xinyi Natural School was instigated by the Lao He Gou Nature Preservation Centre with In-situ Project in collaboration with the local community. This is an on-going community-based development project aiming at integrated social and natural sustainability. The school is located in Xinyi Valley, a natural preservation and former hunting area in Pingwu County, in north-east Sichuan. The primary construction consisted of meeting hall, kitchen and bathroom was completed in winter 2020. Since March 2019, the design team conducted five visits which included on-site asset-mapping workshops and story oral history gathering, presentation of design options and making 1:1 construction tests. The final frame up process involved over 20 villagers. Working towards low-impact construction has meant that over 50% of building materials are collected within 200 meters radius from the site, including 100% of structure and 30% of log wall (in surface area). A tilted roof allows more daylighting for indoor activities; the log wood wall provides better indoor thermal comfort compared with normal brick wall; Toilet waste will be diverted into septic tank for fertilization of nearby farmland. The new constructed space will be operated as a live in natural education base, it will promote and disseminate conservation and preservation knowledge, promote local culture, knowledge and stories and further generate revenue for community.

The Museum of Everyday Life / School for Handicrafts completed 2019 for the Dong minority community is in Dong Lei village, Hunan Province. The project exhibits local artifacts and provides a space for hosting story telling and cultural exchange events. In-situ with Lvgeng worked with villagers across a series of community engagement events including: surveying local crafting techniques with elderly village women-folk; artifact everyday use and documentation; preparation of a book by village youths who interviewed and documented stories from villager elders; exhibition design with the elder woman-folk; and donation of timber and coordination of carpenters in the construction of the facility. The key achievement of the project was to activate villager participation on many levels, aiding the village cohesion and integration across gender and generation differences.