Category: Situations

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.

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.

 

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.