The town of Qing Cun is one hour by car to the southeast of downtown Shanghai and the Bund. The old town is 1.8km long and threads along Qing Cun Old Road and Cing Ci canal.  Qing Cun old town is a modest example of a Jiangnan ("south of the river") canal town, which dot the region just south of the Yangtze River. Unlike other similar towns in the area, Qing Cun old town has benefitted from benign neglect, and has not experienced either demolition or gentrification in a context of rapid urbanization in China, and the urban and building fabric (40-100 years old) are still largely intact.  It is now one of a hundred protected sites in the Shanghai municipality.  However, some form of intervention is now required to improve living conditions there, and to prevent the structures from falling further into disrepair.  Most of the working age population has left to find jobs elsewhere, leaving behind the elderly and migrant workers.

While in Qing Cun, students lived close to the study area. They examined the site through careful observation and diverse media, including on-site sketches, measured drawings, model, photography and the moving image, to produce a series of mappings that will form the basis for proposing specific architectural and urban interventions on a series of sites in the public realm, to be developed in detail on returning to Boston.

Students also met with representatives of the Shanghai Fengxian Qingcunzhen People’s Government as well as Ms. Zhu Jie (Aga) of Hwaschuen Consultants, a local entrepeneur who has collaborated with the Qing Cun town government on the redevelopment of the old town center.

We are also grateful to Prof. Zhang Peng (Patrick) of Tongji University, who hosted us at Tongji, and who shared his expertise as well as detailed documentation of the site with us.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This studio frames Qing Cun old town as the site of multiple crossing journeys of desire: as the site of first landing or as way-station for migrant workers from rural areas seeking work in the city; as retreat to nature by artists and craftspeople (in a long tradition of the confucian artist-scholar who “retreats” to nature and a life of contemplation); and finally as the destination of return journeys “home” during holidays where pilgrims expect to (re-) experience familiar rituals and customs.  Finally, the students’ own journeys to/through the site form the basis of their investigations.  The studio explores themes of home, belonging, of change and of retreat.  Our visit to Qing Cun also revealed a number of other rich veins of investigation: 

Ownership - property ownership is extremely complex in China.  Technically, all property belongs to the People’s government, and is rented or leased to residents.  However, some private (or original) ownership is now partially recognized.  We explore the possibilities this structure holds for project phasing, as well as the more elusive concept of “ownership” as a sense of belonging, or of stewardship.

Pick and Save - ingeniously contructed structures of building materials can be found all over the site, testifying to the resourcefulness of the residents.

Cut - Fengxian is well-known for the craft of paper cutting.  The “cut” relates to some of our sectional studies, as well as possible tectonic investigations.

Cooling Breeze - the Mayor of Qing Cun, who grew up on the Old Street, shared a memory of how residents used to bring bamboo chairs out to their front doors and on to the street itself after dinner on warm evenings, to cool down, and to socialize.  He also spoke fondly of playing “hide and seek”, and as children being able to thread from courtyard to courtyard, sometimes passing through people’s homes.  We relate the idea of “cooling breeze” to notions of porosity and connectivity.

METHOD

The approach is an “anti-masterplan”, with eleven complementary and / or competing visions that are varied in scope, with the goal of stimulating rich conversation and diverse solutions.