NOUN

1.THE ACT OF UNITING AGAIN

2.THE STATE OF BEING UNITED AGAIN 3.A GATHERING OF RELATIVES, FRIENDS, OR ASSOCIATES AT REGULAR INTERVALS OR AFTER SEPARATION: “a family reunion.”

Digital Explorations in Section, Plan and Axon. 

Throughout the time spent in Qing Cun, there was this journey and path we took throughout the Old Street, and these images are the explorations visually into that journey along the path of Old Qing Cun. 

1. Section_10/04/14 Explores the sectional qualities across the canal, contrasting the density within the Old Street to the openness across the Canal. The section was taken through both Courtyards that are currently under construction. 

2. Linkage Section Diagram_10/15/14 These are the areas of discovery that I found to be integral for my own personal exploration along the Canal. These areas begin to link to each other to create pockets of the Qing Cun character. 

3. Section-Perspective Character_10/14/14 I want to understand the character of the site and all of its unique qualities. This exploration included the sifting through of many photos to find these perspectives I have outlined in red. The perspectives themselves outline the qualities of space that had a great sense of life. 

4.Residential Path_10/19/14 Tells the story of my journey along the path, and the people I saw and what they were doing over our time in Qing Cun. There was this great sense of community I wanted to explore using this narrative and diagram. The red dots in the diagram represent the people, and where I had seen people casually gathering, and the paths and journeys they were taking. 

5. Textures Area of Interest_10/23/14 This image is a combination of the edges and their diversity in the area I would like to explore the most. There is a great deal of material and liveliness in this area, as it is the "gateway" into the area and is situated between three main axis. 

As I continue: I would like to continue to work in this area and create a place where the residents and others as well can have a sense of union. As I have labeled this exploration "Reunion" I would like to explore the idea of creating a place for gathering, maybe on a larger scale. I want to do this so Qing Cun will have this sense of nostalgia within new visitors who will come back to see old friends, and for the residents to gather and unite with old friends. 

Journey through one of the courtyard spaces that exemplifies an experience of passage, filter, connection, and porosity within the larger context of the neighborhood. 

Porous - (of a rock or other material) having minute spaces or holes through which liquid or air may pass. 

Porosity - The quality of being porous, or full of tiny holes. Stems from the greek word, poros, meaning 'pore', which means passage. 

Passage - The act or process of moving through, under, over, or past something.     Journey. 

Threshold - A point of entry or beginning. 

I see the aspect of family and community life most prevalent on site through the activites that revolve around the meal. In an attempt to explore this everyday ritual, I created abstract collages that speak to the cyclical nature of growing, cultivating/cooking, and eating. 

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.

Please read the file labeled concept statement first, and then use the subsequent information to understand the following graphics. The two graphics labeled "Concept Sketch" are graphic representations of the concept.

The files labeled under the titles "Existing Journey" and "Completed Proposed Journey" are graphic representations of the existing road on the southern bank, which has the potential to be completed to create a more cohesive identity for the Qing Cun.

The two diagrams named "Cultural Dist" are a study of the existing cultural amenities and their distribution in relation to the Old Town, the proposed diagram looks specifically at the importance of the vacant site in regards to surrounding cultural institutions.

The series of perspectives (labeled numerically) are a representation of the duality of the Journey. The yellow expresses the connection to the water. It is clear to see the difference between the connections while on the northern side of the canal vs. the southern side.

The file labeled "Sun Section" was an exploration as to why this condition may have come about (as in buildings forming the water's edge on the north and road on the southern side).

The file labeled "Section Existing Villas" is a study of the response to the waters edge in the existing villa development on the southern bank to attempt to gain a better understanding of what may be to come with the new development proposed. The study was conducted to look at the failures of the response as it interrupts the "loop" expressed in the concept as well as not allow for a collective access and use of the water.

The last two files labeled under "Access to Journey" and "Access to Journey - Existing" are a study of the existing urban fabric to the north of the site to understand how one would access this journey off of the main road. What was discovered was the possibility to introduce more avenues of access. One, which was particularly of interest to me, was the access through the government complex.

The last file labeled "Journey Urban Condition Diagram" looks at the edge conditions of the main canal.