Chinese Village:
Tai O

+ Info

Teacher: Rosalia Leung Ho-Ching
Course Coordinator: John Lin
Students: Ng Hoi Kei, Lau Ngai Lam Ellen, Lai Hiu Lam Natalie, Chung Bing Tsun Lester, Cheung Ka Wah Francis, HO Ming Yan, Wong Wing Tung, SoeunKwon, Yuan Hai Chiao, Gayathri Sivakumar, CHAN HIN HUNG, Coral Munot, Guo Yu Kuan Crystal, Yao Yi Chen Jeff, Stiensmeier Daniel, Shivangi Das

Course Abstract
Themes: Rural, Village, Stilt house

This course serves as an introduction to architecture design and the design studio. Core skills will be complemented by fundamental understanding of the design process. The theme for this first studio is the village, broadly understood as a collective organization of people and buildings. In this regard, the topic and the structure of the design studio will closely parallel each other. As each student designs an individual house, collectively the studio designs a village. The collective learning process will mirror the collective artifact.

How do we define a village? Especially within a contemporary context which is increasingly fixated upon the city. The city abounds with definition; the medieval city, the tabula-rasa city, the industrial city, the shrinking city, the mega city, just to name a few. The village, on the other hand, has a relatively stable anchor in our historical con- sciousness. It is rooted in tradition, agriculture, timelessness. But if we take a closer look at what could be called villages today, very few could be understood in the classical sense. The most ‘traditional’ examples have become tourist attractions, subsumed by the city as a pastiche of rural life, an artifact of the past. The village as an idea, re- mains open for new definition. Its potential still situated in opposition to the city, rather than in any particular quality or attribute. This leaves fertile ground for new exploration.

The studios are based upon 4 village conditions found in Hong Kong and China.

(Extracted text, written by John Lin)