SEOUL DESIGN AWARD

 

Grand Prize & Honorable Mention 5.

House of Dreams

 

Group Name: Insitu Project (Kuo Jze Yi, Peter Hasdell), Zhoushan Community Group (Liang Jun) and Ku Hok Bun

City: Dengfeng, China

Representative Designer: Peter Hasdell

Website: insitu-project.com

 

[Project Story]

1,000 Stories, 100 Makers

 

The name “House of Dreams” derives from collective memories of villager elders who grew up in the caves. The project site is an abandoned cave settlement in Zhoushan village, Henan Province, China. Its function is a rural training center. The five project development aims are as follows: First, to initiate rural revitalization so as to enable community- run cultural planning processes involving the recovery and innovation of traditions and values. Second, to make a diversity of caves and spaces in many different ways as possible. Third, to start a cyclical material economy using recycled household and construction waste so as to foster sustainable practices, increase elderly villager skills in construction with waste material, and minimize material costs. Fourth, to enhance environmental principles of the original caves. Fifth, to enable flexible program that make spaces to allow for changing needs.

 

The project involved refurbishment of 19 caves as guestrooms and design and construction of 3 new amenities blocks, a community kitchen, a dining hall, and an exhibition space. Then there was the landscaping of 3 main courtyards, construction of retaining walls, a new access ramp to the upper village (called eco pathway) and community entrance wall (called eco wall). A septic tank feeds waste into an eco- garden.

 

The project constructed community resilience. There are three key collaborators. Zhoushan Community Group took part in the project as a client and co-designer/maker. Led by Lian Jun, the group has a holistic approach to community development since 2003, including the elderly, the young, gender equality, and social and environmental justice. Insitu Project was responsible for architecture design, planning, overall layout, and the community participatory design and construction processes. Dr. Ku Hok Bun from the Department of Applied Social Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University provided knowledge and application methodologies of solidarity economy in rural development. The collaboration resulted in the co-development of circular economy principles for an integrated sustainable community, sustainable environment and sustainable economic development as well as the development of a unique participatory design and construction approach. The participatory design processes were an integration of hardware (architecture and spatial development, material economy) and software (community organization, training and participation skills, and abilities in design and construction).

 

The participatory construction resulted in the minimization of construction costs, increased recycling, and reduction of landfill by using construction and household waste. 100 villagers took part in the construction process. The participatory design increased village pride and cohesion, and also enhanced capability and resilience. Training workshops were held to enable villagers and builders to work with recycled construction materials. At first there was resistance, which later led to a high level of inventiveness. For example, a paving workshop involving over 100 villagers and groups for the paving of a courtyard. Such collective participation was possible under “1,000 details, 100 makers.”

 

Revitalization of community and creation of new values through participatory design

 

Skill and material limitations led to the development of an open and adaptable design that allowed for flexibility and evolution. Collective decisions were taken to use construction waste and household waste. The engagement of elderly villagers with no construction experience as builders required training workshops, resulting in a unique participatory construction process to occur. In using recycled construction and household waste material in the walls and surfaces, participatory construction encouraged local solutions rather than technological architectural innovation. Few technical drawings were provided; only basic plans and design processes were discussed on site. Technical decisions were initiated to influence social integration into the project, fostering a bottom-up, self-built approach to architecture The exploration of local waste resources led to new collective values and united the community. Using recycled waste shifted the community perception as landfill to understanding its positive reuse value. This has changed the material economy to a circular economy of recycling, which resulted in increased community pride, stronger villager skills in construction, and a reduction of waste. The resulting architecture is comprised of a thousand details and stories made through creative innovations by its builders. The estimated amount of waste material use to new material is 40%; 60% new material. The ongoing work will evaluate this against villagers work contribution (human capital) and skill acquisition. Construction with waste materials is more labor intensive and takes longer to construct but has the potential to engage the community. A variety of spaces were constructed through this process. The Eco wall showcases the construction and household waste techniques, with many specially donated items by villagers. A map of where the construction wastes were gathered from is incorporated in to the adjoining wall. The villagers gathered materials from construction and demolition sites and also from outside the village. As for the Eco Pathway, or the ramp to the upper village, planting is done along the pathway itself.

 

Designers had roles to play in facilitating change. To elaborate how the project has evolved: From 2003 to 2018, small scale community initiatives with the elderly community were conducted, led by Lian Jun. From 2018 to 2021, we integrated software and hardware development resulting in the House of Dreams. Stage three is currently under construction. From 2022, the plan is to promote a holistic cultural planning to foster the educational and cultural identity of the wider village of Zhoushan, planning an open eco-construction research facility and series of initiatives that can allow inter-village and external cooperation, collaboration, and learning. The project evolved from a small initiative to local institution and is in the process of transforming to a regionally well-known project. As for the design challenge, it was that participatory involvement, sustainability and the circular economy required new ways to practice design and architecture.

 

House of Dreams showcases how designers’ skills of facilitation, enabling, development of flexible frameworks, and the need for new thinking can activate community creativity, foster capacity, and instill new values. These are process and relation-based approaches rather than design object approaches. The process is being developed into a methodology, which will be tested and published as a book in two years’ time. Finally, I would like to emphasize that this is a complex project involving many different contributors. It is a co-design project, so it is not the work of a sole designer. Thank you.

 

[Project Presentation Video]