Suzhou International Architecture Workshop 2017

SECOND SUZHOU INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE 5 DAY WORKSHOP 2017 URBAN CONSERVATION AND MODERN INTERVENTIONS IN CHANGMEN HISTORICAL DISTRICT Hosted by Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU).

Participating Institutions: University of Liverpool, TU Graz, Roma La Sapienza, ENSA Paris Val-de-Siene and Politecnico di Torino.

Emily March Digital Portfolio University of Liverpool – School of Architecture

Emily March

Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

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Roberto Gammarota - Roma La Sapienza Liuyi Chen - XJTLU Alexandra Petrova - TU Graz Emily March - Liverpool University Madeleine de Bellaing - ENSA Paris Val de Siene Siwei Zhu - XJTLU Gabriella Dei - XJTLU Hongru Zhang - XJTLU

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE RECONNECTING CHANGMEN PROJECT - BASED ON A SUBJECTIVE SURVEY IN AND AROUND SITE NO.6 AND ITS IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS.

Residents performed their daily activities, washed their clothes and hanged them to dry, watered their bok choys, cooked in their openstreet kitchens and shared their meal with the people next door. All seemingly harmoniously performing in a sort of an adhoc street theatre scene, not caring much for the intrusions of the nosy audience for the day.

The scarcity of space has naturally extended many domestic activities towards the outside; thus blurring the boundary between the private and public, between indoor and outdoor. It also made the local people expose much of their daily activities and their privacy to the public eye.

This experience made us think again what heritage really is and what it should be. Is heritage situated in the aged-washed walls of Changmen houses, or on the black roof tiles sporadically covered with moss, or is it placed somewhere in between? Could it be that the nature of heritage is in a fact intangible, that it lies and lives continuously in the little everyday rituals of the local people?

This experience prepared ground for the ideation of the Reconnecting Changmen design concept that intends NOT to demolish any of the existing buildings, and NOT to change the behaviour of the locals. The Reconnecting Changmen instead acts along the design brief already indicated by the locals, by simply providing infrastructure for the everyday culture of Changmen community to be kept alive and evolving.

The Reconnecting Changmen proposes a network of open spaces, platforms and communication paths thematically organised and programmed, covering a wide range of privacy levels, as displayed and explained in more details in the diagrams and drawings.

Therefore, this concept offers not only a way to establish new spatial connections, it even more so attempts to reaffirm the connections between the people and the place to which they belong. The Reconnecting Changmen merely celebrates the existing inextricable relationship of the two, and the distinct identity of the Changmen community.

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

RECONNECTING CHANGMEN

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

SENSE OF COMMUNITY

URBAN FABRIC

TRADITIONAL GARDENS Emily March

NETWORK OF BRIDGES

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

OUR INTERVENTION

HIGH DENSITY

KEY: TRANSPORT CULTURE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES MAJOR ROAD NETWORK PROPOSED CONNECTIONS RIVER

LACK OF OPEN SPACES 6 Emily March

Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

SKETCH ELEVATION FROM THE EAST

SKETCH ELEVATION FROM THE SOUTH SKETCH PLAN 7 Emily March

Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

PHYSICAL MODEL 1:100

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

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Suzhou International Workshop - Urban Conservation and Modern Interventions in Changmen Historical District

EXTERNAL LINKS http://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/en/news/2017/02/xjtlu-hosts-workshop-on-urban-conservation-and-modern-interventions-in-historic-suzhou http://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/en/news/2017/03/exhibition-shows-results-of-international-architecture-workshop

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