Weave

With its rapid urbanization and increasing social and economic disparity between urban and rural populations, China is searching for means to bridge the gap between the urban and the rural. Yet, many state-sponsored urbanization plans offer little real social and economic opportunity that is crucial for the long-term sustainability of the rural. Furthermore, the preservation and cultivation of culture and architecture are often sacrificed in this process of modernization and urbanization.
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How can we, as designer, address the rural-urban divide and re-integrate the social, economic and cultural relations of the rural? How can architecture empower a fading community to formulate its own future and encourage long-term commitment?
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This project seeks to weave together the essence of the rural – its scale, its relationship to nature and agriculture, and its deep-rooted culture – with an alternative model for rural education. It aims to suggest an ecologically and socially sustainable prototype that re-establishes the lost relations to the rural. Carefully operating with the existing rural typology and terrain, the proposed intervention takes the form of an infrastructure that weaves through the village. It thickens and thins, climbs above and through existing buildings, and strategically touches down to the landscape activating different spaces for activities relating to exchange, education, and community well-being.