The material response to social transformation : experimental architecture production in contemporary China

Abstract

A prominent feature in the social transformation of contemporary China is the production and renewal of the architectural landscape. Since the new millennium, China has witnessed the proliferation of transnational architectures, flagship projects, and avant-garde architectural creations, rendering its cities a globally recognised laboratory for architecture. Similarly, the immense breadth and rapidity with which China is developing its rural area imply that this extensive territory will become another experimental plot for architects and designers. There have been concerted voices among some architects, artists and grassroots actors, who advocate that the social problems should be addressed by trial practices of architecture. These initiatives seem to encapsulate multiple aspirations that extend beyond an emphasis on economic efficiencies—policymakers, architects, and grassroots actors are seeking alternative future visions of social cohesion, housing equity, poetic dwelling, sustainable development, and more by initiating experimental production of architecture. Existing literature on the intersection of architecture and society extensively examined the linkage between the architecture and political economy, while there have been limited efforts that analyse the architectural practices as a responsive mechanism to social transformation. The research is situated within the larger literature of Critical Geographies of Architecture (CGA). CGA regards architecture as a proactive measure capable of addressing social issues. This philosophy has shown that architecture is not a static, lifeless, and confined entity, but rather a dynamic, ever-evolving event and a vibrant amalgamation of materials. Engaging with the laboratory theory, this research further proposes that the architecture is not a laboratory isolated from the outside world but a field with situatedness and contextuality for knowledge production and iteration. Echoing with the creative turn of the geography discipline, this research conceptualises experimental architecture in contemporary China as a critical-creative intervention; This study, through the examination of three completed or ongoing cases and the discussion of one unsuccessful case, 1) demonstrates that experimental architecture, as a creative material intervention, aids urban residents in exploring alternative lifestyles and future possibilities; 2) analyses how experimental architecture fosters the politics of micro-macro encounters through engaging in individual habitation and regional development in parallel, encompassing regional revitalisation, creativity-led post-suburbanisation / peripherisation, and translocal cultural production; 3) elucidates how experimental architecture enables "lost" rural areas to reclaim their subjectivity, endogenous vitality, and social resilience via socially engaged projects; 4) deciphers the latent risks of experimental architecture in order to achieve a positive iterative social experiment. Overall, this research seeks to rebuild the knowledge production interface between architecture and geography by reevaluating social-material-human interactions.