Design Method of Low-tech Ecological Rural Settlement in China Qiang Villages as an example (Early Stage of Research)

Abstract

In 2021, the Chinese government reiterated the importance of the “rural revitalization strategy”. Due to concentrated development of lands, there has been an urgent need to build settlements for a large number of farmers losing their farmlands. Nevertheless, these residential settlements, located at faraway and backward places, are usually ignored by the government, and even turn into an embodiment of low-end residences. Moreover, problems, such as cultural loss and violation of ecological principles, have emerged in the design and construction process of these settlements. This research which remains undone chooses the Traditional Qiang villages for a case study, and proposes an after-use evaluation of the settlements after the 5.12 earthquake, in terms of materials and residents’ satisfaction. On that basis, a low-tech ecological rural settlement model and design method is developed to realize the combination between the wisdom of traditional folk residences and the modern residential requirements, let the regional architecture be inherited and developed sustainably, and attempt to alleviate a series of economic and social problems existing in rural settlements.

Keywords: low-tech, rural settlement, China