Design Method of Low-tech Ecological Rural Settlement in China

1. Critical Reflection

China’s rural areas take up 94.7% of China’s total land area, and the rural population take up 53.4% of the total. The year 2021 witnessed the promulgation of the “rural revitalization strategy” by the Chinese government as a major basic national strategy. Because of he concentrated development of rural lands, construction of a large number of settlements for land-losing farmers has become an imperative. However, these settlements are usually located faraway and faced with the backward economic development. This has led to the popping up of myriads of problems in these settlements. First, lack of funding has resulted in poor quality of design and architecture; second, the government and the design institute dominate the design plan, depriving residents of any say in architectural design, and causing the inconsistency between the use status of the architecture and the residents’ expectations of the architecture; third, the design plan shows no respect for traditional crafts and regional characteristics; fourth, the design goes against the principle of ecological design 1.

How to combine between the wisdom of traditional folk residences and the modern residential requirements, how to let the regional architecture be inherited and developed sustainably is an issue of concern.

2. Theory of Low-tech Ecological Architecture

Low-tech ecological architecture refers to construction of ecological architecture combining traditional techniques but using fewer or even not using modern techniques. Generally, low-tech ecological architecture can be classified into four models, including heat adaptation, wind effect, light adaptation and landscape adaption 2. So far, scholars have explored low-tech ecological architecture from the following perspectives, including modern applications and development of traditional techniques (such as rammed earth and earth-sheltered architecture); technical improvements of traditional materials (such as improvements of bamboo materials); reuse of industrial waste (such as reuse of tires); and in-depth passive architectural research. Charles Correa proposed the “Form Follows Climate”, which holds that architecture should capture climate elements from the plane and vertical perspective, and he reflected this idea in “tube house space” 3 (Fig. 1). Hassan Fathy put forward “cooperative construction” 4. Simon Velez studied the “Umbrella” architecture of the bamboo, and advocated improvements of traditional materials, simplification of design charts, and participation in the construction process . As a representative of the modern low-tech architecture. Philip Jones is committed to the sustainable carpet design, and has succeeded in establishing the building energy model 6. Tyin Tegnestue Organization devotes itself to the humanistic architecture and recycling of industrial waste 7 (Fig. 2).

3. Applications of Low-Tech Ecological Rural Settlement in China

Wang Shu, winner of the “Pulitzer Prize”, once said that rural areas are the only suitable carrier of the genuine Chinese architectural traditions, along with the urban sprawl. China has 56 nationalities, which consist of seven different architectural climate zones. The traditional village patterns are great in variety and contain a great wealth of low-tech wisdom. This enables them to find applications in modern design, such as pursuit of sunlight, avoidance of wind and induced air, adaptation to landforms, pursuit of the optimal form coefficient, applications of energy-saving materials and equipment, applications of plants, etc. 8 For example, the sunken cave dwellings embedded in mountains of Northern Shaanxi are capable of air-conditioning.

In the design case of Jintai Village, Sichuan Province, the designer made one important breakthrough. The designer decreased the earthwork by increasing the number of terraces. The planted roof terrace has not only inherited the planting habits of the farming society, but also ensured the heat insulation of the roof. The raw-water collection systems and greywater recollection systems also combined livestock keeping facilities and biofuel pool to make full of biological energies 9. This design also integrated the concept of “low impact development”. The permeable floor was adopted for the village, and “wetland” was constructed for storing and recycling of water resources 10 (Fig. 3).

4. Locality – Traditional Qiang villages

The traditional Qiang villages located in Sichuan, China is chosen for a case study. Sichuan is a city known for the frequent outbreak of earthquakes and other natural disasters. This can also justify the huge demand for settlements, and the need to consider the regional characteristics of architecture. Being one of the 55 ethnic groups in China, the Qiang people are mainly distributed in the riverbed of the high mountain which is 3,000m above the sea level in Southwest China, and whose topographic slope ranges from 20° to 50° 11. Traditional Qiang architecture demonstrates unique regional characteristics, including use of stones and watchtower as a symbolic element (Fig. 4). Architecture of the Qiang People represents a crystallization of wisdom of the folk residence over the past thousands of years, which can well adapt to the environment. For example, the wall that is thin by the upper part and thick by the latter part can increase its stability. The thick exterior wall and small window can well guarantee thermal insulation. The first floor of architecture is used for keeping and cultivation of livestock. The second floor is for residents to live in. The semi-open third floor can receive adequate sunlight to avoid the moisture. In the aftermath of “Wenchuan Earthquake” happening on May 12, 2008, the traditional Qiang village suffered a serious blow, which necessitated a large-scale reconstruction. But the reconstruction effects of most villages were not satisfactory (Fig. 5). In spite of that, all these cases have been laying the foundation for our post-use evaluation. Investigation and solution of the existing defects can facilitate the follow-up research.

As problems peculiar to the villages as tourist destinations, that is, the villages are lacking a profound historical background, thus being less worth-seeing and resulting in a small number of tourists. Meanwhile, due to inadequate pre-stage survey, these residential villages have been recklessly reconstructed against rules. After reconstruction, the architecture can neither fully demonstrate regional characteristics nor inherit the traditional construction techniques. If the situation persisted, the traditional Qiang architecture might be gradually disappearing, which would be a huge loss of the cultural heritage.

5. Research Procedures

I hope I can come to scientific conclusions through the following research procedures:

a. Literature research: study theories and cases of low-tech ecological architecture, and explore how to apply these achievements to local residences, and study the social and historical background, natural conditions, regional architectural patterns, traditional low-tech techniques and existing research findings of local residences;

b. Field survey: I will choose representative rural settlements to record the status of village planning, architecture, infrastructures, landscapes and so on. I will take a look into which low techniques are used and what are the problems. Meanwhile, I will use instruments to put down various indexes of the architecture and the environment;

c. Post-use evaluation: I will conduct a post-evaluation of existing villages to gain feedback from villagers. The feedback covers villagers’ satisfaction of residential spaces, low-tech needs, and adaptability towards changes of lifestyles and socializing styles;

d. Collaborative design and cyclic feedback: I will seek collaborative design with villagers, consider the residence as a whole, and use demonstrate research results via drawing, physical models, 3D models, animations, etc. Additionally, I will make adjustments and cyclic design in accordance with feedback;

e. At last, based on the existing experience and knowledge, scientific evidences are provided for low-tech planning and design of rural settlements, aiming to design a low-tech ecological settlement model that is consistent with the local conditions on the basis of post-use evaluation, inherit the traditional architecture while accommodate to the modern residential needs, and help alleviate the aforesaid problems and improve villagers’ residence quality.