RUR A L URBA N F R A ME WOR K

Rural Urban Framework is the research and design of Joshua Bolchover and John Lin,
Assistant Professors at The University of Hong Kong. The research takes place within the
diverse and contested landscape currently under rapid formation between rural and urban
centers of China. This zone is neither rural nor urban, is politically uncertain, and often takes Sample
advantage of grey areas in government policy.
Within this context, each project attempts to balance the drive for development with sustain-
able considerations. Working with various NGO’s, local Chinese governments, bureaus of edu-
cation and ministries of construction along with other universities and students, the projects
seek unconventional and collaborative ways of funding and building architecture. The projects
are conducted within the Community Project Workshop (CPW) of the Faculty of Architecture
at The University of Hong Kong.

城村构架为Joshua Bolchover 和林君瀚二人的研究设计课题。该研究的背景, 处于中国农村与城市之

间高速形成的多样且有争议的地域。这个地域既非农村又非城市，模糊的行政制度使它得益于政策的灰
色地带。在这背景下，每一个设计项目都试图将可持续的考虑与发展的需求相平衡。在与当地政府和非
政府组织，教育和建设部门以及其它大学师生的合作过程中，这些项目不断探求有别于传统且多元合作
的方式去投资并建造。项目由香港大学建筑学院社区项目工作坊（即CPW）掌管执行, CPW乃致力于社区
建设的非牟利建筑设计机构。
www.rufwork.org
 I URBAN VILLAGE III FACTORY TOWN IV CONTESTED TERRITORY
CYCLE OF DEVELOPMENT EXTINCTION: II SUBURBAN CHINA FROM AGRICULTURE TO INDUSTRY FARMER VS DEVELOPER
DEVELOPMENT OF LOOP HOLES RISE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS GATED COMMUNITIES RURAL CAPITALISM V HIGHWAY VI DEGRADED FARMLAND VII VILLAGE COMMUNITY
RURAL AND URBAN CITIZENSHIP FLOATING POPULATION ABANDONED STRUCTURES
NEW LEISURE LANDSCAPES: PRODUCTION LINE LOSS OF AGRICULTURE MODERNITY AND TRADITION
OFFICE TOWERS
HUKOU POLICY GOLF THEME PARKS AND SECONDARY CITIES RURAL INDUSTRY LAND POLLUTION RURAL LIVELIHOOD
REAL ESTATE HOUSING NEW RURAL
BOURGEOIS VILLAS CONSTRUCTION GENERIC CONSTRUCTION HOUSING AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY GENERATION GAP
HOTEL HIGHWAY HIGHWAY URBANISM
EMPTY HOUSES CONSTRUCTION
FACTORY CONSTRUCTION
SINGLE HOUSING SPA SITE NEW HOUSING
SKYLINE
SHENZHEN CITY DEVELOPMENT III
V TRADITIONAL HOUSING

DEMOLITION SITE
II
CONCRETE TUBES
VII
IVa IVb VIa
GRAZING
LAND STREET MARKET

I HIGHWAY WASTE VIb OLD SCHOOL

LEFTOVER
TERRAIN VAGUE RECYCLING GRAIN GARDEN
FISH POND AND FIELD STRAWBERRY FIELDS
DRYING RICE FIELD DRYING RACK

YANZHOU ECO-ISLAND JIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS TAI PING BRIDGE TONJIANG PRIMARY SCHOOL QINMO NEW SCHOOL QINMO OLD SCHOOL
GUANGDONG PROVINCE JIANGXI PROVINCE GUIZHOU PROVINCE JIANGXI PROVINCE GUANGDONG PROVINCE GUANGDONG PROVINCE
城村构架
过去的三十年, 中国城市经历了极端及明显的发展。与此同时, 在中
国农村及小镇中亦发生了同样剧烈的转变, 相比之下则较不明显。庞
大的迁移，中产阶级的崛起与农村生态的衰落开始打破了中国农村城
市对立平衡的传统概念。于2030年前迁移4亿农村居民至城市的计划,
以及城市化吸纳新土地作经济发展的需求, 同时导致农业用地与城市
土地日渐严峻的僵局。此外，中国的经济崛起导致社会两极分化, 而
使每个公民被介定为城市居民和农村居民的中国户籍制度亦同时造成
与维持这两极分化的状况。此制度将城市与农村在发展、医疗、受教
育方面的权利区分开来，更扩大了城市与农村差别。
然而, 城市与农村发展过程的相互关系中, 土地属性转化, 造成了一
种多元而界限模糊的地域。在此地域之内, 政策、土地产权、发展权
与个人土地投资之间形成了争议，农民、开发商、当地政府部门、工
厂拥有者及外国投资商之间互相博弈。这些地域代表中国经济复苏
中的关键─它们把有漏洞的政策和体系、黑市的灰色地带、个人与集
体行为的差异、个人利益与社会福利的矛盾都表露出来。它们展示出
城市化的特色形态, 制造出独特的地区个性。它们诠释了一个中转状
态：半完成的，半废弃的或半拆毁的。它们是有活力的：它们是一个
活生生的例子, 呈现出在全球性经济发展下, 个别地区与宏观规划力
量的抗争。
这项研究的背景即为我们项目的設計框架。研究致力于理解这些过
程，并从中发展出设计手法, 范围遍及农村学校，到农业教育及社区
中心，以至生态岛屿的规划策略等建筑项目。每一个项目在都包含了
中国持续的转型及发展之下所形成的内在张力。这些实例说明了农村
与城市之间的对立关系。我们的目的是去理解这样的背景，行动于其
中，并思忖中国农村的可持续性发展以配合其经济的腾飞。
RURAL URBAN FRAMEWORK
The last 30 years has witnessed the extreme and visible development of the Chi-
nese city. During this time there has been a less visible but equally drastic transfor-
mation happening in the villages and small townships of rural China. Mass migra-
tion, the rise of the middle class and the collapse of a rural livelihood have begun
to breakdown a traditionally balanced notion of rural and urban counterparts. The
plan to move 400 million rural citizens into cities by 2030 and the drive to urbanize
to provide new areas for economic growth have produced a tension between agri-
cultural land and urban land that is reaching a critical impasse. In addition, China’s
economic rise is producing an increasingly polarized society, instrumentalised and
maintained through the Hukou registration policy whereby every citizen is either
registered as a rural or urban resident depending on where they were born.
This policy distinguishes between land development rights, health care, and ac-
cess to education regulating and enforcing the division between the city and the
countryside.
Nevertheless the inter-relation between urban processes and rural processes has
produced a diverse landscape of blurred, ambiguous territories as land is being
transformed. It is these zones which play out the contestation between policies,
land ownership, development rights and individual land speculation; between
farmers, developers, local government, factory owners, or foreign investors. These
zones represent a critical juncture in China’s ongoing economic revival – they bring
to light unresolved regulations or loopholes in the system, black-market grey areas
and discrepancies between individual and collective action, between individual
profit and compensation. They demonstrate specific forms of urbanization produc-
ing unique characteristics. They often describe in-between states: half finished,
partially abandoned, or half demolished. To this extent they are dynamic: exemplify-
ing the struggle between local and large scale forces attributed to global economic
development.
This research context is the framework for our projects. The research work looks
to understand these processes as well as to extract design tools for architectural
projects ranging from village schools to a master-plan strategy for an eco-tourist
island resort, to an agricultural education and community centre. Each project
somehow encapsulates China’s relentless transformation and with it the inher-
ent tensions underlying such growth. The dialectic between rural and urban is
most pronounced in these instances. The intention is to understand this context,
act within it and speculate on how China will consolidate economic growth with
agricultural sustainability.
1
I URBAN VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT OF LOOP HOLES: CYCLE OF DE-
VELOPMENT EXTINCTION, HUKOU POLICY, RU-
RAL AND URBAN CITIZENSHIP
These clusters of densely packed and loosely regulated
enclaves in the cities are the results of tradeoffs be-
tween the government and villagers when claiming
large tracts of farmland for further urban expansion.
These areas continue to be regulated under rural owner-
ship laws (which prevent city dwellers from owning land
but allow villagers to own land collectively) and have re-
sulted in compact politically autonomous ‘islands’ em-
bedded in China’s modern cities. In addition, the right’s
of these rural dwellers to build a dwelling and the de-
mand for cheap migrant worker housing transformed lo-
cal farmers into property developers. These areas have
also become known for gambling, prostitution and other
illegal activities. Outside of the system, but absolutely
necessary for the phenomenal construction and mainte-
nance of the city, these Urban Villages have become an
intractable problem for city planning.

2
II SUBURBAN CHINA
RISE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS, NEW LEISURE
LANDSCAPES: GOLF THEME PARKS AND BOUR-
GEOIS VILLAS
It is anticipated that in 2025 China will have the larg-
est middle class in the world. Ironically, the rise of this
middle class is being fueled by the current middle class
of America. As the largest consumer of Chinese exports
worldwide, the American middle class in their subur-
ban settings is paying in part the wages of the over two
hundred million migrant factory workers on their way to
the ‘American dream’. The current plan to move 400 mil-
lion of the 700 million rural residents into cities by 2030
will present not only a major economic feat but also a
spatial problem. Already as the numbers of middle class
rise and their wealth increases, more are seeking out
high-end Western-style villa developments in the urban
periphery as well as gated communities. The growing
demand for entertainment and leisure has created a
phenomenon of huge spa and karaoke complexes, golf
courses and theme parks. If suburbia as we know it is
the solution of middle class America then given the
scale and density of the middle class aspirations in
China we wonder what form will it take?

3
YANGZHOU ISLAND MASTERPLAN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

DETAIL MASTERPLAN

YANGZHOU Island MASTERPLAN,

GUANGDONG PROVINCE
Yanzhou Island masterplan is a concept and design for
a new eco-recreational park. The goal is to convert a
historic village, its farmlands and fishponds located on
an island in the Pearl River Delta into a diverse leisure
landscape. The strategy seeks to create many different
‘islands’ of programs hidden within the existing rural
landscape. Condensing programs to minimize environ-
mental impact is also an attempt to maximize the expe-
rience of the island itself. Different programs respond
seasonally as well as to tidal changes in the delta.
Existing fishponds, temples and village houses are in-
corporated into the design as well as new programs for
a spa, garden/restaurant, clubhouse, hotel and various
floating islands accessible by boardwalk. The goal is to Date: 2008-2009
PROGRAM enhance and maintain the character of the rural village Size: 33,000 sqm
and adapt it into a sustainable recreational destination Total Cost: 4,600,000 usd
within the PRD. Unit Cost: 140 usd/sqm
4
III FACTORY TOWN
FROM AGRICULTURE TO INDUSTRY, GATED
COMMUNITIES, FLOATING POPULATION,
SECONDARY CITIES
China is best known as the world’s factory. It contains
some of the densest factory agglomerations in the
world. These semi-urban conditions consist of a huge
work force made up primarily of migrant labor freely
circulating from factory to factory. Unlike previous mod-
els of industrial cities, there is no apparent organizing
structure. This seemingly random landscape seems to
promote fluidity above all else. Analogous to how the
global economy needs fluidity of capital in order to func-
tion, the market urbanism of factory towns relies on the
fluidity of capita. The physical landscape in turn reflects
such market conditions. Gated factories and gated com-
munities exist in isolation, capable of expansion and
self reliant as systems of work and leisure, they have no
relation whatsoever to anything else in the landscape.
With hardly any public facilities, all formal public spac-
es exist behind closed gates. The highly controlled and
autonomous environments inside gates are only con-
trasted by the extreme chaos of the landscape outside.

5
IV CONTESTED TERRITORY
FARMER VS DEVELOPER, RURAL CAPITALISM,
ABANDONED STRUCTURES
The continuing conversion of rural territory into urban
substance through various means is blurring the lines,
which define not only their physical boundaries but their
economies. The areas which are outside the cities, the
large expansive peripheries once occupied solely by
rice paddies is rapidly and simultaneously transforming
into a generic territory, neither strictly urban nor rural,
dotted with factories and isolated residential towers
amidst remnants of farmland. This land is still under
the legal designation of ‘rural’ territory and continues
to develop in a haphazard manner through coalitions of
rural committees, developers, individual farmers and
village governments. The growth of this peripheral zone
is much faster, more ruthless and seemingly devoid of
planning control even compared to the infamous growth
of Chinese urban areas. This proto-rural territory is a
contested space, organized along territorial lines of tra-
ditional farming plots, being speculated simultaneously
as new residential communities and high end industrial
parks. As opposed to the past development of cities,
which were government organized and led, this wave
of development is propagated by individual farmers and
village co-operatives eager to catch up.

6
JIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS, JIANGXI PROVINCE
LIVE

WORK

PLAY

PROGRAM
IDEA TEACHING BUILDING GROUND BUILDINGS CAMPUS LANDSCAPE SMALLER LANDSCAPES
AND DORMITORY ACTIVATE LANDSCAPE WITH DIFFERENT IDENTITIES

JIAN Secondary SchoolS,

Jiangxi PROVINCE
The Jian county schools are 4 secondary schools with a
total of 3,300 students and 1,800 live-in students from
nearby rural areas. The design is a school prototype that
can be adapted to different program requirements and
different site conditions. The initial strategy is to cre-
ate a perimeter building that frames a large courtyard.
This wall, much like a traditional old city wall contains
the inner public life of the school. Additional public and
social functions of the school such as the library, the
canteen, the art block and the administration build-
ing, push into this space activating the courtyard. The
courtyard space acts as a CAMPUS – an interconnected
space for living, working and socializing. The campus is
further broken into smaller spaces that relate to each
of the social functions to create MICRO-COMMUNITIES
within the larger space. Each of the buildings that are
inserted into the courtyard are LANDSCAPE BUILDINGS:
each has a specific landscape idea linking the building
to the landscape. The library rises up from the ground
as a series of steps leading to an outdoor terrace, the
canteen is cantilevered forming a pleasant shaded area
for dining, the art-block has an inner courtyard allow-
ing the classroom activities to spill outside during good
weather and the office block has a multi-function meet-
ADMINISTRATION
ing room that receives light from both sides.
Date: 2009-current
Size: 24,000 sqm
ART/MUSIC/DANCING
Total Cost: 3,000,000 usd
Unit Cost: 125 usd/sqm

ADMINISTRATION

CANTEEN

ART/MUSIC/DANCING

ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATION ART/MUSIC/DANCING CANTEEN LIBRARY

LANDSCAPE BUILDINGS

7
ART/MUSIC/DANCING LIVE

WORK
CANTEEN
PLAY
V HIGHWAY PRODUCTION LINE
RURAL INDUSTRY, STRIP URBANISM, GENERIC
CONSTRUCTION
As in many developing countries the rapid transforma-
tion of rural territory directly into industrialized urban
substance has been accompanied by mass migrations
of workers to new urban centers. Since 2008 and the
onset of global recession, those millions of workers are
going home. It is estimated that in China alone over a
6 month period, 20 million workers have left cities and
returned to their rural homes. The mass migration of
workers to and from cities has created a landscape of
movement and a unique brand of highway urbanism.
Along this highway lines the production of building ma-
terials and sites of material refinement. Entire towns of
blue trucks specialize in transportation of construction
materials into the cities and its urban peripheries. The
majority of buildings constructed in China has nothing
to do with architects, forming instead a brutal new ver-
nacular of concrete standardized blocks and colorfully
tiled facades.

8
TAI PING BRIDGE RENOVATION, GUIZHOU PROVINCE PROGRAMMING CONSRUCTION AND FABRICATION

STAGES
Hard pavers for walking

The location of cracks

was mapped and
injected with concrete
to stabilize the bridge
1. In the summer of 2005 the arch of
this Qing Dynasty Bridge collapsed
under heavy rainfall and flooding
Small pavers for grass

Pre-cast concrete blocks

2. Scaffolding is constructed were used to reconstruct
the arch
during a two month dry season

Medium size pavers for

local varieties of plants
(sourced from nearby)

Wooden scaffolding was

3. The arch is rebuilt with pre- built during a 2 month
cast concrete blocks period of dry weather

The face of the arch was

rebuilt from stone recycled
TAIPING BRIDGE RENOVATION, 4. The bridge face is rebuilt from
stones recovered from the bridge
from the collapsed bridge
Circular extrusions to
GUIZHOU PROVINCE collapse.
provide seating areas

The TaiPing Bridge Project was a two-year reconstruc-

tion and surface renovation project of a historic 300 Formwork for the pavers
year-old bridge in Guizhou Province, China. Like most was made using readily
available PVC pipes
rural areas in China, the village has undergone mas-
sive changes, reflective of the rapid urbanization pro-
5. A new waterproofing layer
cess elsewhere. The project attempted to reconcile the is applied
long history of the existing masonry construction with
modern techniques of pre-cast concrete. Though the The openings in the pavers
Large stepped planter correspond to standard
primary task was to repair a collapsed arch, the larger for shrubs sizes of PVC pipes

problem was how to revitalize the once important and

historic location. Pre-cast concrete was used to rebuild
the arch as well as pave the bridge. Bridge pavers were
custom designed to transform into planters at various 6. The bridge is paved with
custom designed concrete
scales as well as seating. In this way the bridge was pavers to provide seating and
re-programmed as a public space. Volunteers and vil- planting areas
lagers planted the bridge with a combination of donated
plants and wild varieties sourced from the surrounding
mountains.
PVC pipes are manually
removed after casting
Date: 2006-2009
Size: 200 sqm 7. The planting of the bridge is
Large plantersconducted
for trees to with volunteers and
Total Cost: 25,000 usd provide additional shadetogether
villagers
Unit Cost: 125 usd/sqm Varying the mixtures of
concrete produce 2
different colors of pavers
9
TAI PING BRIDGE RENOVATION, GUIZHOU PROVINCE

10
TAI PING BRIDGE RENOVATION, GUIZHOU PROVINCE

11
TONGJIANG PRIMARY SCHOOL, JIANGXI PROVINCE

Tongjiang PRIMARY School,

JIANGXI PROVINCE
Responding to the prevalence of demolition in rural
areas this project proposes a strategy for recycling old
buildings into a new primary school in Tongjiang county.
The project brief required replacing an existing school
building with a new building and expanded program.
Our proposal for the demolition of the old building is to
reuse the rubble as a growing medium and insulation on
the proposed green roof. In the meantime, traditional
‘green’ bricks no longer manufactured will be collected
PROCESS
from demolition sites of old houses in this historic re-
gion. These bricks will be used as a large screen wall
and ground paving for the school.

Date: 2010-current
Size: 600 sqm
Total Cost: 90,000 usd
Unit Cost: 150 usd/sqm

RECYCLING COLLECTING AND RECYCLING

Reusing brickwork of the Collection of local traditional
demolished school building building materials and bricks
12
VI DEGRADED FARMLAND
LOSS OF AGRICULTURE, LAND POLLUTION,
AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY
The dwindling supply of fertile arable land due to
urbanization is exacerbated by a growing popula-
tion that is wealthier and consuming more meat per
capita than ever before. The reduction of available
agricultural land pressurizes the supply of food, water
and energy demanded by China’s urban population,
intensifying the consumption of fertilizers and chemi-
cals. Agriculture is currently a bigger source of water
contamination than factories. In the Pearl River Delta
where there are 10 cities with a population over 1mil-
lion and an estimated total population of 120 million
people, the ratio between the amount of agricultural
land necessary to support the given population has
already reached its limit.

13
QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT,

GUANGDONG PROVINCE
Qinmo Village Project is aimed at the long-term sustain-
able development of a rural Chinese village. Located
in Huaji County at the western border of Guangdong
Province, the area is one of the poorest in China, with
yearly earnings as low as 200 USD and only 6 hours drive
from Hong Kong. The project goes beyond mere building
construction by integrating educational programs and
sustainable concepts. Initiated in 2006 as part of a de-
sign workshop to re-think the standard 3 story concrete
buildings which are typically donated as schools in rural
areas, the designs stressed sustainability and ecological
responsibility. Today in 2010, the full scope of the work
involves 7 different projects which are funded individually
by charitable organizations from Hong Kong. Every build-
ing project is coupled with a program initiative that em-
phasizes the education of villagers, whether it is through
a school roof garden as an alternative teaching facility or
the demonstration eco-household farm. Most importantly
by improving on what and how to farm, the economic vi-
ability of the villagers can be strengthened. The failure
of the farm system forces the young and able-bodied to
migrate to cities, finding alternative ways to make a living
as migrant laborers. Only the elderly and children remain
in most villages. Not only has the concept of a rural liveli-
hood been eroded, the entire social structure is at risk.
The project seeks to re-build the notion of the village as OLD School,
a community and to reinforce the idea that education is COURTYARD AND
the primary tool for sustainable development. The de- COMMUNITY GARDEN
signs of the various projects are themselves adapted from
and ‘learn’ from the existing typologies and construction
methods of rural China. Simple variations in the use of
concrete screen or brick work, the adaptation to existing
landscape conditions and the re-programming of outdated
buildings all inform on the generic conditions of design in
rural China. To this day the project continues to involve
students, professionals and organizations from China and
Hong Kong together in a coordinated effort to explore and
find new solutions to the way in which rural transforma-
tion can happen.
Date: 2006-2010
Size: 2000 sqm
Total Cost: 170,000 usd
Unit Cost: 81 usd/sqm

14
QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

15
QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

2
16
QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT, GUANGDONG PROVINCE
2.8.
1.
1. QINMO COMMUNITY CENTER al landscape. The linear structure of classrooms
The original village school is renovated and trans-
formed into a community center with a program
of meeting room, dormitory, large dining area,
communal kitchen and office space. The center
will be used by the villagers as well as a place
to host eco-workshops and volunteers. Qinmo
Eco Household the demonstration household farm
will include pigs and chickens, a greenhouse and
a selection of vegetables. expertise in setting up
the farm will come from staff of Kadoorie farms in
Hong Kong.
2. QINMO VILLAGE PUBLIC SPACE
The village center is programmed through land-
scaping and integration of concrete furnitures.
6.
4.
5.3.
7.5.
3.
1.
4.
2.
3. QINMO PRIMARY SCHOOL 6. QINMO SCHOOL ROOF GARDEN
The school gets its shape from the existing rice The roof is transformed into a series of community
terraces on the site and blends into the agricultur- gardens belonging to the classrooms below. The
students will engage in caring for the garden as
creates a public space facing the village side and part of their educational curriculum.
classrooms with views to the landscape on the
other side. Its facade is made of colorful bricks 7. QINMO SCHOOL TOILET
which are individually painted by the villagers. A typical village toilet is ‘wrapped’ in a screen of
open brick structure resulting in better ventilation
4. QINMO SCHOOL PLAYGROUND and light.
The basketball court and playground connect di-
rectly with the stepped seating resulting in a the-
ater space that is used for village events as well
as morning roll call and exercise sessions.
5. QINMO SCHOOL LIBRARY
The library is built as a playful landscape for stu-
dents. Instead of furniture, the floor is raised to
create void ‘islands’ for seating and reading.
17
QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

18
VII VILLAGE COMMUNITY
MODERNITY AND TRADITION, RURAL LIVELI-
HOOD, GENERATION GAP, DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFT
The traditional relationship between the countryside
and the city, the farm and the factory has become
exploited and increasingly complex within the pro-
cesses of globalization. Trapped in a cycle of migration
to urban areas, the villages in China have lost their
productivity. Their out-dated farming techniques are
increasingly damaging to the environment and also to
anyOrer sisis nonullam,
long-term economic vercil utat nostincipit
sustainability. Theil ipit vele-of
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thenisl
farmdoluptatue vel ullathe
system forces facilit, corperilit
young ullut erat. Utto
and able-bodied
lortisittoautpat,
migrate cities,consequi
finding tat. Veniat praessed
alternative ways todolenim
make a
ing as
living ea amet amcommy
migrant nulla
laborers. facithe
Only endit iure mod
elderly and chil-
drendipiscilit
remainiuscilis
in mostnonsendigna
villages. Not augiamc tat.the
only has Veniat
concept
of praessed dolenim ingbeen
a rural livelihood ea amet amcommy
eroded, nulla faci
the entire social
endit iure
structure is mod dipiscilit
at risk. Majoriuscilis nonsendigna
demographic shiftsaugiamc
in the
overall population have created a gender imbalance
which will result in an estimated 30 million more men
than women by 2020.

19
CREDIT
The Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong
Ralph Lerner FAIA HKIA, Dean and Chair Professor of Architecture

Community Project Workshop (CPW)

Tris Kee, RAIC HKIA Registered Architect, Director
Inaciso Chan, Research Assistant

Rural Urban Ecology in the exhibition

Quotidian Architectures, Venice Biennale 2010
Joshua Bolchover and John Lin
Exhibition Team: Christiane Lange
Joe Qiu, Keith Hui, Paul Mok, Nathaniel Lam,
Rebecca Wang, Anna Wan

Yanzhou Island Masterplan, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

Design: Joshua Bolchover and John Lin
Project Team: Calvin Liang, Martha Tsang
Client: Zhaoqing Development Company

Jian Secondary Schools, Jiangxi PROVINCE

Design: Joshua Bolchover and John Lin
Project Team: Hei Ho
Jess Lumley, Christiane Lange
Carol Nung, Law Wai Yue, Wong Yok Fai, Mariane Quadros de Souza,
Joe Qiu, Suzy Liu, Maggie Hua, Keith Hui
Commissioning Donor: Yanai Foundation

TAI PING BRIDGE RENOVATION, GUIZHOU PROVINCE

Project Leader: John Lin
Engineering Advisor: Dr. Xing Shijian
Students: Jiaxin Chum, Li Bin, Abdul Yeung, Charles Lai, Gu Lik Hang,
Cheng Hiu Tung, Zhang Xudong, Lau Hiu Yeung, Chu Ling Tung, Cheung Wai Nga
Commissioning Donor: Wu Zhi Qiao Foundation
Collaborating Institutions: The University of Hong Kong, Chongqing University

TONGJIANG PRIMARY SCHOOL, JIANGXI PROVINCE

Design: Joshua Bolchover and John Lin
Project Team: Christiane Lange
Anna Wan, Jess Lumely, Mariane Quadros de Souza
Commissioning Donor: World Vision
Additional Donors: Luke Him Sau Charitable Trust

QINMO VILLAGE PROJECT, GUANGDONG PROVINCE

Design: Joshua Bolchover and John Lin
Project Team: Abdul Yeung
Gary Chan, Tammy Chow, Kenneth Lau, Hugo Ma, Tim Mao,
Danny Tang and students from Sacred Heart Canossian College
Commissioning Donor: Matthew Cheng + Peggy Young / Green Hope Foundation
Additional Donors: Lucy Tsai / Chinese Culture Promotion Society,
Luke Him Sau Charitable Trust, Hope Education Foundation,
Kadoorie Farm and Garden Corporation

RURAL URBAN FRAMEWORK, BOOKLET

Graphic Design, Cover Image: Christiane Lange
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Community Project Workshop (CPW)
The Faculty of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong is a comprehensive school of architecture, dedicated to
teaching, research and community engagement. A significant number of academic staff are actively involved in the SHAANXI
designing of, and planning for, community projects. They are also engaged in a broad range of community-based Xian

projects in China, Hong Kong, and Macau. This has led to the establishment of the Community Project Workshop
SHIJIA VILLAGE
(CPW) – 香港大學建築學院社區項目工作坊.The CPW is an organization providing design and consultancy
services to government and non-government organizations, and undertakes other non-commercial projects requiring
interdisciplinary expertise drawn from all the disciplines of the Faculty: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Real
Estate and Construction, and Urban Planning and Design.
The community projects undertaken by the CPW are aimed to cope with the pressing and changing community’s
needs in our society. CPW teams consider the rationale behind the current design and planning concepts of each
community project, generating sensitive and practical design ideas. CPW adopts an interactive / participatory ap-
proach in order to meet the specific objectives of the community, leading to a continuous process of discussion and
feedback in order to determine a community’s aspirations and needs. Nanchang

http://fac.arch.hku.hk/cpw/ JIANGXI
XINGAN

Joshua Bolchover is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong where he is researching and JISHUI
designing buildings in rural China. Recent exhibitions include Utopia Now: Opening the Closed Area, a research GUIZHOU YONGXIN
TONGJIANG
project on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen border at the Venice Biennale 2008. He has curated, designed and con- Guiyang SUICHUAN
tributed to several international exhibitions including Get it Louder, a touring exhibition in China; Airspace: What
TAIPING
Skyline does London want; Hydan; Can Buildings Curate and has exhibited at the HK-SZ Biennale. Joshua was a
local curator for the Manchester-Liverpool section of Shrinking Cities between 2003 and 2005. He has collabo-
rated with Raoul Bunschoten, Chora researching strategic urban projects and has worked with Diller + Scofidio
Guangzhou
in New York. Previously he has taught architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, London Metropolitan QINMO
GUANGDONG
University, Cambridge University and the Architectural Association. He was educated at Cambridge University
and at the Bartlett School of Architecture.
YANZHOU
ISLAND
John Lin is an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Hong Kong
the US in 1983. After studying in both the Art and Engineering programs at The Cooper Union in New York City, he
received a professional degree in Architecture in 2002. His experimental constructions have been published widely
and exhibited in the Architecture Park (Kolonihaven) at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen (2004),
the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (2007), the Beijing Architecture Biennale PROJECT+ RESEARCH SITE
(2008) and at the Venice Biennale (2008). He has received two commendations for his ‘Qinmo Village School’ and the RESEARCH JOURNEY
‘TaiPing Bridge Renovation’ projects in the Architecture Review Awards for Emerging Architecture (2009). His current Haikou

research concerns the relationship between Rural and Urban China with a focus on the sustainable development of SAN JIA

Chinese Villages. He has taught previously at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture and The
Chinese University of Hong Kong. HAINAN

www.rufwork.org
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