Workshops
Urban Frictions: Nanjing
What does the spatial competition between agrarian land use and urbanization tells in terms of cultural, social, economic and political mechanisms?
Chinese urban and rural worlds interact in a very specific manner. Massive urbanization has increasingly absorbed rural areas generating hybrid situations. Concepts like ‘Urban Villages’ tried to explicate these complex mechanisms and the generated frictions. The border between urban and rural areas is, indeed, ubiquitous and it belongs to the DNA of Chinese new cities. Can an urban design strategy tackles this matter and how? How can design be deployed in a way to bring such topics to the discussion, if not only for construction? What is the role of architects and designers in these processes?
In the frame of the OMNIBUS research projects ‘Other Urbanizations’ and ‘Too Fast Too Furious: Urban Research in Asia,’ this workshop explored ‘Spatial Frictions’ at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Nanjing University from 16-25.06.2019.
Diagram of Forces, Dongliu Village