Today, Go West did a lecture for students at the Shanghai Study Centre of the Hong Kong University. The lecture was part of the urbanism class of Liu Yuyang, teacher at HKU. We discussed preservation strategies in Kunming and the architectural quality of urban villages in Lanzhou. Finally we talked about the house of mr. Sun in Shijiazhuang and the new landlords of the Fang Bei area.
Today, we did a presentation for students of the Xian University of Architecture. We were invited by professor Xiao Li - who we also interviewed last Sunday - to tell something about our project. We decided to do it different, and ask the students to give their vision on residential design in China - our subject of research in Xi’an.
First, we gave a brief introduction on our work, and our analysis of the current status quo of residential design: gated compounds with high rises, oriented north/south, with a private garden within the boundaries of the gate. We asked the students to come up with alternative concepts. The challenge for them was to do the fastest urban design in history: develop a concept for a compound of 400×500 m., with a FAR of 3,0 and to present the results within 30 minutes. And they succeeded. See below some impressions of the concepts they came up with.
On Thursday, February 11 the Go West Project will give a presentation at De Balie in Amsterdam.
In this presentation we will present results from our research in the cities in the Central and Western part of China. We will show redevelopment in Shijiazhuang, preservation in Kunming and the new business district in Wuhan. The evening will end with a panel discussion about several topics. How do these cities develop? Does China build a new type of city? What does the growth of these cities mean for China and the rest of the world?
Also on February 11, De Balie will open a photo exhibition about the performance of the Go West Project at the Shenzhen / Hong Kong Architecture Biennale in December, where they asked 6 taxi drivers from 6 different Chinese cities to drive across the country to Shenzhen.
Time : February 11, 2010 at 20.30 pm
Location : De Balie
Address: Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10, Amsterdam (near Leidseplein)
Admission : Free
Last friday, Go West participated in the Shanghai Pecha Kucha. This evening was organized as part of the Dutch participation in the Shanghai International Creative Industry Week.
In the 6min. 40 sec presentation we explained our project and how we are going to bring taxi’s from all over China to Shenzhen as our contribution to the Shenzhen Hong Kong Biennale.
The presentation we did at Factory last month has been filmed, and Factory’s Geoff Broz made a video out of it! For the ones who could not attend, and those who would like to have a wrap up of what we did there: via Go West Project presentation at Factory, 25/06/2009 on Vimeo.
The Go West Project is a crossover research project between architecture and journalism that studies new metropolises in Central and Western China.
It analyzes urban and social developments in the world's fastest urbanising region. Journalist Michiel Hulshof and architect Daan Roggeveen founded the Go West Project in Shanghai in February 2009.
This website gives an overview of ideas, pictures, articles and opinions related to the cities.
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