Conference Program
THE THEME
Rethinking strategies for rural development is a critical global issue today. Dynamic urbanization processes shape large areas of the world, while the revitalization of rural regions has been neglected for a long time. This has consequently given rise to pressing socio-economic and political challenges all over the world. To stimulate an international discussion, Aedes Architecture Forum Berlin presented the exhibition Rural Moves – The Songyang Story
this year, which led to the initiation of this conference. The focus was on the duality and interrelations between the urban and the rural, seeking to explore what culture and architecture can contribute to rural renewal in interplay with economy, spatial planning, infrastructure, and ecology. The goal of this international knowledge exchange of holistic strategies and best practice examples was to discuss new concepts, which might ultimately establish a new rural confidence and identity as well as economic progress and reliability as major incentives to make people stay in or even return to the “hinterland”.
THE CONFERENCE
The conference invited policymakers, architects, planners, researchers, economists, curators and related professionals to the successful case study area of Songyang to share and archive experiences, strategies and new ideas for the development of the ‘global rural region‘ of the future. This region in the southwest of Shanghai became a pioneer in the sensitive redevelopment of rural areas by implementing carefully balanced “architectural acupunctures”.
Against this backdrop, the conference was structured around three main sessions complemented by excursions into the region to illustrate the topic and to offer opportunities for exchange: (I) a cluster of ten impulse statements to boost the conference with a wide range of positions by stakeholders from the various fields of practice and research in the rural context as well as panel discussions on (II) 'Culture + Architecture' and (III) 'Ecology and Economy + Architecture'.
The contributions and results of the conference will be compiled in a publication to deepen and expand the international discussion on the redevelopment of rural regions and to make the content accessible for those who were not able to follow the event in person.
PROGRAM
Thursday, 8 November 2018
Guided Excursions in Songyang
Opening Event
Words of Welcome and Introduction
Host: Li Hanqin
Magistrate, Songyang County, China
Wang Jun Secretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, Songyang County, China
Kristin Feireiss Director, Aedes Architecture Forum and Network Campus Berlin, Germany
Wang Jun Secretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, Songyang County, China
Kristin Feireiss Director, Aedes Architecture Forum and Network Campus Berlin, Germany
Key Lectures
Remy Sietchiping Leader, Regional and Metropolitan Planning, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya
Friday, 9 November 2018
Introduction
Host: Wang Jun Magistrate, Songyang County, China
Hans-Jürgen Commerell Director, Aedes Network Campus and Architecture Forum Berlin, Germany
Xu Tiantian Architect, Beijing, China
Eduard Kögel Architecture Historian, Berlin, Germany
Remy Sietchiping Leader, Regional and Metropolitan Planning, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya
Friday, 9 November 2018
Introduction
Host: Wang Jun Magistrate, Songyang County, China
Hans-Jürgen Commerell Director, Aedes Network Campus and Architecture Forum Berlin, Germany
Xu Tiantian Architect, Beijing, China
Eduard Kögel Architecture Historian, Berlin, Germany
Ten by Ten Impulse Statements
(ten minutes each)
Experts from various fields and different countries reported on their research and experiences on rural development made in their specific region or institution.
1 Zhang Ke Founding Principal, ZAO/standardarchitecture 标准营造, Beijing, China; Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
2 Angel Luis Fernandez Head of Research Center for Urban Design, ESNE. School of Design, Innovation and Technology, Madrid, Spain
3 Zhang Lei Professor, Founder & Chief Architect, Nanjing University; AZL architects, Nanjing, China
4 Angelika Fitz Director, Austrian Architecture Museum, Vienna, Austria
5 Miriam Mlecek Programme Manager, Aedes Network Campus Berlin; Researcher, formerly Leibniz University Hanover; Germany
6 Zhang Yue Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
7 Nuria Costa Leonardo Mexican Women's Network, Morelos, Mexico
8 Huang Yung Sung Art Director, Han Sheng Magazine, Taiwan
9 Adrian Iredale Director, Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects, Perth, Australia
10 Zhu Jingxiang Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Experts from various fields and different countries reported on their research and experiences on rural development made in their specific region or institution.
1 Zhang Ke Founding Principal, ZAO/standardarchitecture 标准营造, Beijing, China; Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, USA
2 Angel Luis Fernandez Head of Research Center for Urban Design, ESNE. School of Design, Innovation and Technology, Madrid, Spain
3 Zhang Lei Professor, Founder & Chief Architect, Nanjing University; AZL architects, Nanjing, China
4 Angelika Fitz Director, Austrian Architecture Museum, Vienna, Austria
5 Miriam Mlecek Programme Manager, Aedes Network Campus Berlin; Researcher, formerly Leibniz University Hanover; Germany
6 Zhang Yue Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
7 Nuria Costa Leonardo Mexican Women's Network, Morelos, Mexico
8 Huang Yung Sung Art Director, Han Sheng Magazine, Taiwan
9 Adrian Iredale Director, Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects, Perth, Australia
10 Zhu Jingxiang Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Panel ONE: Culture + Architecture
Questions: How can the process of cultural renewal be sustained without losing the underlying values and traditions of the local? Could traditional craftsmanship, building culture and food production in connection with digital possibilities become the driver of an independent rural culture? What support is needed to turn traditional craftsmanship and materials into new products and services? What are the educational incentives? How to create a perspective for the young generation to stay in the country or to return by meeting their demands and needs?
Moderator: Andreas Ruby Director, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, Switzerland
Questions: How can the process of cultural renewal be sustained without losing the underlying values and traditions of the local? Could traditional craftsmanship, building culture and food production in connection with digital possibilities become the driver of an independent rural culture? What support is needed to turn traditional craftsmanship and materials into new products and services? What are the educational incentives? How to create a perspective for the young generation to stay in the country or to return by meeting their demands and needs?
Moderator: Andreas Ruby Director, S AM Swiss Architecture Museum, Basel, Switzerland
Li Xiangning
Professor, Tongji University; Curator Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2018, Shanghai, China
Hitoshi Abe Professor, Department of Architecture and Urban Design, UCLA, Los
Angeles, USA; Principal, Atelier Hitoshi Abe, Sendai, Japan
Hitoshi Abe Professor, Department of Architecture and Urban Design, UCLA, Los
Angeles, USA; Principal, Atelier Hitoshi Abe, Sendai, Japan
Farrokh Derakhshani
Director, Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Geneva, Switzerland
Guided Excursions
in Songyang
Saturday, 10 November
Panel TWO: Ecology and Economy + Architecture
Questions: What is the role of architects, planners, designers, industry and policymakers concerning the redevelopment of rural lifestyle? How to improve shaping an ecological rural economy for inhabitants to live a decent life from their work and wages? How can architects and the local population cooperate with the regional government to become a productive and attractive rural community of the future? How to rethink traditional agriculture knowledge and practice to turn it into revived food products? How to balance tourism between romanticism and segregation and sustainable development for local society and economy?
Moderator: Aric Chen Curator-at-large, M+, Hong Kong
Liu Shouying Economist, China
Erhard An-He Kinzelbach Professor, Founder KNOWSPACE, Berlin, Germany
Questions: What is the role of architects, planners, designers, industry and policymakers concerning the redevelopment of rural lifestyle? How to improve shaping an ecological rural economy for inhabitants to live a decent life from their work and wages? How can architects and the local population cooperate with the regional government to become a productive and attractive rural community of the future? How to rethink traditional agriculture knowledge and practice to turn it into revived food products? How to balance tourism between romanticism and segregation and sustainable development for local society and economy?
Moderator: Aric Chen Curator-at-large, M+, Hong Kong
Liu Shouying Economist, China
Erhard An-He Kinzelbach Professor, Founder KNOWSPACE, Berlin, Germany
Juan Mayr Maldonado
National Commission for Conciliation, Bogotá, Columbia
Outlook and Farewell
Wang Jun Secretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, Songyang County, China
Hans-Jürgen Commerell Director, Aedes Network Campus Berlin and Architecture Forum, Germany
End of Program
Wang Jun Secretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, Songyang County, China
Hans-Jürgen Commerell Director, Aedes Network Campus Berlin and Architecture Forum, Germany
End of Program
The following Front-Row-Respondents will join the discussion:
Maria Auböck Guest Professor, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria
Maria Auböck Guest Professor, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria
Winka Dubbeldam
Professor and Chair PennDesign; Principal, Archi-Tectonics, New York, USA
Kerstin Faber
Project Manager, IBA Thüringen, Apolda, Germany
Julio Gaeta
Dean ISAD. Institute of Architecture and Design, Chihuahua, Mexico
Nadine Godehardt
Deputy Head of Research Division Asia, German Institute for International and Security
Affairs (SWP), Berlin, Germany
Annette Heimann Managing Director, Asia-Pacific-Forum, Berlin, Germany
Affairs (SWP), Berlin, Germany
Annette Heimann Managing Director, Asia-Pacific-Forum, Berlin, Germany
Cui Kai
Chief Architect of China Architecture Design & Research Group; Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Beijing
János Kárász
Co-Founder, Auböck + Kárász, Landscape Architects, Vienna, Austria
Hubert Klumpner
Co-Director, Urban-Think Tank; Professor for Architecture, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Hannes Langguth
Researcher and Doctoral Candidate, Habitat Unit, Chair of International Urbanism and Design, TU Berlin, Germany
Clifford Pearson
Contributing Editor, Architectural Record, New York, USA
Luby Springall
Principal, Gaeta Springall Arquitectos, Mexico
Eva Sternfeld Science Advisor, German-Sino Agricultural Center (DCZ), Beijing, China
Eva Sternfeld Science Advisor, German-Sino Agricultural Center (DCZ), Beijing, China
Christoph Stroschein
Managing Director, GESI Deutsche Gesellschaft für Systeminnovation mbH, Berlin, Germany
Zhang Zhen
Guest Editor, Citymakers China-Germany, Research Assistant, Architectural Theory at RWTH Aachen, Germany