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Welcome to people's architecture November update! In this issue we will give you an overview on select activities, exhibitions, publications, and contemporary events in China, as well as related people's architecture activities. For further information please contact us.

__________________________________ PEOPLE'S EXHIBITIONS

BUILDING ASIA BRICK BY BRICK
2007 SHENZHEN & HONG KONG BI-CITY BIENNALE OF URBANISM | ARCHITECTURE
CITY OF EXPIRATION AND REGENERATION - "CoER"
NORTHERN PARK OF OCT-LOFT | NANSHAN DISTRICT | SHENZHEN
DECEMBER 8, 2007 - MARCH 9, 2008

people's architecture and ArtAsiaPacific will present Building Asia Brick by Brick at the 2007 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism | Architecture.

During the Shenzhen Biennale, "Building Asia Brick by Brick | Teach Through Play" will invite Shenzhen youngsters and architects to first build an oversized Map of China. The subsequent construction of cities on this map is based on the French salon game of "Rotating Corpse", where a group of players collectively assemble a story or image. Here, each collaborator adds to the composition without being allowed to see the previous contribution. Each team of architects and children will contribute a section to an imaginary city that represents both diverse aesthetic sensibilities and principals of community. The final product is both a vision of China and the act of modeling the inter-generational teamwork necessary to create tomorrow's community.  

For more information, please see our blog >>

_____________________________________ CHINA EXHIBITIONS

ORIGIN POINT | STAR STAR GROUP RETROSPECT EXHIBITION
BEIJING TODAY ART MUSEUM | BEIJING
NOVEMBER 18 - 28, 2007

"Stars Group" dated from the end of the 1970's to the beginning of the 1980's, and could be considered the first real Modernist art movement since the Cultural Revolution in China. It does not only carry the artistic value of a turning point, but also marks the political scene of the society at that special moment in history.

This exhibition collects almost a hundred works created before 1985 by the members of Stars Group and, on one hand, shows the art movement of that special period of time and reviews this movement from those contemporary points of view- such as searching for deeper meaning of history and society. On the other hand, in the act of revisiting "Stars Group", these works question the development of contemporary art with a historical gesture, reflecting the origin and the metropolitan territory of Chinese art of today. More info >>

INSTANT HUTONG
BLUE ROCK SPACE | CHINA MILLENIUM MONUMENT | BEIJING
NOVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 5, 2007

The Hutong Vision program is organized by Duliao Studio. Focusing on the Beijing Hutong districts as the research object, the main goals on the program are: to show the charm of the culture of Beijing Hutongs and Siheyuans, to post the existent problems in social and physical levels, and offer some attempts at the protection of that culture in this dynamic new age. The program is planned and structured as a multi-step experience. More info >>

_________________________________________ CHINA BOOKS

CHINA'S URBAN SPACE : DEVELOPMENT UNDER MARKET SOCIALISM
BY: TERRY G. MCGEE, GEORGE C.S. LIN, ANDREW M. MARTON, MARK Y.L. WANG, AND JIAPING WU

China's urban growth is unparalleled in the history of global urbanization, and will undoubtedly create huge challenges to China as it modernizes its society. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this book presents an overview of the radical transformation of China's urban space since the 1970s, arguing that to study the Chinese urbanization process one must recognize the distinctive political economy of China.

After a long period as a planned socialist economy, China's rapid entry into the global economy has raised suggestions that modernization in China will inevitably result in urban patterns and features like those of cities in developed market economies.  This book argues that this is unlikely in the short term, because processes of urban transition in China must be interpreted through the lens of a unique and unprecedented juxtaposition of socialism and the market economy, which is leading to distinctive patterns of Chinese urbanization.

MARGINALISATION IN CHINA
PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSITION AND GLOBALISATION
EDITED BY: HEATHER XIAOQUAN ZHANG, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS, UK; BIN WU, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, UK; RICHARD SANDERS, UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON, UK

Economic transition in China has witnessed (re)centralization of resources from the margin to the core in economic, social and political senses. This book employs a marginalization lens to reveal, delineate and better understand the processes, patterns, trends, multiple dimensions and dynamics of the phenomenon, and the consequences and implications for development and well-being in the country.

BIG BANG BEIJING
EDITORS AND AUTHORS: HIROMASA SHIRAI AND ANDRE SCHMIDT
CONTRIBUTORS: CHARLES BERMAN, TESSA BOYD-CAINE, JIN CHONG, KERU FENG, REM KOOLHAAS, MICHELLE LIU, BRENDAN MCGETRICK, BARBARA MUNCH

Big Bang Beijing is a book about the drastic urban change happening currently in Beijing. The book displays various aspects of the daily urban life and conditions such as construction, demolition, environment, leisure and the Olympics in colorful images, arranged in 13 chapters, each of which starts with a brief essay as introduction into the subject and is written by the authors together with 8 contributors.

The images in the book have been taken by the authors over the last 3 years and illustrate the unique situation of Beijing at present. They capture in an informal and unpretentious way the speed, complexity and imbalance that the city and its people are confronted with in daily life, while the city around them is changing every moment almost everywhere. One urban condition may not exist anymore but rather transforms into a completely different one. Inspired by the extra energy that is spinning the wheel even faster with every day closer to the opening ceremony of the Olympic games the authors saw the importance to record the dramatic changes happening to Beijing right now. The book is an urban snapshot that captures the moment of change.

TONGZHOU BOOK CITY

If you cannot get quite enough of books, a trip to Beijing Publishing Logistics Center in Tongzhou might be in order. Boasting to be the biggest book city in all of Asia and probably the world, the BPLC opened on November 8th and weighs in at 300,000 square meters and houses roughly 800 publishers. The Beijinger provides this glowing article, and also informs us that a hotel is located adjacent to the BPLC to lure daytrippers (via free shuttlebus) towards book-based weekend bliss.

_______________________________________ CHINA CURRENT

BEIJING READY FOR OLYMPICS AND MORE!

On the Olympic front, Speigel Online profiles Beijing's new sporting facilities, and provides a report of the farmers-turned-construction workers that have arrived for the task. And if you tire of all the criticism and accolades for Beijing's stadiums, have a peek at the world's biggest Ferris Wheel, due to showcase it's 208 meter height in Beijing shortly.

WELL WISHES

A lot of discussion has recently centered on Beijing's strained public water resources, the taxing of the resources of nearby provinces that supply this water, and the behind-the-scenes water transport infrastructure necessary to power the Olympics. In the lack of a long-term urban strategy, some folks have started suggesting that Beijing (the capital component) just move itself to a new, more sustainable city. This idea does not seem to have flown very far. BusinessWeek provides an overview on the countrywide water resource situation and discusses the obvious new longterm market strategy for the development of private desalination plants. Of note, strategies appear to be veering along traditional pathways, as the Beijing Water Bureau's deputy director recently squashed a rumor that Beijingers will have a percentage of recycled water injected into their tap water.

CHINA REVISES LAW ON HIV+ FOREIGNERS

In a positive development, the Ministry of Health has recently stated that China will relax its 1994 ban on HIV positive foreigners from entering the country. No date has been announced yet on the timing of this revision, but we can probably assume that it will be in place before the start of the Olympics. As an aside, this announcement comes at an interesting time as the United States proposed a few days following to effectively tighten its ban on HIV positive foreign nationals.

___________________________________ CHINA ENVIRONMENT

D.I.Y. SOLAR HOUSEHOLD

In Shanghai's Shenzhuan district, a professor at Shanghai University of Electric Power has designed and installed his own solar domestic power station atop his apartment unit. Since installation in December 15th, 2006 the solar panels have generated enough kilowatt-hours to power his entire apartment off the city's electric grid. The only issue with widespread adoption of the installation, aside from its prohibitive upfront cost, is that Shanghai's electric metering system does not allow for surplus energy that is piped back into the electric grid to offset consumer expense. While estimates have shown a definite advantage to peppering Shanghai's roofs with solar panels, the market for solar energy has yet to take shape in the hands of government policy makers. More info here >>

CHINA'S E-WASTE DILEMMA

Profiled by Asia Society in New York, Michael Zhao has spent years filming and editing his documentary on the export of electronic waste from the United States and other nations to China. Focusing on Guiyi, a city in southern China that is quite possibly the epicenter of the worlds e-waste recycling, the documentary explores the paradox of this thriving local economy in the wake of serious worker health and environmental consequences. Watch the preview here, with the full 4-part, 20 minute documentary available here.

__________________________________________ CHINA BLOGS

CHINESE BLOGGER CONFERENCE 2007 WRAP-UP

Many correspondents emerged super-excited from the 2008 Chinese Blogger Conference about the future and potential of blogging in China. Hundreds of people convened early this month for a weekend of discussion over a range of topics including freedom of speech, blogger and media responsibility, and ways in which to use blogs to bolster education in the countryside. Danwei provides a broad cross-section of the conference here.

SHIFTING FABRIC

The exodus of Chinese migrant workers from the countryside to urban centers in search of better-paying jobs is currently being estimated in the range of 120 to 200 million people. Remaking the social landscape on an enormous scale with the effects yet to fully unfold, we can only catch glimpses into this transformation as it occurs. Current.com, via China Digital Times, profiles female sex workers in Beijing, most of whom are part of a large migrant demographic. Looking at the consequences of the rapidly emptying rural frontier brings to light the question of who will become the next generation of farmer? Al Jazeera, via Shanghaiist, provides compelling insight into this societal shift. As the elderly and the children of migrants remain behind, deviations from traditional intergenerational relationships are taking place where elderly parents, in their children's absence, are resuming farm work and becoming providers again for their grandchildren.

360 DEGREE CITY

For those armchair adventurists out there, City8.com is a Chinese urban mapping tool that provides scrollable / zoomable panoramic views of selective areas of eight major Chinese cities. Cities include Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Jinan and Wenzhou. Most of the site functionality is in Chinese; however there is an English version with city access restricted to Beijing and Shanghai. Virtual-China.org provides more detail >>

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