Ruralopolitan Maneuvers

SHANGSHUIGOU VILLAGE

上水沟村加建的农村住宅

RURALOPOLITAN MANEUVERS 50号住宅

Catalog of Projects 调整和加建

BASEbeijing, a laboratory devoted to projects related to architecture and design in urban and rural China was established in 2005 in the urban village of Caochangdi by Robert Mangurian, Mary-Ann Ray and Robert Adams.

BASEbeijing gratefully acknowledges the tremendous support it has received from the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the Center for Chinese Studies, the Confucius Institute, Center for Global Intercultural Studies, the Center for Global and Intercultural Studies and the International Institute, the Beijing University of Technology, and the leadership of the Pearl River Valley Township and Shang Shui Gou Village.

BASEbeijing sees itself as playing a role in rethinking and reinventing the project of education within architecture.

Catalog of PROJECTS

Ruralopolitan Maneuvers

BASEbeijing 2012

BASEbeijing Rural Team Members 2012 Katherine Asher Elizabeth Friedlander Indhie Georges Danielle Gray Peter Halquist Josh Harks Claire He Daniel Kobran Yao Ma Bryan Madrigal Michael Morris Bao Nguyen Mathew Strong Bradley Taris Andrew Wald Yao Wang Clayton Wenrick Kyle Wyatt BJUT TEAM Gao Ming Li Ang Li Jing Alex Zhao 2011 Jessie Wancan Cui Brian Dastin Elizabeth Davis Matt DeCotiis Laura Diiorio Matt Dolan Deena Etter Oscar Garcia Nicholas Ho Jeffrey Lavine Lydia McMullen-Laird Ian O’Cain Alex Picariello Cameron Ringness Malcolm Scott Brian Sulley Cat (Catherine) Wang Philip Yu-Huan Wang Sabrina (I-Hsuan) Wang Matt Warren Brad Wisselman BJUT TEAM Liu Jia (Jack) Wu Na (Pamela) Cao Li Ping (Willow) Liu Yu (Louis) Yu Che (Norman) 2010 Stephanie Adamczyk Hee Kyung Cho Montana Crady Nick Gregsak Ben Hagenhofer-Daniell Danielle Martin Gavin Newman JT (James) White Huan Zhang BJUT TEAM Hao Yu 2009 Whitney Allison Ian Downing William Jake Finnigan Christopher Hajime Gerdes Michael Glynn Zunheng Lai Xunan Li (Wendy) Kayla Lim Limeng Lu (Limi) Michael Modoono Qin (Shannon) Qin Clara Shipman Matthew Smith Casey Stotz Elizabeth (Lizzie) Yarina BJUT TEAM Luoqi (Rocky) Chen 2008 Kendra Byrne Ted Christensen Jamie Cobb Jason Dembski Sen Liu Patrick Lynch Marc Maxey Paul Tierman Kiran Toor Jessica Dubois Linda Bui Joenna Kim Heyu Lu Clare Mok

Robert Mangurian Mary-Ann Ray and Robert Adams David Gregor Irene Keil Richard Tursky Philip Yu-Huan Wang Zhang Jian Zhao Zhifeng with Jessie Cui Matt Dolan Indhie Georges Danielle Gray Josh Harks Nicholas Ho Bryan Madrigal Michael Morris Bao Nguyen Bradley Taris Catherine Wang Sabrina I-Hsuan Wang Kyle Wyatt Echo Ying Xiang SPECIAL THANKS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ann Bergren Tom Buresh Caroline Constant Elizabeth Gibb Erik Hemingway Douglas Kelbaugh John McMorrough Monica Ponce de Leon Mike Shriberg Ai Weiwei Beijing University of Technology Pearl Valley Township Shang Shui Guo Village Leader Zhang Shang Shui Guo Villagers Graham Foundation for the Arts Kaymont Meteorological Balloons Michael Levine Fabrics

WITH GREAT APPRECIATION TO THE FOLLOWING UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ENTITIES THAT HAVE GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED THIS WORK Center for Chinese Studies Center for Global Intercultural Studies Confucius Institute Dept. of Oceanic, Atmospheric and Space Engineering Experiential Learning Fund Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute International Institute Office of the Vice President of Research Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Project Summary: Toward a More Sustainable

Rural China

Project Location : Shang Shui Guo (Upper Water Valley) Village in the Pearl River Valley Township, Greater Beijing Municipal Region, Forty Minutes Drive North of the Great Wall Disciplines included in the Project Team : Anthropology Architectecture Business Engineering Fine Arts Planning Public Policy Real Estate 1 Due to the mass migrations to the cities that are a result of the lack of jobs in rural areas.

Project Summary and Description : Today, one in every ten people on earth live in a rural Chinese village. And yet, the Chinese rural village is the most endangered human habitat on the face of the earth.1 The discipline of architecture has largely been focused on, and fascinated by the city and by urbanism. This project turns its attention toward the environment of the rural village in attempt, through design, to make it a more viable and sustainable habitat option for the 21st century. If the rural village does not survive, the influx of rural residents to urban areas will mean that in the next 15 to 20 years the equivalent of all of the American cities will need to be built to accomodate them.

And this would lead to a “whiz bang quick city� scenario of poorly planned or unplanned cities.

The projects and design proposals that follow address sustainabilty for human habitats in two ways. Some of the projects learn from the highly sustainable aspects of the rural Chinese environment already in place (DOCUMENTATION and UNDERSTANDING) and propose exporting them in new forms for contemporary urban life (TWEAKING and EXPORTING). Other projects (DESIGNING and IMPLEMENTING) propose new sustainable objects and spaces that are meant to bring the rural village forward and make it equally viable, if not more viable than urban settings, as a 21st century human environment.

Research and Development Strategies and Process : A. DOCUMENTATION and UNDERSTANDING The Project Team has been frequenting this area of rural China since 2007. They have gained firsthand experience with both the obvious and the more nuanced aspects of the rural environment, construction and architecture. The Team has worked with rural builders, produced a large archive of photographs and conducted numerous interviews with villagers and village and township leaders.

B. TWEAKING and EXPORTING The team recognizes the genius of many aspects of rural design that have developed over thousands of years of refinement and ingenuity and have then tweaked them to make them exportable to urban areas and relevant to the early 21st century. For instance, the water containers of rural China led to the project for the VESSELS for MODERN LIFE which are containers that make water usage and waste more visible and measurable.

The “kang� bed is one of the pieces of genius found in rural Chinese design - a surface for sitting, working and sleeping radiantly heated by the recycled heat from the cooking stove. This built in furniture piece is attached to the long southern facing window wall that is shaded in the summer and lets the sun in during the winter.

Chinese Villages today are filled with grandparents and babies as the parents have migrated to cities in search of work and teenagers are bused to boarding school in Satellite cities.

C. DESIGNING and IMPLEMENTING The Shang Shui Guo Villlage and House 50 located in the village are acting as a laboratory for designing and implementing design proposals that make the rural environment more sustainable in the early 21st century. Because in this area of rural China the average annual household income is about five hundred U.S. dollars, these projects adhere to strict budgets.

So, for instance, the translucent thermal curtains can be produced for as little as $0.75 U.S.. and the $1.60 Solar Hot Water Pouch replaces the unaffordable $30 Photovoltaic Drum Water Heater.

The Annual Average Household Income for Americans is $54,000 per year.1 The Annual Average Household Income in the villages of the Pearl River Valley is the equivalent of $500 U.S. per year.2 1

USA Today News, September 9, 2011

Interview with the Vice Leader of the Pearl River Valley Township, Summer2011 2

CONTENTS Project Summary : Toward a More Sustainable Rural China

CATALOG of PROJECTS Entrepreneurial Stage - new ground plane Insulation retrofit Bio-intensive Agriculture Solar Pouch Shower + Composting Toilet Chicken Coop

Shang Shui Guo Village Pearl River Valley Township The Village is located north of Beijing and is a forty minute drive beyond of the Great Wall. It is home to about 200 people and the average yearly household income is the equivalent of 500 U.S. dollars.

HOUSE 50 in Shang Shui Guo Village The abandoned house was rented by the project team from a family and is being used as a laboratory to test the design proposals

Composite Plan Photograph of HOUSE 50 HOUSE 50, as all northern Chinese rural houses, has three interior rooms. From left to right they are the extra room that serves as a guest bedroom and storage space, the kitchen with two built in wok cookers that radiantly heat the kang beds in each of the adjacent rooms and a water storage vessel, and the main family kang room with the large built-in radiantly heated kang bed/seating platform and the red chest.

CLOUD : VILLAGE ONLINE Wireless Internet Providing Balloon

SOFT HEATING AND COO

ILLEGAL SATELLITE DISH with FREE PROGRAMMING

ROOSTING CHICKEN and DRY FUEL STOR

BIO-INTEN or ENTRE DEVELOP

TRANSLUCENT THERMAL CURTAIN (Winter) and MOSQUITO SCREEN (Summer)

Annotated Mapping of Projects : HOUSE 50

CURRENT EVENTS SURFACE - Newspaper and Flat Screen Monitor

OLING

GUIZI : REDCABINET FOR EXPORT

CHATTER: AN INVENTORY OF RURAL POSSESSION

RAINWATER COLLECTION

OUTDOOR KITCHEN

N COOP RAGE

STAGE : New Ground Plane Interconnected with Kang Bed, Zero Energy Food Storage, Outdoor Kitchen, and Entrepreneurial Staging

NSIVE AGRICULTURE EPRENEURIAL SPACE PMENT COMPOSTING OR BIO-FUEL TOILET ZERO ENERGY COLD FOOD STORAGE and WATER ACCESS WELL $1.65 U.S. SOLAR HOT WATER POUCH INSULATED ROOF SHOWER

COURTYARD GROUND PLANE: ENTREPRENEURIAL STAGE and BIO-INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE The typical rural ground plane within the courtyard associated with the house is left as earth to maximize growing surface.

The ENTREPRENEURIAL STAGE is a “civilized” and level cast in place concrete surface that allows work, dining, food preparation, etc., to happen outside in good weather. Built into it is an outdoor kitchen and the ZERO ENERGY COLD FOOD STORAGE and WELL WATER ACCESS. When life was simple, the “civilized” surface was not necessary, but as daily work and activities respond to 21st century life, an outdoor space that is not mud or dust is called for.

The ENTREPRENEURIAL STAGE also merges with the interior floor surface like a modernist detail, and becomes a continuum with the raised KANG built-in rammed earth radiantly heated bed. It also lays a groundwork for a new courtyard building that will act as overflow for visiting family and increasing consumer acquisitioins.

To make up for the area that the ENTREPRENEURIAL STAGE “takes away”, BIO-INTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL practices are put in place within the courtyard to maximize the yield of homegrown food. Raised beds, turned soil and composting are put in place.

Bio-intensive Agriculture Materials: Wood boards (3.5cm x 7.75cm); Wood slats (2cm x 4cm); Nails; Cut bark Costs: Cut bark (free) + $xxx wood

I usually have a lot of cabbage in the winter and so I will be planting them in a couple of weeks because it is all that we eat to survive the winter.

- Huang Seow Lien

Biointensive Agriculture is another way of understanding how to coexist with nature, whereupon one needs the other to survive and grow. In this aspect, various amounts of research and interviews was done in order to understand how the people of Shang Shui Guo go about catering to their gardens.

A series of raised beds that encompasses the biointensive system would best alleviate the strenuous work and maintenance of the rural garden, while aiding them in a more efficient growth rate. This design would also complement other entities of the rural courtyard (i.e. the toilet, shower, and chicken coop as waste resources.) The new height of each bed (87cm high) is more appropriately adjusted towards the average height of elder residents and the new length (121 cm long) is appropriated to allow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and flowers to grow and flourish.

The villagers of Shang Shui Guo seem to be open toward trying new things when it comes to making life easier. Most of the courtyard homes in this village already have some sort of bio-intensive agricultural system that they follow in order to feed their families - especially during the harsh winters of Northern China which many villagers were concerned about.

The interview at House 10 revealed that although her garden was fruitful and full of life, it still took alot of work to till, manage and produce. The new raised beds are designed to get rid of that aspect of gardening for the villagers and help them sustain the earth while in turn sustaining the lives of themselves and their loved ones.

COURTYARD HOUSE 10

IG: What types of crops do you grow in your courtyard?

Lien: Eggplants, Spring Onions, Peppers, Cucumbers, Corn, and Cilantro IG: Do you intend to grow any flowers here in your courtyard as well?

Lien: No, I grow mostly vegetables and some fruit trees; like this date tree. You can’t eat flowers. [Laughing at this comment].

IG: When do you tend to your garden? Morning, Afternoon, or Evening?

Lien: Every Morning IG: What sort of fertilizer do you use in order to help your crops in the growing process?

Lien: I use the chicken waste IG: How do you use the chicken waste? Do you do something with it in order to use it as fertilizer or just mix it with the soil?

Lien: No, I take the chicken waste and dry it out and then make holes next to each plant and put the dry waste into the hole. I put water into the hole as well and cover it back up with the soil.

IG: Do you also by any chance use human waste as another alternative to fertilize your crops?

Lien: Yes IG: How do you prepare the human waste? Do you do the same as with the chicken waste?

Lien: No, I just take the wastes from the toilet - solids and liquids alike - and pour water to mix with it, and then I just pour it into the garden.

IG: Your garden is blocked off from the concrete path, is it a raised bed, and or did you bring soil in?

Lien: No I use the same soil from the ground, I just put the brick to separate where people walk.

IG: Do you and your husband do this?

Lien: No, no, no, [laughing] I do all the gardening and fertilizing work. My husband works in the fields most of the day.

IG: You seem to have a big garden, but most things look like they are newly cultivated.

Lien: It just started for the new season, but this year it seems to be very dry, but things are still growing well. I usually have a lot of cabbage in the winter and so I will be planting them in a couple of weeks because it is all that we eat to survive the winter.

IG: Is that an underground refrigerator in your garden?

Lien: Yes, I will show you [she lifts the lid].

IG: Oh, you store potatoes in here?

Lien: Yes, and other vegetables

IG: Is that an underground refrigerator in your garden?

Lien: Yes, I will show you [she lifts the lid].

IG: Oh, you store potatoes in here?

Lien: Yes, and other vegetables IG: They all seem to be on the ground, woudn’t you prefer to have them hanging on the walls?

Lien: No, it is better to have them down on the bottom, so that they stay cooler instead of hanging, because then they will not last with the sun exposure.

IG: How deep is your underground refrigerator?

Lien: I do not know, but it is big enough to store my vegetables.

IG: What is that translucent pipe over there in your garden?

Lien: It goes down to the storage below in order to get oxygen in and out; it is also really food for light to see down there.

IG: You seem to have a modern toilet over there near the entrance?

Lien: Yes, I have that one and another older toilet on the opposite side of the garden IG: Oh, why is that?

Lien: Because during the winter the pipes freeze in the modern toilet, so we have to use the older toilet with the hole in the ground, when that [the pipes in the modern toilet freezes] happens.

IG: What is that in the back of your chicken coop? Is it like a bed for the chickens?

Lien: No, not really, it is just a cooler area underneath the pieces of wooden sticks; it is good for shade and to keep the chickens comfortable enough to lay eggs.

IG: You have really big chickens? How many times a day do you feed them?

Lien: I feed them 2 times a day. I feed them cornmeal IG: What do you do with them in the Winter?

Lien: Well, I first fatten them up and then we eat the biggest ones for the New Year [Chinese New Year]. This year we were able to eat two.

3.5 cm

11.25 cm

7.75 cm

1:16

45 cm 2 cm 87 cm

4 cm 3.875 cm 7.75 cm 7.75 cm 114 cm 45 cm

3.5 cm

7.75 cm

2.5 cm

2.5 cm 87 cm

34.5 cm

3.5 cm 114 cm

raised growing bed

Solar pouch shower + composting toilet Materials: Rubberized sheet material pouch, grommets, plastic tubing and plug, plastic water basin, blue foam insulation, shower head, hose, plastic buckets (4), mesh filter, sand + gravel.

Cost: $1.60 (Solar pouch) + $7.90 (Water basin) + $3.50 (Solids + Liquids bucket) With the obvious advantages of utilizing the cheap thermal pouch as a solar shower, we set out to investigate the current showering habits and plumbing systems of rural villagers. To our surprise, many villagers do not have access to a hot shower in Shang Shui Guo due to the fact that the village bathhouse is closed for the majority of the year. (The Township Leader’s reasoning for this remains unkown.) Our investigations lead us to conclude that an integrated solar shower + dry composting toilet stall would not only allow the residents to take hot showers all year-long, but also provide fertilizer for their gardens.

The average rural villager can take about 4-5 showers from the 67.5 liters of water that is held within each solar pouch. By storing that water into an insulated container, the average villagers would be able to take about 5 more showers before having to refill the solar pouch.

Meanwhile, the average urban dweller will use up to 130 liters of water during a 10-minute shower. In their perspective, water magically comes from somewhere and keeps coming out until we turn off the tap and then disappears into a drain.

The solar shower pouch can heat water between 60° and 80° Celsius and hold up to 67.5 liters of water.

Modernized Western toilets will commonly use between 5.2 liters (new models) to 15.1 liters (older models) of water per flush. The dry toilet design consists of a urine and feces separation. By doing this, the villager is able to remove the waste from a removable shelving unit and utilize it as compost for their garden.

The toilet waste flushes down there (points to a covered pit next to the outhouse), where we collect it later.

- Gao Yi Qin

BM: Is this toilet new?

Qin: Yes this was built two years ago.

BM: Where does your toilet flush?

Qin: It flushes into a container underground.

BM: Where is the container located?

Qin: The toilet waste flushes down there (points to a covered pit next to the outhouse), where we collect it later.

BM: How deep is the container?

Qin: It is as deep as three of that container (pointing into a water vessel which is about 30 cm deep so three vessel would be about 90 cm deep in total)

DG: Do you use the solar-heated shower?

Lien: Yes, I probably will today since it’s hot out. These last few weeks it hasn’t been warm enough.

DG: How many showers can you typically take before filling it again?

Lien: About 4-5 showers DG: How hot does the water get?

Lien: Around 60-70 degrees Celcius DG: Do you like using it?

Lien: (Laughing) Of course. We don’t have any other way.

DG: Have you seen the other showers that use the solar collectors?

Lien: Yes, but they’re too expensive.

I like this shower much better. When it rained out I couldn’t take a shower, but with this new one I can. On really hot days the water would get so hot that you could get the feathers off of a chicken!

-Yo Shui Chin House 17 Xia Shui Gou

DG: Does every house have this solar collector for hot water?

Chin: Yes, the government supplies every house with one.

They originally cost 900 yuan, but we only had to pay 200.

DG: Why is it cheaper?

Chin: The government pays for the rest.

DG: What do you use the hot water for?

Chin: To wash dishes and to take showers.

DG: How hot does the water typically get?

Chin: Around 60 degrees Celcius.

DG: Is it convenient to use?

Chin: Yes; we take showers at night to wash off the sweat from work. It’s very nice, but during the winter the pipes will freeze. Last winter it didn’t work. Right now the water is cold so taking showers is uncomfortable.

DG: Where does the water drain out?

Chin: (She points to a drain in the corner of the bathroom).

Over there. It drains into the ground.

DG: When did the solar collectors get installed?

Chin: I think in 2006.

DG: What did you do before they were installed?

Chin: We used the black bag. They only cost 10 yuan to buy but we had to throw them away after a year of use. (She scoffs). They were so flimsy.

DG: So the old shower didn’t work as well when you had it?

Chin: I like this shower much better. When it rained out I couldn’t take a shower, but with this new one I can. On really hot days the water would get so hot that you could get the feathers off of a chicken!

DG: So the water got to be just as hot?

Chin: Yes; around 60 degrees Celcius.

DG: Where was the old shower installed?

Chin: In the same place; behind the house on top of the retaining wall.

BM: Who uses these toilets?

Chin: Two people use this toilet. My husband and I use it most of the time. However, the kids also use it when they come during the weekend.

BM: How does the toilet system work in this house?

Chin: Both of the toilets have pipes that go straight to the machine container underground that recycles the feces for fertilizer.

BM: How long does it take for the container to get full?

Chin: It takes about one month.

BM: Do you empty the container yourself?

Chin: We have to ask the government to empty out the machine to use the feces.

BM: I notice that you do not have crops in your courtyard, what do you plant here?

Chin: We grow roses in this village not crops. The government is testing out a program where we receive money for planting roses to sell in the city. If you come here in July, the village is full of roses everywhere.

BM: So do you have to buy crops for cooking in this village?

Chin: Part of the program, we receive free crops, electricity and water.

BM Do you like your western toilet or the traditional toilet?

Chin: I like the western toilet.

BM: What kind of toilet did you used to have?

Chin: We used to just dig up a hole in the ground outside.

BM: Did you also use the feces in the open pit for fertilizer?

Chin: We did.

BM: How did you do that?

Chin: We would pick up the feces and mix it with the ground.

SKETCHES for a SOLAR SHOWER The main goal for the new shower and toilet stall is to conserve the heated water and be able to re-use the solid and liquid waste. By integrating an insulated water catchment basin, residents can take showers during colder months. Greywater excess would become filtered through a sand and gravel drain to be used for the garden.

DRY COMPOST TOILET The dry toilet consists of urine and feces separation. By doing this, the villager is able to remove the waste from a removeable shelving unit and utilize it as compost for their garden.

Solar Pouch Costs: 15 Yuan Insulated Water Catchment Basin Costs: 50 Yuan + 15 yuan per insulator sheet

Water Fixture for a Sink

Hose Costs: 5 yuan per meter

Shower Head with Shut-off Valve Costs: 5 yuan

HOUSE 50 COURTYARD

Compost Bucket (Solids) Costs: 25 yuan (bucket) + 20 yuan (shovel) Compost Bucket (Liquids) Costs: 25 yuan (bucket)

Course Filter Costs: 15 yuan (bucket) + 20 yuan (sifter)

Sand + Gravel Filter Costs: 25 yuan (bucket)

Proposal for shower, sink, toilet

Chicken coop nterview with house 50 landlord Mr. Jia’s son Philip: You have a lot of chickens in your courtyard. Can I ask you some questions about how you manage the chickens during the winter?

Jia: Sure.

Philip: What happens in the winter? Do you cover the chicken coop with blanket to keep the chickens warm?

Jia: No. Chickens normally change their fur during the winter, so they are OK. Philip: Do they still lay eggs during the winter?

Jia: Yes they do, but less.

Philip: Do you kill more chickens in the winter?

Jia: No, we only kill chickens when they are too old to lay eggs. After we kill them, we can eat them or give to our neighbor as a gift.

Philip: I saw an advertisement on the wall on our way here; it is about bringing your old chicken to swap for young chickens. Do the villagers swap their chickens?

Jia: Yes, the old chickens are sold by Chinese kilo while young chickens are sold by units. Roughly one old chicken can exchange for three young chickens.

Person Interviewed: Son of Wáng Yù Shu (WYS) CH: Do you continue to raise chicken even through the winter?

Shu: Yes, chickens will survive in the winter.

CH: Does these chickens lay eggs in the winter?

Shu: Yes but they lay much less.

CH: What differences are there keeping chickens through the winter?

Shu: No differences, because the chicken will survive through winter.

CH: Does these chickens lay eggs in the winter?

Shu: Chickens survive, but lay much less eggs CH: Do you think keeping the temperature warmer would help chickens lay more eggs?

Shu: Yes, if temperature could be warmer.

CH: If more insulation is added to the chicken coop to raise the temperature, would you consider adding it?

Shu: I can’t answer because I only have a few chickens.

If I had more like maybe 50 chicken, it would be great to implement.

POSTSCRIPT : RURALOPOLITAN SPACE The work presented here grew out of research that the Project Team was doing in Chinese cities and Urban Villages. The team was spending a lot of time with rural to urban migrants - known in China as the “Floating Population”, and realized that looking at urban China without seeing it as an extended space that is part of a continuum with rural China was leaving out half of the story. The Team refers to this continuum as “Ruralopolitan” space.

TWO BOOKS The work seen here is leading toward two books with two audiences.

The first book- to be published in English and Mandarin- carries with it the intention of revealing a hidden side of China and the problems and potentials contained within it as a way to add to the global discourse on the sustainability of world cities and rural environments at the outset of the 21st century.

The second book, a simpler book to be published in Mandarin, will be designed as a “handbook” for use by both national and local (satellite city, township and village) governments as well as for villagers themselves.

“Guo Guo” - the Project Team’s Pet Cricket and Mascot