Abstract:
The theme of the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture, "Reporting from the front", wants to highlight the need to reflect on the social role of architects. Within this particular request “Sharing and Regeneration", one of the official Collateral Events organized by EMGdotART Foundation, proposes a group of Chinese architectural projects divided between urban regeneration and renovation of remote rural areas. Big part of the exhibition shows the recovery of Beijing’s hutong areas and renovation of its traditional courtyard houses. Of particular importance, there is the projects of the People's Architecture Office, located in Dashilar, a hutong district next to the Forbidden City. They developed a solution in order to give a dignified life to those who decide to remain in these neighborhoods without forgetting also to attract the arrival of young students as new residents. The architectural solution, called "Plug-in House", is a new type of prefabricated panel made of a composite that incorporates structure, insulation, wiring, plumbing, windows, doors, interior and exterior finishes into one molded part. These panels snap and lock together with the use of a single tool, a hex wrench, and form a home within the existing structure, in other words "a house within a house”. Other interesting projects of the People's Architecture Office include multiple examples of architectural strategies that are especially realized for the masses and always have their roots in Chinese culture: both in the more traditional sense or linked to the modern life in the big cities.
