Dean's Lecture Series: In Progress – Working with Local Resources

This lecture by founding principal of DnA Design and Architecture, Xu Tiantian, provides an overview of DnA's minimal intervention approach – the architectural acupuncture. For over a decade, the studio has closely collaborated with various villages and rural regions across China, developing models for rural revitalisation. These models introduce multi-functional public programs tailored to the unique cultural heritage and context of each village, aiming to reintegrate nature, restore rural identity and stimulate local economic development, enabling self-regeneration. DnA Design and Architecture's extensive work on projects in Songyang County exemplifies a systematic regional strategy that can be applied to other rural areas. By deeply understanding local history, traditions and cultural practices, they ensure that even small-scale, targeted interventions resonate with local identity and pride, significantly impacting community revitalisation. They address the unique historical and cultural narratives of the context with a respect and curiosity typical to sociologists and anthropologists. DnA’s approach to architecture is not just as building design but as the integration of agriculture, infrastructure, production and housing into a cohesive socio-economic and cultural framework. In this lecture, Xu Tiantian will explore several ongoing projects in depth. These include the Huangyan Quarry, which revitalises industrial heritage; the Fujian Tulou, a model for the adaptive reuse of vernacular architectural typology; the Ziyang Culture and Sports Centre, a public building responding to specific community needs within a complex urban context; and the Meizhou Island project, which integrates the local fishermen’s way of life with marine ecology and the natural cycle.