Market Gallery: Sustaining China's Villages

Sustaining China’s Villages - Making a Difference to Rural Village Regeneration

Monday 13 - Saturday 25 January
Opening times: 11am - 4pm Monday to Saturday
Temporary Contemporary Happening (end of show evening) on Thursday 23rd January (5-7.30pm)

The University of Huddersfield has for a number of years been undertaking collaborative work (both teaching and research) in China. Through this it has established a number of links with universities, research groups, practitioners and other organisations. As a result of these activities, funding was awarded from the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK to initiate the ‘Sustainable and Creative Villages Research Network – SW China’. This has led to the development of a research alliance with Chinese partners which has considered how to support sustainable redevelopment that is rooted in villages and towns in the southwestern region.

This exhibition displays exemplars of architectural, art and craft work tackling the need for a more sustainable approach to construction and the built environment generally in these villages and towns. This also supports local heritage craft and design skills. They aim to show what is possible, both in terms of buildings that are efficient and have a low ecological impact and in terms of development that aims to make the most of each community’s unique nature, heritage and culture. A key focus of the technology of the buildings is for them to be buildable and repairable with local skills whilst offering contemporary levels of comfort and usability. The work presented has been undertaken by a number of universities along with professionals from design practices and other organisations in China collaborating with researchers from the University of Huddersfield.

Curators: Adrian Pitts, Yun Gao and Ching-Lan Chang
Centre for Urban Design, Architecture and Sustainability (CUDAS),
School of Art Design and Architecture.