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Revival of Pingtian Village in Songyang County Sun, et al.

The common characteristics of traditional supporting the development of traditional
architecture in the village is hipped roof, rock villages, he saw the opportunity immediately.
wall foundation, rammed mud wall, gray or As a local villager, he was able to buy and rent
red roof tiles and simple decorations. It shows a dozen of old houses. During the whole
the lifestyle in Pingtian that is based on process of planning and reconstruction, he
agriculture. was the major mediator between the designers
The village plan needs to be flexible and and the villagers. He also did public services
adjusts promptly according to the to win support from the villagers. For
implementation of the design. There are example, at the beginning of the project, Mr.
usually problems like property right disputes Jiang paid from his own pocket to renovate a
and specific demand of the villagers. So, it is long-abandoned Incense Hall (Ancestral Hall)
common to go back and forth several times in the village. He also raised money for the
before making the final decision. Take the elderly who lived alone with no source of
design of the parking lot as an example. There income, and organized visits to take care of
was no parking lot in Pingtian. Villagers and them during holidays.
tourists could only park along the main road,
which greatly hindered the development of 1.4 A small cluster design
tourism. The land of the village was limited Mr. Jiang managed to take tenures of a dozen
by the mountainous terrain and existing built of old houses. Therefore, the common
environment. The parking lot needed to be problem of property right disputes in rural
compatible with the traditional environment development was solved. Renovating and
and it should not block the views. There were adapting these houses of various conditions
no other choices left other than having two into rural resorts became the starting point of
small parking areas along the road near the rural vitalization and planning in Pingtian.
village entrance. One was built by In terms of tourism resources, Pingtian
demolishing a chicken farm after the approval village does not have much advantage. It has
from the owner. The other was built by beautiful scenery and historic landscape, but
widening the road. not unique in Songyang. Xikeng village and
The village society is a so-called Chenjiapu village in Sidu not far from
“acquaintance society.” It is governed by its Pingtian are probably endowed with better
own logic. Even in a village with decreasing resources. The area of Pingtian is not large. It
population, the social structure still plays an only takes about an hour to tour the village, so
important role in the planning and it is important to create more programs for
reconstruction process. The implementation people to experience and consume. Therefore,
of the plan must rely on the community. It is the biggest challenge for designers and
crucial to form cooperation between the local business owners was how to create attractions
government and village leaders. In the case of for the village.
Pingtian, the investor of Yunshang Pingtian With the institutional support of the
Guesthouse (云上平田), Mr. Jiang played an university and social networks, the planning
important role in the process. In history, team was able to form a relatively large
respected figures who gained status or fortune design team composed of experts and
in the city usually returned to their home professors from several universities,
village after retirement and contributed to the including Professor Maoyan Xu from the
development of the village. Mr. Jiang is such School of Architecture at Tsinghua
a figure in modern times. His father used to University, Professor Weijen Wang from the
be the village secretary in Pingtian. Mr. Jiang School of Architecture at the University of
works in the city but has been greatly Hong Kong, Professor Wei He from the
influenced by his father and has a deep School of Architecture of Central Academy of
emotional attachment to the village. When Fine Arts, and Ms Tiantian Xu from DnA
Songyang county initiated the policy Architects. They undertook the projects of

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