Page 52 - JCAU-6-2

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Storytelling in regenerative architecture

3.1. Site and setting A carefully observed and vivid natural landscape
The history (or future) of an architectural site can inspire carries its own precise connotations, edges for
a regenerative design intervention. For example, a site that wildness, and the unpredictable.”
was once a polluted industrial wasteland but has since had The story of a building connects it to the site and its
its soil remediated and restored to what approximates its surroundings. For instance, a building designed to house a
natural state can inspire the continued use of sustainable nature education center might aim to blend with a natural
materials and programs in the design of buildings, gardens, feature such as a rock outcropping or a tree, intending to
and parks on that site. A site that was the setting for a engage with the surrounding environment in its presence.
traumatic episode in history (a massacre, for example, or However, there is a risk of succumbing to a form of literalism
enduring contamination by pollution) will be haunted by that inspires neither on an aesthetic nor a metaphorical
its own scars, silences, and ghosts (Armstrong, 2023). level. Conversely, a building that has failed in its original
The setting involves the context that shapes us, conception may gain greater resonance in fictional terms.
including place, values, traditions, climate, and the Furthermore, many buildings undergo repurposing over
conditions of survival or thriving. It includes atmosphere time, and incongruities between a building’s contemporary
(narrative tone/mood), time of day, and weather. function and its original purpose may eventually become
Questions of harmony or disharmony between character a source of irony.
and setting raise the possibility of wider conflict. It may 3.2. Materials
draw on (or subvert) the familiar symbolism associated
with a place (Paris, for example, has its own established The materials used in a regenerative architecture project
romantic clichés that largely ignore the realities of life in also relate to the site and the overall narrative of the
the Parisian banlieues). 8 project. For example, the use of locally sourced materials
such as wood, stone, and clay can tell a larger story of the
These are not separate considerations but are subtly site’s natural resources and the local communities that have
intertwined, as Burroway (2019, p. 171) comments: historically relied on them. Materials may be thought of as
“Our relation to time, place, and weather, like our an aspect of the “characterization” of a site. Materials are
relation to clothes and other objects, is charged not necessarily fixed categories, as they can also be hybrid
with emotion, more or less subtle, more or less or “inauthentic” assemblages (think of a magpie’s nest
profound. It is filled with judgment, mellow or that incorporates anti-bird spikes from the surrounding
harsh. And it alters according to what happens environment, for example, or a home constructed from
9
to us. In some rooms, you are trapped; you enter the detritus of a garbage dump that yet expresses a sense of
them with a grim purpose and escape them as belonging, pride, and design expertise).
soon as you can. Others invite you to settle in,
to nestle or carouse. Some landscapes lift your 3.3. Technologies
spirits, others depress you. Cold weather gives The technologies used in a regenerative architecture
you energy or bounce, or else it clogs your head project can be an important expression of the overall
and makes you huddle, struggling. You describe narrative. For example, the use of passive solar design
yourself as a ‘night person’ or a ‘morning person.’ and rainwater harvesting systems can tell the story of a
The house you loved as a child now makes you, building conceived to work in harmony with its natural
precisely because you were once happy there, surroundings, implying a particular set of ethical and
think of loss and death.” even esthetic values among the communities that benefit
Others (e.g., Morley, 2007, p. 173) stress the “intangible” from the building. However, these utopian impulses may
aspects of the place: be challenged by conflicts over power and/or resources
or turned toward dystopian purposes, such as weaponry
“Place is more than location; it is mood, history, and war.
and other people’s lives. A recognizable cityscape
is something a reader understands; gaining their
trust, they move towards your story. You may then 9 Ian Sample, “Crows and magpies using anti-bird spikes
to build nests, researchers find,” The Guardian (July
choose to make that city a place of strangeness 11, 2023). Available from: https://www.theguardian.
or to allow it to offer your story local color. com/science/2023/jul/11/crows-and-magpies-show-
their-metal-by-using-anti-bird-spikes-to-build-
8 This discussion is indebted to Janet Burroway (10 nests#:~:text=The%20crows%20used%20the%20
th
edition, 2019), Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft anti,including%20other%20birds%20and%20weasels.
(Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press). [Last accessed 2023 July 12]

Volume 6 Issue 2 (2024) 5 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1335