Rural Urban Framework

China

Joshua Bolchover and John Lin

architects, Hong Kong

Reinventing contemporary rurality in China

The exponential sprawling growth of Chines megacities has caused profound changes in less dense areas which until recently might have been termed “rural” and which are now caught up in a series of contradictions. For about ten years, Joshua Bolchover and John Lin have been studying what has happened in several Chinese villages. From these studies have arisen several projects that attempt to respond to the specificities of contemporary rural life, which is largely dependent on the Hukou, a strict policy of distinction between the rural and the urban created under Mao and still applied today. The micro-projects that have been carried out provide possible alternatives when faced with the complex forces acting behind the scenes in the domain of urban development.

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photographs : © RUF