UNESCO ICCROM - Asian Academy for Heritage Management

Visual Image Research Base of Chinese Nation in Southeast University

Xuan'en County People's Government

Fondazione EMGdotART

Hubei Pengjiazhai Tourism Development Co. LTD

School of Architecture, Southeast University

School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University

Università Iuav di Venezia

Key Laboratory of Urban and Architectural Heritage Conservation (Southeast University), Ministry of Education, China

Architectural Journal

Heritage Architecture

Built Heritage

New Architecture

Time: 9th -11th August 2022

Location: Sino-Italian International Architecture Study Camp, Xuan'en County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province

Gan-lan is a construction-culture system that is suitable for the warm and humid Lucidophyllus-forest climate, rice farming economy and living pattern of floor-seating. It is widely distributed in the “Asian Crescent” region from the Japanese archipelago to the Korean Peninsula, from the provinces of Southern China to the Indo-China Peninsula and Southeast Asia. The component processing and construction procedures of Gan-lan wooden architecture reflect a highly developed system and assembly. Its built heritage is not merely based on the uniqueness of the material form and the restoration of the construction period. Rather, it reflects a flexible and variable living mechanism that shows adaptability to multiple functions and complex terrains. The study of Gan-lan wooden architecture can provide a new vision and unique approach to the protection and regeneration of architectural heritage in the perspective of comparative culture.

Accordingly, the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management, the Visual Image Research Base of Chinese Nation in Southeast University, the People's Government of Xuan'en County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province, and the Fondazione EMGdotART will host an international symposium on “Conservation and Regeneration of Asian Gan-lan Wooden Architectural Heritage” from 9th to 11th August, 2022. The location of this symposium is the Zhong-yi International Research Camp in Shadaogou Town, Xuan'en County, next to Pengjiazhai (Fig.1.,Fig.2.), a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level, representing the typical Gan-lan wooden settlement. The event schedules to invite the UNESCO Chair of Cultural Management and international and Chinese experts in the field of architectural heritage conservation to discuss the value, protection and renewal of the Gan-lan wooden architectural heritage.

图一：彭家寨

图二：彭家寨

Fig.2. Pengjiazhai

Located in the upper reaches of Youshui River, Shadaogou Town was served as a crucial commercial knot in the historical salt-trading network crossing Hunan, Chongqing, Sichuan and Hubei Provinces (“Sichuan salt aid to Chu Region”). Pengjiazhai and Lianghekou Old Street in Shadaogou Town are the best-preserved relics of traditional settlements in the Wuling Mountains in central China, representing typical samples of Asian Gan-lan wooden architectural heritage (Fig.4.).

图四：两河口老街

Fig.4. Lianghekou Old Street

In 2019, with the support of the Fondazione EMGdotART, professors and students from Southeast University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Chongqing University and Università Iuav di Venezia conducted an on-site investigation in Lianghekou Village, and carried out research and design of its Old Street through the lens of living protection and adaptive renewal (Fig.4.,Fig.5.). The international joint research outcomes became one of the 15 official Collateral Events of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, under the theme of LIANGHEKOU, a Tujia Village of Re-Living-Together (Fig.6.). After the exhibition, all the exhibits returned to the original site of Lianghekou Village, Xuan'en County. The curatorial team has further expanded the content, and planned to set up as a permanent on-site exhibition that showcases the heritage value of Asian Gan-lan architecture with the theme of WULING GAN-LAN, Splendid Archi-tectonic Legacy of Asian Wooden Architecture. The opening ceremony of the exhibition will be held concurrently with the International Symposium on Conservation and Regeneration of Asian Gan-lan Wooden Architectural Heritage.

图五：两河口国际联合研学营

Fig.5. Lianghekou International Architecture Study Camp

图六：第17届威尼斯国际建筑双年展官方平行展“两河口，一个土家会聚之地的再生”

Fig.6. Official Collateral Events of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia LIANGHEKOU, a Tujia Village of Re-Living-Together

学术研讨会议程

Location: Sino-Italian International Architecture Study Camp, Xuan'en County, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province

开幕式议程