In the Fall semester of 2023, Tongji University's Li Dehua-Luo Xiaowei Chair of Design invited Sir David Chipperfield, the laureate of the 2023 Pritzker Architecture Prize, to serve as the design mentor. Chen Libin, partner of David Chipperfield Architects, and Dong Yi, Deputy Head of the Architecture Department at Tongji University's College of Architecture and Urban Planning, served as the course leaders. The joint teaching team consisted of Wang Minquan, an architect from David Chipperfield Architects, as well as Jiang Jiawei and Wang Yanze, assistant professors from the Architecture Department. Eighteen graduate students from the Class of 2023 were selected to participate in this design studio, which was organized in the course of Optional Design Studio IV at CAUP.

The studio topic, titled Jingdezhen Dong Sanbao Urban Renewal: The Dilemma of a Self-Reinventing City, aimed to explore urban design practices under the combined forces of complex historical culture and socio-economic factors. The course analyzed and understood the city from various perspectives, including spatial structure, social demography, industry, and historical context, to establish a basic urban planning framework. It focused on issues of historical preservation and community publicness, and delved into the design of key spaces and architectural nodes, thus establishing a thinking paradigm that guides architectural practice with social issues.

The selected graduate students were divided into Groups A and B to progress from urban design to architectural design.

Group A students focused on the theme Leave it intact, exploring how spontaneous, bottom-up urban development behaviors could potentially become a mode of urban renewal for Dong Sanbao. Using the elements of ruin, train, and wall as organizing logic, they delved into the possibilities. The large-scale drawings completed by Group A students included axonometric views of the renovated Jingdezhen Ceramics Factory, axonometric and ground plan views of the renovated Sanlei Chemical Factory, and life scenes after the transformation of the railway.

Group B students, with the theme of Xuefang, explored how to create a small neighborhood and community atmosphere centered on ceramic teaching and artistic creation in Jingdezhen. Through role-playing with different groups of people, they explored the rich possibilities of spatial narrative. The large-scale drawings completed by Group B students included axonometric views of the renovated Jingdezhen Ceramics Factory and Xuefang community, renovation strategies for converting industrial buildings into Xuefang units, and long scroll paintings depicting the life scenes of the Xuefang community.

Looking back at the teaching development of the Li Dehua-Luo Xiaowei Chair of Designstudio, the final review is scheduled to take place on January 19, 2024, in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela. Sir David Chipperfield reviewed the students' designs for the urban renewal and architectural design of the Dong Sanbao area in Jingdezhen. He emphasized that the more important responsibility of contemporary architects lies in social responsibility, rather than the skills of designs and formal languages of the architects in the heroic age of last century.

Concurrently, David Chipperfield Architects and the Fundación RIA in Galicia organized an intensive seminar week for Tongji faculty and students, themed on the local urban culture and natural landscapes of Galicia. The group visited and researched Santiago de Compostela and nearby port cities and villages, engaging in deep architectural exchanges with Tongji faculty and students during the field trip.

Course Coordinator

David Chipperfield, Chen Libin, Dong Yi

Teaching Team

Wang Minquan, Jiang Jiawei, Wang Yanze

Student Members

Fu Yue, He Haoyang, He Shuran, Ji Huaiqian, Li Te, Liu Yunyi,

Pang Bo, Pan Yishu, Wang Chi, Wang Lexuan, Wang Zhenghan, Ye Wenxin,

Yu Hongru, Zhang Jingru, Zhong Jiayi, Zhu Congzhe, Zhu Hongye, Zhu Yixin

Relevant news: (RIA) https://www.fundacionria.org/en/noticias/la-tongji-university-inicia-el-programa-de-intercambios-y-estancias-investigadoras-de-ria.html