China’s Design Revolution
QUESTIONS OF THE COURSE:
What are we trying to sustain?
Who has a stake in sustainabilty?
How are historical practices of sustainable design in China being incorporated into contemporary design practices by designers in China and around the world?
Why is it urgent for our Spaceship Earth that we all learn about sustainable design practices in China (historical and contemporary)?
Week 1. Overview of course: What is sustainable design?
January 6, 8
Objectives this week: To have a clear understanding of the structure of the course and the course requirements, and to introduce you to the conceptual arc of the course.
By Jan 6: Read through the syllabus, take a look at the assignments, the guidelines for respectful behaviour, and if eClass is new to you, take a look at the eClass 101 PDF.By Jan 6: Watch Climate Scientist Answers Earth Questions from Twitter (Wired)
By Jan 8: Read 3 very short texts: 1) Ezio Manzini, "Introduction,” in Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation, tr. Rachel Coad (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2015), pp. 1-3 (sections 1 & 2); 2) Michael Erlhoff, "On Design, Research and Pudding: An Essayistic Introduction," in NERD New Experimental Research in Design (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhauser, 2018), p. 7 section 1.1. DESIGN. 3) Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, "Beyond Radical Design?" In Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming (MIT Press, 2013), pp 1–6..
By Jan 10: Take the first quiz #1 by Friday at midnight MDT (ungraded, just for practice)
KEY WORDS
design
sustainability
five elements
synergy
ecology
systems approach to design
anthropocene
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Study images
SUP Atelier, Swirling Cloud: Pavilion for BJFU Garden Festival, Haidian, Beijing, 2018
Xu Tiantian/DnA, Bamboo Theatre, Hengkeng, 2015
Week 2. EARTH. 土
January 13, 15
Our objective this week: to introduce you to the study of green landscape architecture in the context of built environments and disruptions to the natural landscape.
By Jan 13: Read 2 texts: 1) Robert Holden, "Introduction" to Landscape Architecture: An Introduction, pp. 13-16; 2) Claudia Westermann, "Chinese Landscape Aesthetics" in New Horizons Eight Perspectives on Chinese Landscape Architecture Today (Birkhauser, 2020), READ p. 35 only, the rest is optional.
By Jan 15: Read "The Award Winning Quarry Garden Breathes Life Back into Abandoned Site, " Landscape Architects Network (June 25, 2015)
By Jan 15: Watch 1 video: Vicki Kwon, "Reclaiming the environmental legacy of the Great Leap Forward: The Quarry Garden in the Shanghai Botanical Garden" (15 mins., password ArtH411). We will screen this and all videos in class.
By Jan 17: Take quiz #2 (this time it will be graded, as will all other quizzes)
Key terms/ideas
landscape
built environment
natural environment
quarry
mining industries
land reclamation
park
Chinese garden
taihu rock/Lake Tai rock
pavilion
visual analysis/formal analysis
some terms for visual analysis of landscape architecture: concept or site plan, contour, contrast, course, imaginary lines, microclimate, orientation, scale, site
Study images for Jan 13:
Liuyuan "Garden for Lingering" Suzhou. Ming dynasty, 1593.
I.M. Pei (1917-2019, United States), Suzhou Museum, 2006
Atelier VISION, Dongyuan Neighbourhood Committee Revision, Shanghai, 2019
July Cooperative Company, Adjoin Garden, Shenzhen, 2020
Change Studio, Wanguofu, Beijing, 2016-17
Study images for Jan 15:
The Great Leap Forward 大跃进 (1958-61)
THUDPI (Tsinghua Urban Planning & Design Institute), Quarry Garden, Songjiang, Shanghai, 2010
Other Resources
Anthropocene Curriculum
Climate Change Education
Just Powers Energy Transition Podcast
Climate Lab Book
Week 3. FIRE 火
January 20, 22
Objectives this week: To introduce you to design activism through interaction design in response to the burning of fossil fuels.By Jan 20: Read 2 texts: 1) Bill Moggridge, Designing Interactions (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2006), pp. 9-14; 2) short texts in the ecoArt China exhibition about Wen Fang's Maskbook project; 3) OPTIONAL: Blevis, Blevis, and Nardis, "All the tea in China: Interaction Design inspirations," C&C (June 2021), pp. 333-345.
On Jan 22: Independent filmmaker Wenhua Shi will join us via Zoom to discuss his work, its relation to cities, and possibly, to time.
By Jan 24: Take quiz #3 by midnight.
Study images for Jan 20
Maya Lin (b. 1959, United States), What is Missing? 2009-presentLulu Li, Interactive Beijing, eco Air Bubble, and Twin Flowers (visit her website)
Wen Fang 文芳 (Beijing) + Art of Change 21, Maskbook 2015-present
Brother Nut (Beijing), Project Dust (2015)
Study images for Jan 22
Key terms/ideas this week
interaction design
HCI human computer interaction
COP26 Conference of the Parties 26 (UN Climate Change Conference November 2021)
PM2.5 particulate matter 2.5 microns in size
user-oriented
collaboration
visual analysis terms: medium/media, subject, dimensions, composition, style, pattern, texture, colour (primary, complementary, warm, cool), modelling, light, brushstroke and line weight
Week 4. METAL 金
January 27, 29
Our objectives this week: To introduce you to green architectural design as a form of urban renewal.
By Jan 27: Read 2 texts: 1) Cici Zhang, "The country building a ‘new London’ every year" (BBC 11 June 2020); 2) Francis D.K. Ching, "First Principles," Green Building Illustrated (New York: Wiley, 2014), pp. 13-24.
By Jan 29: Read James Shen, "Plug-in Society" in China Homegrown: Chinese Experimental Architecture Reborn, ed. Andong Lu (New York: Wiley, 2018), pp. 46-51.
By Jan 29: Watch 2 videos: 1) Daniel Walker, “The Mirrored Cube: Tradition and Innovation through Co-Design” (15 mins., password ArtH411); 2) Beijing Plug-in: Dezeen video (2:45 min.)
By Jan 31: Take quiz #4
Key terms/ideas this weekmetabolic architecture
designopoly
anthropocene
courtyard
adaptive reuse
co-design
modular
sustainable housing
large-scale 3D-printing
architectural mimicry
some visual analysis terms for architecture: facade, site dimensions, relationship of buildings to site and vice versa, 2D diagrams (plan, elevation, section), 3D diagrams (axons, perspective), maquetteStudy images for Jan 27:
Chinese courtyard architecture 四合院
Ma Qingyun 马清运 (b.1965 China), M.A.D.A. spam browse the studio's projects!
Stefano Boeri (b. 1956 Italy) in partnership with Xu Yibo 胥一波 (China), Vertical Forest in Nanjing
Win Sun Co., short video on 3D-printed houses
Atelier Feichang Jianzhu 非常建筑, Pingod Sales Centre/Art Museum (aka Today Art Museum)
Rem Koolhaas/OMA (b. 1945 Holland), CCTV Tower in Beijing
Zaha Hadid (1950-2016 British Iraqi), Galaxy SOHO
Study images for Jan 29:
PAO, Courtyard House Plugin (see Daniel Walker's video and the article by James Shen)
for fun, check out INSTANT HUTONG
for fun, check out Song Dong 宋冬, The Wisdom of the Poor (2005-06)
Resources to help you locate your focal design for the first assignment (due February 14):
Dezeen use search terms "China" or "Chinese"ArchDaily use search terms "China" or "Chinese"
Week 5. WOOD 木
Our objectives this week: To introduce you to environmental graphic design and packaging design in the context of debate about cultural sustainability.
By Feb 3: Linna Hu and Hua Dong, "How Consumers Read the Visual Presentation of Food Packaging in a Cross-Cultural Context: A conceptual framework and case study," in Design as a catalyst for change - DRS International Conference 2018, 25-28 June, Limerick, Ireland, eds. Storni, C., Leahy, K., McMahon, M., Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (2018): 656-666.
By Feb 3: Watch Gabriella Gut, "Organic Design"(password ArtH411)
By Feb 5: Read: 1) "The Sustainable Challenges and Opportunities in Environmental Graphic Design" read the second half devoted to Tongji University's Wayfinding System beginning with "BACKGROUND: TONGJI UNIVERSITY" If you have a calligraphy brush, please bring it to class.
By Feb 7: Take quiz #5
Study images for Feb 3
Pesign Design, Qian's Gift Organic Rice
Yi Mi Xiaoxin, Xiao tuan yuan rice
Fengqiao Design, Yuan Fu Dao Dian rice (Farmer Yuan's Paddy Fields)
Jenny Chua/SGK Design, Aldi Rice
Shanghai Version Design, A Bowl of Rice (compare with rural rice gathering buckets)
Study images for Feb 5
Lok Ng (b. 1985 Guangzhou)
Xu Bing (b. 1961 Chongqing), Book from the Ground. Square Word Calligraphy, Book from the Sky. Explore the artist's website
Qiu Zhijie, Entrances: Mao's Calligraphy. 2004.
Tongji University Wayfinding System (figs 5-9)
Key terms/ideas this week
organic
sustainable packaging
calligraphy
consumer
forest
deforestation
EGD environmental graphic design
semiotics
Week 6. WATER 水
February 8, 10
On Thursday, February 10 Lisa's lecture will be live-streamed via Zoom.
Our objectives this week: To revisit landscape design near rivers and marshes heavily polluted by plastic water bottles and other plastics
By Feb 8: Watch 2 videos: 1) Madeline McKay, "Bottled Water in China: The Clear, the Blue and the Murky" (password ArtH411); 2) "The Yangtze River's Green Sailors" (50 minute documentary available through KANOPY, please watch the first 5:09 minutes and the rest is highly recommended).
By Feb 10: Read 2 texts: 1) John Beardsley, "Popular Aesthetics, Public History" in Designed Ecologies: The Landscape Architecture of Kongjian Yu (Basel: Birkhauser, 2012), excerpt pp. 10-14; 2) Z + T Studios interview in New Horizons Eight Perspectives on Chinese Landscape Architecture Today, pp. 46-53; 3) OPTIONAL John Ormsbee Simonds and Barry Starke, "Water," in Landscape Architecture (McGraw-Hill, 2006), pp. 43-59.
Study images for Feb 10
Horse (U.K.), Nongfu Spring Mineral Water 2015Kongjian Yu (b. 1963 Zhejiang Province), Zhongshan Shipyard Park, Guangdong Province 2002
Kongjian Yu, Red Ribbon Park, Turenscape in Qinhuangdao 2002
Z + T Studios, Cloud Paradise Park, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 2017
Key terms
bottled water
contamination
marketing
industry transparency
regulation
big-foot aesthetics/little-foot aesthetics
conservation
restoration
WEEK 7. Midterm
February 15, 17
On February 15 Lisa's review session will be live-streamed.
Our objectives this week: To review for the midterm and to take the exam.By Feb 15: Review your lecture notes from over the course of the term. Be sure to have a good working understanding of the study terms. You will not be tested on the "metadata" for the study images (i.e., the name of the designer and design, the date and location), but please review the study images so that you are familiar with their significance within the course because you will be asked questions about them.
By Feb 18: Take midterm exam. The midterm will be available to you from Wednesday, February 16 at 11:00 am MDT, through Friday, February 18 at midnight MDT. The midterm is a timed one-hour exam (60 minutes). There are 30 multiple choice questions. It is closed book.
PSA from Talia Dixon, VP Student Life of your University of Alberta Student Union:
On February 17th at 12:00 pm the Students Union along with NASA, AASUA, and the GSA will be hosting a march from campus to rally at the legislature calling for an end to provincial cuts to post secondary. We would like to invite you to join us. Here (https://fb.me/e/1VpAziVlF) is the FACEBOOK link to the event.
As you may know on February 24th the provincial government will be releasing its budget which is predicted to contain additional cuts to post secondary. Over the past three years, these cuts have hurt all students, staff, and faculty members whose quality of education and work lives have been seriously impacted.
Week 8. Reading Week.
Week 9. GARBAGE 废物
March 1, 3
Lisa's lecture on THURSDAY March 3 will be live-streamed from FAB 2-20 via Zoom.
Our objectives this week: To study industrial design as a way of upcyling waste and avoiding landfill.
By Mar 1: Read 1 text: 1) Xie Wencheng, "Upcycling Style" in Global Times(2014).
By Mar 1: Watch 2 videos: 1) Gary Hustwit, Objectified: Manufactured Objects and Their Designers, via Kanopy (2009) [Watch first 5 minutes; the rest is optional -- recommended but not required]; 2) Max Turner, "Waste" (password ArtH411)
By Mar 3: Read 1 text: Joshua Goldstein, "The Sixth Element," ecoArt China catalogue (Edmonton: Art & Design, 2021), download the catalogue from the exhibition website and read pp 32-39; OPTIONAL texts: 1) Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change(1984), 215-247; 2) If you truly want to understand the global waste and recycling system, please read this OPTIONAL chapter: Joshua Goldstein, "No Longer the World's Garbage Dump!" in Remains of the Everyday: A Century of Recycling in Beijing (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2021), pp. 223-57.
By Mar 4: Take quiz #7
Key terms/ideas this week
visual analysis terms: volumes (geometric, organic), space, line, colour, light, texture
low waste
low energy
biodegradable
locally made + locally sourced
circular economy
upcyclingStudy images for Mar 1
Melon scoopStudy images for Mar 3
Yao Lu (b. 1967), see artworks in ecoArt China exhibition
Shanghai Phoenix bikes, 1958-present
Weng Xinyu & Tao Haiyue, YUUE Design, Upcycled Shared Bicycle
LUO Studio, Shared Lady Beetle: A Micro Moveable Library 2019 (check out the pictures only; Chinese/English language website, scroll down for the English)
Huang Qiang, Bike Scavengers
Song Dong (b. 1966 Beijing), Waste Not
Benwu Studio (Peng You, Hongqiao Wang), Mary's Living + Giving Shopsee also:
Rideal, "Vintage" bike made out of old Phoenix bike parts Instagram @rideal_sh
LOE Design, The Forever Bike 永远/Duco made out of bambooand recycled plastic
upcycled designs in the article by Xie Wencheng
Week 10. COTTON + SILK 棉+ 丝
March 8, 10
On THURSDAY March 10 we will go on a virtual field trip to Hong Kong. The lecture will be live-streamed from FAB2-20, but even if you attend in person please bring your computer/mobile with you so that you can explore on your own as part of this field trip.
Objectives this week: To introduce you to fashion design that alleviates textile waste and environmental and social burdens created by the clothing manufacture processes.
By Mar 8: Read 2 texts: 1) Mattias Wallander, "T-Shirt Blues: The Environmental Impact of a T-Shirt," Huffpost Green (September 2, 2012); 2) Denis Antoine, "Current Issues in the Fashion Industry," Fashion Design (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2020), pp. 26-29.
By Mar 8: Watch 2 videos: 1) Imaan Jeraj, "The Story of Your White T-Shirt" (10 min., password ArtH411); 2) Christina Dean, "You are what you wear," TED Talk (16 min).
By Mar 10: Read Timo Riassanen, Holly McQuillan, "Textile Waste," in Zero Waste Fashion Design (London: Bloomsbury, 2016), pp. 10-14 (pay attention to the Chinese designs); OPTIONAL: Shelagh Vainker, "Silk in the People's Republic," in Chinese Silk (London: British Museum Press, 2004), pp. 204-207.
By Mar 11: Take quiz #8
Additional resourcesThe True Cost (2015; 1:31 film)
Keywords:
fast fashion 快速时尚textile waste- 织物浪费: a material that is deemed unusable for its original purpose by the owner. Textile waste can include fashion and textile industry waste, created during fibre, textile and clothing production, and consumer waste, created during consumer use and disposal.
High fashion or haute couture- 高级时尚: high end fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable sewers, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques.
Textile recycling- 织物回收: the method of reusing or reprocessing used clothing, fibrous material and clothing scraps from the manufacturing process.
Garment life cycle- 时装寿命周期: There are 8 major stages in the lifecycle of any garment: conception, materials creation, garment production, shipping, marketing and sale, use, maintenance and disposal. The ideal garment life cycle is one where the disposal of the garment feeds back into the creation of something new.
Fashion cycle- 时尚周期: the amount of time it takes a fashion trend to emerge, peak and fall out of style. Many factors such as culture, religion, war and society determine how long a specific trend spends in the fashion cycle. The average fashion cycle is one year.
NGO/ Non-government Organization- 非政府组织: an institution that is not associated with a particular government or corporate entity. They tend to operate as nonprofit organizations and often they work for political, environmental or social change.
Eco-sustainable fashion- 生态可持续性时尚: complete garment lifecycle using organic, fully recyclable or renewable resources throughout the supply chain; minimizing and eliminating waist during garment production; green retailing practices, fully reusable, recyclable or compostable materials at the end of a garment’s life-cycle. Transparency and traceability are important throughout the process.
Ethical fashion- 伦理时尚: the aspect of responsible fashion that deals with the relationship binding the company and ‘society.’ Ethical fashion includes: labour and human rights; governance, anti-corruption, and fair practices; society and community development; product and consumer-related responsibility; along with relationships with suppliers.
terms for visual analysis of clothing design: colour, shape, silhouette, line, bias, block, construction, drape, volume, symmetry/asymmetry, transparency, layer, texture, print, contrast, pattern, motif, movement
Study images for Mar 8
Gap white t-shirtStudy images for Mar 10
Wan Yufeng's fashion designs
Redress, HONG KONG
Museum of Ethnic Costumes, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
Momo Wang, Third-Hand UpCycle Collection
Week 11. PLASTIC 塑料
March 15, 17
On THURSDAY, March 17, Lisa will be available on Zoom to workshop your projects with you. No lecture this week. We're workshopping instead.
Objectives this week: To introduce you to recycling of plastics within design and to work collaboratively on group pop-ups.
By Mar 15: Read: 1) Adam Minter, "How Beijing--and the Rest of China--Recycles Plastic [Excerpt],"Scientific American (November 8, 2013); 2 OPTIONAL eco design of plastics packaging
By Mar 15: Watch 2 videos: 1) Lisa's ppt video on recycling within design (password ArtH411, 20:29 min.); Preview of Wang Jiuliang's film PLASTIC CHINA (2015, 2:54 mins.)
By Mar 17: Workshop! Have the elements of your second assignment in place. Lisa will have an open Zoom office hour during the normal class session to answer any questions groups may have about the project. This is not a lecture and will not take place on campus but instead we'll meet in Zoomland. It is a working session.
By Mar 18: Take quiz #9
Key terms/ideas this week
recyclable
recyclingStudy images for Mar 15:
Clare Tracey, Water Dragon @ The Chinese Museum, Melbourne, Australia, 2012
PENDA, Coca-cola bow 2013
Deng Qiyun/Cargo Collective, Graft + Graft research
optional: Dezeen: Design using ocean plastic
Week 12. PEOPLE 人
Mar 22, 24Lisa's lecture on THURSDAY March 24 in FAB 2-20 will be live-streamed.
Objectives this week: To introduce you to design for social innovation at the factory and in social contexts.
By Mar 22: Read 1) Leslie T Chang, Factory Girls (New York. Spiegel & Grau: 2008), 98-119; 2) REVIEW: the Manzini text from the first week; 3) OPTIONAL: "I am Fan Yusu" (2017 English translation); 我是范雨素 (2017 original Chinese text)
By Mar 22: Watch 3 videos: 1) Edward Burtynsky, Manufactured Landscapes (2006) -- watch first 7 minutes, and the entire film is highly recommended; 2) Cao Fei, Whose Utopia? (2006) 6-minute excerpt, filmed in a Siemens factory in south China; 3) Lisa's ppt video about Burtynsky and Cao Fei (password ArtH411, 19 mins.)
By Mar 24: Read Ai Weiwei, One Thousand Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir, tr. Allan Barr (New York: Crown Books, 2021), Chapter 17 "River Crab Feast," pp. 278-293.
By Mar 25: Take quiz #10 and TURN IN ASSIGNMENT #2
Study images for Mar 22:
Edward Burtynsky (b. 1955, Canada), China Project, Anthropocene Project
Cao Fei (b. 1978, China), Whose Utopia? 2006Study images for Mar 24:
Ai Weiwei (b. 1957 China) and Anish Kapoor (b. 1954, U.K., India), "The Walk" London, September 2015.
Ai Weiwei, Straight, 2013 venice biennale
Ai Weiwei, Sunflower Seeds, 2010
Ai Weiwei, Circa Art Project, London, 2021
Ai Weiwei. Fairytale. Documenta 2007.
Further resources and museum gallery-specific performances to think with:Postcolonial Performance and Installation Art
Andrea Fraser, Museum Highlights (Tate overview)
Indigenous Anti-Futurist Manifesto
What does it mean to decolonize a museum?
Indigenous Perspectives
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Cleaning the Museum (1973)
Rirkrit Tiravanijt, Untitled (Free/Still), 1992/1995/2007/2011-
Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present Trailer (2012) andMOMA site (with interviews)
The Center for PostNatural History
The Museum of the History of Cattle
Week 13. DESIGN ACTIVISM
March 29, 31On March 31 Lisa's lecture on the relevance of China's sustainable design practices for our future will be live-streamed from FAB 2-20 at 11 am. We're circling back to the questions that we raised at the beginning of the term.
Our objectives this week: To discuss the political potential of design in an age of intersecting crises as we prepare for the final exam..
By Mar 29: Watch: On Mar 29 at 11 am MDT the design activism videos will be released to the public. I will add the links to the videos here, in eClass. Plan to watch and comment on 3 videos by Friday, April 1, at 5 pm MDT. Your comment should reflect what you've learned, liked, and wanted to know more about. 2-4 sentences per comment. Also submit comments in one Word document to eClass by Friday, April 1, at midnight MDT.
By Mar 31: Review! No reading assignments.
By Apr 1: Take final quiz #11 about design activism and complete the the comments on the videos by midnight MDT.
Week 14. EXAM PREPARATION
April 5, 7Objective: To prepare you for the final examination. This course has been dedicated to exploring sustainable design in landscape design, architectural design, graphic design, industrial design, fashion design, social design, interactive design. What counts as sustainability? How do long-lived design practices in China support sustainable design now, in the 21st century? In preparation for the take-home final exam (3 essays that you will have a week to write), we will review some of the skills and knowledge you have learned about design during the past months.
April 5: review session in person and live-streamed via Zoom with the GTA Wei Lu and Lisa Claypool.
April 7: Lisa will hold an open Zoom office hour to answer questions you may have about the final exam instructions and format from 11-noon. This is not a review session. You can drop in if you have questions.
April 7: The final exam will be released to you on April 7 at 11 am MST.