MASAN VILLAGE
HOMECOMING:
TRACING THE ROOTS
RE-BIRTH AND RE-INTERPRETATION
OF WA ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIONS
FEB 2020 - FEB 2021
Detailed Reading Link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mg4rDJgH93hLjo-JW8I42M-HBbk3SOdr/view?usp=sharing
As the core carrier of material culture, the vernacular architecture reflects the local cultural history and intuitively reflects the local lifestyle and spiritual outlook. However, vernacular architecture is different from other tangible and intangible cultures. Vernacular architecture is the most fragile tangible form because it can easily be misinterpreted by external culture. Once the architectural culture is destroyed, the culture endowed within the architecture will gradually disappear.
This thesis will set foot on China's Wa ethnic community to analyse the vanishing vernacular village and architecture in Wa ethnic minorities' cultural continuity and propose to reclaim and refresh the architectural traditions within local resources.
The thesis will set in the frame of time to examine the "what is the tradition?" from traditional Wa village planning, the vernacular architecture's role and bamboo construction in the Wa community.
It will then lead to the topic "what is the now?" to discuss the external impacts of a Wa settled village. Later, it will approach a "what is future?" topic to discuss the participatory solution associated with Wa architecture's developing pattern to provide renewal strategy for the Wa village to preserve and reinterpret the unique vanishing architecture architectural culture.
Within the research frame, the proposed design solution is to re-interpret the architectural tradition in the vernacular Wa society so that users and occupants can be involved in the creative process of the village's architecture.
The modern architectural practitioners need to build a platform for users and the community. This platform must be well thought out in terms of the demographic, climatic, geographical, religious and cultural responses to traditional architecture, to facilitate the inhabitants' ability to use their creativity and labour.
The establishment of a platform will, on the one hand, reorganise the roles of the participants, construct and guide ways of participation to enable the users' emotional engagement with their homes. On the other hand, the platform will facilitate the guidance and control of residents' involvement in architectural design.
A LEARNING PLATFORM & COMMUNAL CENTRE
The masterplan is based on the existing conditions of the site. The existing village square is used as the base for the plan, with the library and building workshop/school placed on the north and south sides of the square, accessed via the existing terrace and the lower ground to the south. The square centre will continue to be used as a recreational space for the villagers and will provide a practical platform for the building workshop and school during the building season.
To the east of the square, along the main road of the village, is the redesigned wooden drum shrine following the ascending terrain. To the west of the square's central axis is a viewing platform for visitors to view through the valley to the borderline. Bamboo grove landscape is planned on either side of the wooden drum shrine, and the open space under the old banyan tree in front of the library is planned as a small bus stop for inter-village traffic. The planning respects the idea of 'architecture for people and by people', as it is a reward reserved for people.
Therefore, the building entities on site will be built by the local people and guided by professional outsiders. Since building groups will be built by the locals, the material choice is regional retrievable and familiarised by locals. Thus, bamboo and thatch are the primary selections. The building forms are primarily adopted from the traditional Wa architecture, which is practical without involving too many absurd shapes. The bamboo and thatch as the primary materials, in another way, reflects the building process will always be an ongoing project.
