MUDD student projects

exhibits

2005-2006 Beijing,China

1

Master Plan

2

Southeast view Summer Palace precinct

3

Design in CCCP Graduate School,3D.

4

Design in Da You Village,3D.

Critical Site Issues

There are very sensitive cultural issues that affect the site as it is located between the YuanMingYuan (Old Summer Palace) and the World-Heritage Listed YiHeYuan (Summer Palace). A consequence of the listing was the imposition of a strict 9m-development height limit across the majority of the study area.

The historic DaYou Village has immense cultural value as it was once the main village that supported the Summer Palace through a range of facilities and services; some of which can still be seen today.

In contrast, the SaoZi Village to the north has lost its historical significance, as it was relocated more recently to house displaced villagers and poor immigrants.

The majority of the site is occupied by major academic institutions; the campuses for the Central College of the Communist Party (CCCP) and the University of International Relations (UIR), as well as staff housing for Peking University (PKU).

The resulting problem due to the presence of these significant national institutions, next to the poorer villages of DaYou and SaoZi, is a clash in social classes.

The opening of two new subway station at the North and East gates of the Summer Palace within the next few years, will create a range of new development opportunities, including commercial, retail, entertainment and tourism, educational, research and high-techs industries.

Villages that once occupied the sites of the East Gate and QingHe precincts have already been cleared for future developments.

The waterways that run through both the Summer Palace and the YuanMingYuan, are historically linked with the city's main water supply from the western mountains; in modern times they continue to be an integral part of Beijing's water management systems. Unfortunately, because of urbanization and increasing development pressure, the water table in the area is rapidly dropping; resulting in some lakes drying up in the YuanMingYuan, and subsequently affecting the natural ecology of the area.. While ground water recharge has recently been mentioned by various government authorities as an option to deal with the site's water table, there has been no indication of who would take responsibility to fund such a project, and very little work has been done to research the various techniques that can be employed to achieve this.