Intro 2009.06

From Architect HSIEH and Atelier-3

Architect Hsieh Ying-Chun and Partners

Architect Hsieh Ying-Chun graduated from the Department of Architecture of DanJiang University in 1977. While performing military service as an officer, he was assigned to carry out building projects in the troops. After obtaining his architect’s licence, Hsieh did not start work as an architect at once but worked in the construction field for eight years. In his early years as an architect, Hsieh has also designed many factory buildings for the hi-tech manufacturers. His experience in construction has led him to think about the nature of the architectural business today and the question of sustainable development. In 1999, as part of the reconstruction project after the September 21 earthquake in Taiwan, Hsieh and his team went into the disastrous area of the Thao tribe at Sun Moon Lake, Nantou and taught the Thao people to build houses with environmental friendly materials and simple tools. At very low costs, they helped to complete the Thao community rebuilding and later helped more than 300 households from several tribes to move their villages away from areas endangered by landslide. In 2004, Hsieh visited rural areas in mainland China to promote ecological architecture and organize rural surplus labour to work together to build houses. On May 12, 2008, Sichuan in China was hit by a major earthquake. Drawing on their experience of reconstructing the Thao settlement and working in the countryside, Hsieh and members of his Rural Architecture Studio have been assisting the victims in remote mountainous regions of Sichuan to rebuild their homelands. So far, construction on some 1500 farmhouses has begun and the work is still ongoing.

Hsieh and his team believe that architecture is not just a technical matter, but must take into account economic, social, cultural and environmental factors. By creating an open architectural system through design and with a series of architectural technologies, they try to safeguard the right of the disadvantaged groups to subsist and work, and promote environmental consciousness through eco-friendly buildings. At the same time, they believe that architecture should reflect the diversity of different regions and nationalities.

The Thao Tribe Resettlement The Thao tribe at Sun Moon Lake, Nantou is the smallest existing aboriginal group in Taiwan, with its own customs, culture, language, as well as a well-preserved ancestral belief and colourful rituals. On September 21, 1999, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale struck middle Taiwan, causing enormous devastation; 80% of the houses of the aboriginal Thao tribe were destroyed. After the quake, Hsieh and his crew were invited by community workers and anthropologists to go into the disastrous zone of the Thao tribe at Sun Moon Lake to help the people rebuild and resettle.

To prevent the Thao tribe from falling apart, Hsieh and his team simplified the method of construction. Employing environmental friendly and local, natural materials (lightweight steel, bamboo, wood) and simple manual tools, they organized the Thao people to build houses themselves; exchanging labour to relieve financial difficulties of the community, and completing the reconstruction of community under the constraints of an extremely low budget. The Thao resettlement consists of 44 units, of which 36 are homes, others include a library, an office, a small workshop, classrooms and public toilets. To achieve the purpose of cultural preservation, planning of the community was centred around various Thao rituals. Based on the rituals presided over by elders of different names, several squares were allocated as ritual spaces, and overall layout was made according to the terrain and physical conditions.

Sustainable, Permanent Self-Built Farmhouses and Community Projects in the Earthquake Affected Area of Sichuan On May 12, 2008, Sichuan, China was hit by an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 on the Richter scale. The most badly affected area covered 130,000 sq. km., and more than 3.5 million houses collapsed, of which up to 2,188,700 rural houses need to be rebuilt. One month after the quake, Hsieh and his Rural Architecture Studio initiated the building of toilets with separate collection of faeces and urine in the area. In late July, they built the first straw and earth filled sample house with lightweight steel structure. In early August, they moved into the heavily affected mountainous regions of QingChuan, WenChuan and Mao County to assist rebuilding farmhouses.

To address the problems of budget restrictions, environmental protection and the different cultures of different regions, Hsieh proposed a scheme of permanent, sustainable, self-built farmhouses and villages; to provide rural residents with economical, energy-saving, eco-friendly and easy-to-build, lightweight steel (or wooden) homes, as well as hygienic toilets with separate collection of faeces and urine. This construction scheme lessens the difficulty of building, requiring only simple tools at the site, so that villagers can assemble the main structure themselves and meet the technical demands at very low cost. In terms of support structures such as the walls and the roof, recycled building materials (used bricks and concrete debris) or local materials (such as bamboo, wood, straw, earth and stone) can be used to create eco-friendly homes suited to the local climate and customs. Sustainable farmhouses designed and built according to this plan can reduce carbon dioxide emission by 40 tonnes per household.

Cooperative Construction based on the Community During the process of modernization and globalization, the construction industry has become more and more specialized and capital-intensive. The increasingly intensive and specialized industry makes it impossible for the economically disadvantaged groups in the disastrous area to build houses themselves. To have an autonomous or more independent construction system is an important key to solving the housing problem of the underprivileged. Through the mode of cooperative construction, Hsieh takes back the right of building from professional developers. With residents forming cooperatives themselves, the construction cost can be lowered to about one-fourth of the market price. In this process, not only are the production facilities simplified and standardized, labour can also be supplied by exchange. Through the exchange of labour, these construction projects can be separated from the mainstream market, and the basic rights of subsistence and work will be respected.

Cooperative construction does not mean DIY only. Rather, through the “Open System”, it allows the community residents (users of the building) to participate actively in order to create a collective consciousness and subjectivity for the community. Moreover, by incorporating the characteristics and plasticity of architecture of different regions, it will naturally result in an array of architectural connotations.

Through the participation of residents in each construction, the concept of environmental protection can be more easily absorbed and practiced. In terms of building materials, Hsieh uses natural materials without excessive processing, such as bamboo, wood, stone and earth, as well as recyclable steel, aluminum and metal. He designs suitably insulated, well-ventilated and naturally lit houses with energy-saving concepts (such as southern sun-shading extended eaves, northern double-glazing windows). Through environmental education in the course of construction, Hsieh attempts to turn architecture into a social movement with mass participation, so that each participant can gain first-hand experience of green architectural concepts.

Through Simplified Building Technics to Open System In order to achieve cooperative construction necessary for sustainable architecture, the construction process must be simplified and the concept of “Open System” applied. The simplification of the construction process includes reducing dependence on sophisticated equipment, exposing more joints so that the method of joining is easily understandable and easy to apply, and the joints are easily replaceable; reducing the need for sophisticated technology, and reducing the use of technology required by precise aesthetic criteria; using natural energy, such as solar energy and wind power; and designing simple devices, such as facilities for the separation of faeces and urine in ecological toilets.

“Open System” means with an unchangeable support and changeable infill, the architectural spatial layout can be adjusted flexibly. By changing the infill, it can extend the life-span of the building and accommodate the diverse needs of different regions and communities. From the September 21 earthquake in Taiwan in 1999 to the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, the houses that Hsieh and his team have helped to build through cooperative construction all look different from one another. These houses have wooden or lightweight steel structures as support, integrated with various infills made with local earth, stones, bamboo, wood, bricks, straw, cloth, wattle, faced bricks and metal. They form an open system with interchangeable components. They also offer a variety of forms, fulfilling the changing functions and manifesting the richness and creativity of village dwelling.

The Complex Adaptive System and Intersubjectivity of Common People’s Architecture Hsieh also proposes the concept of Intersubjectivity, which means that both architect and users have equal opportunities to share their views in terms of the right to design houses. The complex and diverse exterior of houses created by the “Open System” is not the deliberate design of the architect, but a natural consequence. Hsieh focuses his design on the unchangeable part of the houses, while leaving the changeable part to the householders to expand and develop, so that residents can retain their creativity and unique subjectivity rooted in culture during the process of construction.