The Songyang Story Architectural Acupuncture As Driver for Socio-Economic Progress in Rural China. Projects by Xu Tiantian, DnA_Beijing

In 2014, Xu Tiantian, founder ofBeijing-based studio Design and Architecture (DnA) began to work inSongyang County, in China's Zhejiang Province. Her exemplary holisticplanning concept of Architectural Acupuncture, which has gained thesupport of local administrative and political leadership, aims atrevitalising rural areas and comprises the renovation of productionplants and of tourist and technical infrastructure as well as thecreation of venues for culture and education and of social housing. Eachof Xu's small-scale interventions at local level is unique, only thesmall budget is common to all of them. Moreover, they are allinter-related with each other and in their entirety serve the broadergoal of mutual enhancement. This book introduces Xu's concept ofArchitectural Acupuncture and discusses the influence of architecture oncultural self-understanding and economic renewal in 21st-century ruralChina. It features some 20 new buildings and conversions of existingstructures with diverse functions. Published alongside are essays byinternational economists, sociologists, and curators as well as by thesecretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, examining the social,political, and economic implications of sustainable planning andcollective action in the Chinese province.