Program Background

• With the worldwide changes and adjustments in industrial structures and logistic modes, the urban development in Europe and America has gradually entered the “postindustrial” age since the 1960s. The distinctive mark for this period is that cities have begun turning their focuses to the reform and regeneration of old parts of the cities due to the loss of driving force for large-scale expansion of new cities. Thus, “transformation”, “revitalization”, “infill” and “adaptive reuse” have gradually become the key words and practicing themes in the urban construction of the majority European and American cities in the past 30 years. It has been found that the old industrial zones with history for several hundreds of years are not actually inconsistent with the requirements for life in modern cities. Instead, the existence of these old zones may add the kinds of senses of occasion and history into the modern life. It is generally realized that industrial heritage including plants, factories, mines, transportation facilities and infrastructures, was once an important economic factor for the development of the society. Being the then physical landmarks, they also witnessed the development of human civilisation. It is obvious that the human society would not have achieved today’s material and spiritual wealth without having experienced such process. These kinds of old zones have been disappearing as the result of the de-industrialization process. Worldwide, Industrial heritages have been appreciating as historical and cultural heritages. The successful cases on industrial reconstruction and sites transformation such as the regeneration project on Ruhr region organized and implemented by IBA during the period of 1989 - 1999 have particularly attracted architects worldwide to pay further attention to the protection and reuse of industrial heritages. In spite of the yet defined concept of “industrial heritage”, the term has been widely accepted as industrial zones being an important component of cultural heritage. As a part of the United Nations’ world natural and cultural heritage protection campaign, industrial heritage protection is receiving more and more attention.
• In China, with a large number of industrial enterprises having been relocated, how to manage the used land, abandoned buildings and equipment has become an issue that we have to face. It is obvious that the simple way of dismantling and reconstructing can no longer meet the demand of the development of modern cities. Compared with natural and cultural heritages, the value of industrial heritages has long been ignored. Since large amounts of industrial heritages have not been included in the preservation of cultural relics, the industrial heritages across the country have been facing destructive threats. Compared with western countries which began to pay attention to industrial heritage protection since 1960s, the industrial heritage protection in China has already been left behind by nearly 20 years. How to protect industrial heritages that have certain value has become a topic of common concern among architects while government and experts have began to pay attention to the reuse of them.
• Industrial heritage protection originated from the UK, the birthplace of industrial revolution. In the middle of the 19th Century, industrial heritage protection began to attract attention in the UK, and exhibitions on industrial heritages were held frequently. The UK government has been attaching great importance to the protective research and transformation of industrial heritages, and the UK universities and colleges have cultivated a lot of talents in this respect for the government.
• The universities in both China and the UK have shown great interest in academic exchanges and cooperation in the regeneration of industrial heritages. The School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, one of the partners of this program, has been playing an important role in China’s architectural education, academic research, talent cultivation and international exchanges.
• The Architectural Society of China is one of the most important organizations under the Ministry of Housing and Rural-Urban Development of the People’s Republic of China. It has been devoting into the architecture research and education and has rich experience in the international collaboration in these fields. ASC is the key partner for this project on the Chinese side.
• British Council China works to promote the UK as partner of choice in education. We believe in the critical importance of the sector and its institutions in promoting the exchange of knowledge, ideas and skills and the benefit that such an exchange delivers for the UK and for the world. Working with networks of policy makers, university leaders and faculty staff, British Council’s collaboration with China in Higher Education aims to further partnership opportunities, research collaboration, policy dialogue and student mobility - building on a 30 year relationship in education cooperation and under the Framework Agreement on Education Cooperation Partnership (signed in Beijing during the 2010 UK-China Education Summit).

Program Design

• This program will bring together six Chinese universities and six British universities that have architecture and urban planning majors or industrial heritage protection majors. The total of 12 universities will participate in a series exchanges and cooperation events in China and the UK in 2013.
• Each university will nominate one teacher and three students to participate in the program to be held in Beijing China in April 2013. The practicing task selected for the workshop is a country level real case, the Industrial Heritage Protection and Renovation Project of Beijing Capital Steel (please see Annex I for the project brief). The 36 Chinese and British students will be divided into six groups of 6 to complete their own team designs for the project. Students will receive guidance from their teachers, enterprises and experts during this period of time. All designs will be judged by experts at the end of the workshop and all the works will be published into a book.
• During the workshop in Beijing, Sino-UK Higher Education Symposium on Architecture will also be held. The leaders and teachers from the 12 participating universities as well as experts and designers in the architecture field in China will discuss together how Chinese and British universities could explore opportunities for in-depth cooperation on architecture education.
• The six Chinese universities participating in the program will pay a return visit to the British universities in October 2013 to have an in-depth discussion for further cooperation.

Organizers and Participants

Organizer and Participants on the UK side:

• OrganizerThe British Council (operates in China   as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy)
• Participating Universities:Six British universities selected from applications

Organizers and Participants on the Chinese side:

• Organizer:Architectural Society of China
• Supporter:School of Architecture of Tsinghua University
• Participating Universities:
  1.School of Architecture of Tsinghua University
  2.School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture
  3.School of Architecture and Urban Planning of North China University of Technology
  4.School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Beijing University of Technology
  5.School of Civil Engineering of Beijing Jiaotong University
  6.School of Architecture of China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Program Objectives

Students: Through participating in the series of activities and working together with students from different universities and different countries, students will have their own practical and professional abilities improved as well as have better team working spirit. Meanwhile, student can have multicultural understanding and get prepared for their future careers.

Participating universities: We hope that the Chinese and British universities can have an in-depth understanding of each other and explore opportunities for interschool links. Through practicing a real project, curriculum of the schools may be improved in a real sense.

Government and enterprises: We hope that the government and enterprises can, while engaging in urban planning, building renovation and other projects, make better use of the education resources of universities and have closer cooperation with higher education sector.

Program Contents

The Specific arrangements for each event are as follows:

Activity I: Student Workshop on Architectural Design for Industrial Heritage

     Time:14 – 28 April, 2013
     Country/City: China, Beijing

Content of the Workshop:
-The 36 students will be divided into 6 groups with a mixture of Chinese and British students. Team arrangements will be announced at the end of February 2013.

-Online communication about the project will be conducted before the groups meet in Beijing.

-The students will work in groups in Beijing to design for the project according to requirement (exact task requirement will be provided when teams are fixed).

-During the workshop, the students will receive tutoring from their lead teachers.

-During the workshop, the students and teachers will be organised to have investigation tours to buildings.

-During the workshop, experts on industrial heritage designing and planning from Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design and relevant universities will be invited to give lectures on the industrial heritage protection in Beijing.

-During the workshop, the UK teachers will be invited to give public lecture in some Chinese universities in Beijing.

Activity II: Sino-UK higher Education Symposium on Architecture

     Time:25 April, 2013 (Friday)
     Venue: School of Architecture of Tsinghua University

Participants:
-Teachers from 12 Chinese and British participating universities

-teachers from other Chinese universities

-Professionals and experts in the relevant field in China

-Enterprises and government officials

Contents:
- Judgment of the works from the workshop

- Sino-UK Higher Education Symposium on Architecture

- Award ceremony and reception

Activity III:Return Visit by Chinese Delegation to UK Universities

     Time:October 2013

Participants:
Representatives of the six Chinese universities including teachers and students and partners

Objectives:
-Sino-UK Seminar on Architecture Education, to strengthen the mutual understanding in professional fields;

-Visit to British universities, to have in-depth discussion on cooperative opportunities;

-Visit to the industrial heritage projects in the UK, to have further understanding the UK’s achievements in relevant fields.

Timetable for the Program

The program will be conducted according to the following timetable

• December 3, 2012       Program announced and application starts (For How to apply, please refer to Annex II)
• December 21, 2012    Deadline for application
• January 7, 2013           6 British universities selected(shortlisted universities will be informed by email)
• January 8-February 28, 2013      Logistic arrangements including visas and flight booking
• March-April 14, 2013      Online communication on the program among members of each group
• April 14, 2013            Participants arrive in Beijing
• April 14-28, 2013        Activities in Beijing
• April 28, 2013    Leave Beijing
• June 2013        Contact Chinese and UK universities and prepare for the visit to the UK
• August 2013     Visas and air tickets of the Chinese universities
• October 2013    Visit to the UK

Financial Support

• The international travel and visa expenses of UK and Chinese universities for the trip to China and to UK will be covered the universities themselves.
• The expenses for activities in China including the accommodation, transportation and other costs will be covered by the Chinese organizers and participating universities.
• The management and publicity expenses of the program including site arrangement, media support and publications, etc will be responsible by the British Council.
• The expenses for activities in UK will be mainly covered by the British Council. UK participating universities should support offer the accommodation of the visiting students.