The Context
After decades of concentrating resources on urban industrial development which resulted in China’s explosive economic growth, the government has turned its attention to rural areas where it is sponsoring a variety of development initiatives. Urban Environment Design (UED) Magazine and CBC (China Building Centre), have taken the responsibility to develop a number of small rural villages, one of which will be the site of our project.
This is the third semester in which SCS collaborates with Tianjin University School of Architecture (TJU). Previously TJU students joined SCS students during the building phase of the Louna Architects’ Bookshop project and the Xiamutang Childrens’ Teaching Restaurant (see ArchDaily for details). In this coming semester our collaboration will be run throughout the semester encompassing design, production information, and building.
The organisation of the joint SCS + TJU studio.
Through its almost decade long existence SCS has developed a working method which combines individual inputs with group work. We start the semester with individual projects, at different phases vote for the most concepts with most potential, culminating in the last phases where everyone in the studio works on one building. The gradual homing in on the most promising ideas is done through voting. To combat the idea of individual authorship, those whose projects are chosen to progress to the following phase are not allowed to work on their own ideas. In this manner we ensure collective ownership of the final building.
During this semester, this procedure will be extended to encompass students working in China. At the end of each phase projects developed and chosen by the SCS team will be developed by the TJU team during the following phase, and projects developed and chosen by the TJU team will be developed by the SCS team. The final project to be built will thus be the product of both the TJU and SCS teams. During the production and building phases, in which both teams will be working on the same project, the work will be divided into teams composed of both TJU and SCS students.
1. Phase 1 of the studio.
The first two weeks of each semester, in Phase 1, after being introduced to the site, the program, and the clients, students develop individual architectural concepts. These proposals are not yet buildings, but rather attitudes or approaches which could later be developed into buildings. At this stage the studio encourages students to explore as many diverse ideas as possible, with the aim that from this diversity interesting ideas for buildings may emerge.
At the end of the two weeks students are asked to present their ideas to the studio, these ideas are discussed, and voted on. Each member of the studio, both students and teachers, have one vote each. The only restriction is that authors of schemes cannot vote for themselves. Studio members vote for the ideas with most potential for future development. By this means half of the concepts presented, those considered to have most potential, go on to be developed in Phase 2.
To bring together the TJU and SCS teams, the projects chosen by TJU students at the end of Phase 1, will be developed by AHO students during Phase 2, and the projects chosen by SCS students at the end of Phase 1, would be developed by TJU students during Phase 2

2. Phase 2 of the studio.
Pairs of students work on the project chosen by the studio of the other University at the end of Phase 1, that is, Norwegian students work on the projects chosen by Chinese students and vice versa. Teachers form the teams of students to work on the schemes inherited from students of the other university. At the end of Phase 2 projects should have developed beyond an architectural concept and should be recognisable as buildings. The TJU and SCS teams chose the 4 projects which are to progress to the next Phase 3

3. Phase 3 of the studio.
The procedures of Phase 2 are repeated in Phase 3. The four projects developed/chosen by SCS students are worked on by 4 teams of TJU students and vice versa. At this stage the projects should have been developed to a stage in which structure and materials have received attention. The TJU and SCS teams vote for the 2 projects which are to progress to the next Phase 4.

4. Phase 4 of the studio.
The procedures of Phase 3 are repeated in Phase 4. The two projects developed/chosen by SCS students are worked on by 2 teams of TJU students and vice versa. At this stage the projects should have been developed to a stage where they are presented with plans, sections, elevations, and exterior and interior renderings, materials will have been chosen, the structure has been calculated on a preliminary basis, the main construction details have been resolved, preliminary costings have been done, building regulations have been considered, etc.

5. Phase 5, Jury
A jury of Chinese and Norwegian architects independent from SCS and TJU are appointed to choose the final project from the two presented by TJU students and the two presented by SCS students.

6. Phase 6, Production Information
In the four weeks Development Phase, students are divided into production teams who work on specialized aspects of the project. These teams are to be composed of students from TJU and SCS working together connected by means of the internet. The subjects of these teams would include: design development, structural calculations, construction details, costs calculations, building permission submission, construction scheduling, critical path analysis, construction materials, quantities and procurement, sponsorship, media (web-site, blog, Facebook), etc. One student from TJU and one from AHO will be appointed as coordinators of the project. Their roles are to make sure that information is coordinated and consistent amongst the different working groups. The coordination of the information produced by different groups is achieved mainly through the constant updating of a digital 3D model which contains all the information being produced by each working group. Assembling all information into one 3D model of the building tends to make inconsistencies and contradictions more evident. The aim of this phase is to prepare as thoroughly as possible so the teams have determined the materials needed, the way these materials go together, the tools and techniques needed to accomplish construction, and the speed of construction needed to finish the building in the allotted time.

Half way through this Phase, two students from SCS and two students from TJU will travel to the site of the project 15 days prior to the start of construction work to prepare for the coming of the rest of the SCS+TJU teams. Their job is to make sure building materials are located and purchased, the building is set out on the site, and the foundations are cast.

7. Phase 7, Building
The main group arrives on site two weeks after the advanced party and starts to build according to the construction details and schedules prepared in advance.

The diagram below is a graphical representation of this process:

(EMWEB DOES NOT ALLOW LOADING GRAPHICS)

SCS Working Mode and Assessment

The task of designing and constructing a building in the space of five months is quite an achievement, more so because the majority of the participants have never had this experience before.

To make this task possible, SCS is set up as a professional studio. Work is always in the studio, from 9:00 to 16:00, every day. All absences have to be justified by medical certificate or agreed with SCS with sufficient time so that the studio can organise the work accordingly. If you are not able to deliver this commitment, this is not the studio for you.

Teamwork is of the essence, especially in the later phases, we work together to achieve the goal of building the team’s design. This requires all sorts of different tasks, especially during the production and building phases. All members of the studio have to be willing to take on those tasks assigned to them. The task of the team takes priority over individual likes or dislikes.

The Site and the Program

SCS works in the context of the real world. For this reason the task and the process are not totally under its control. The clients and partners involved in SCS projects have their own aims and problems. On occasions decisions made by SCS’s clients have meant that projects have had to be cancelled, either before they get off the ground or during the period in which projects are being developed. We have been faced with clients not keeping agreements, clients not owning the sites we were supposed to build on, etc. On each of these occasions we have had to cancel the project and turn our attention to another task.

Although these occurrences are very frustrating, and SCS does its utmost to organise things so that the projects develop smoothly, everyone in the team has to be prepared for these or other factors to intervene in SCS’s work. This is the price of working with real projects, and it is part of the life of a professional architect. If anyone feels threatened by uncertainty, this is not the studio for you.

The site and program:
At this moment we have the commitment of Urban Environment Design journal and the China Building Centre that they will organise a project for us to design and build, as they have done in previous semesters. However, they have not yet decided which of the villages which they are developing is the one which will be chosen for our project.