2021/07 - A REAPPROPRIATION OF LIME SCULPTURE
This project is to study how to make contemporary life more sustainable through a reappropriation of lime sculpture – a traditional craft in South China. In contemporary society, lots of traditional crafts lost their position, because people’s aesthetic and needs change a lot. In this study, lime sculpture is taken as a representative of traditional crafts.
The fundamental challenge of lime sculpture is redefining people’s emotional implication based on need towards it. For one way, its traditional functions should be kept for renovating old buildings, while for the other ways, it could have different types of innovative applications to pursue more contemporary values. Social problem ‘disappearance of vicinity’ is discussed here in terms of the connection with the application of lime sculpture in real life to discover people’s connection with each other and public utilities within a system in a city or a community. A systemic design intervention made by lime sculpture will be implemented in Wufeng Community - an urban village community in Guangzhou, which can be a reference on other traditional crafts.
Background - What is Lime Sculpture?
The complex geographical conditions in Lingnan area, Guangdong, China are an important factor in the diversification of Lingnan's architecture. Wind-proof, rain-proof, anti-corrosion, flood-proof, moisture-proof, and anti-poisonous insects are common requirements, which can be provided by lime sculpture. It can stay for 100-200 years.
However, its artisitic values are more than practical values. It has a good fortune with people's wishes from ancient times. Myths and legends, historical stories, opera characters, and various auspicious patterns composed of auspicious birds and beasts, flowers, fruits, trees, good luck text composition, as well as landscapes, pavilions and other landscape design are its popular themes of folks.
Lime Scullpture on roof top
(Taken in Chen Clan Academy, Guangzhou, China)
Lime Sculpture on wall and flowerbase
(Taken in Yu Yam Ancestral Garden, Guangzhou, China)
The collaboration with Mr. Jingxing Cui, the Inheritor of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Lime Sculpture) provides a broad study of the environmentally-friendly materials and natural colors of lime sculpture and the making process of lime plaster. I try to take craftsmen's expectation towards this craft into account for future design.
'I can accept part of industrial mass-production. It is a good way to promote this craft to a certain extent. But I still want to keep its handmade characteristic.'
--Mr. Cui
Mr. Jingxing Cui was renovating Lime Scullpture that he made 30 years ago at flowerbase
(Taken in Yu Yam Ancestral Garden, Guangzhou, China)
Design Principles
What is needed in our contemporary society?
Workshop is done to bring participants to rethink some social problems they meet. A global problem - 'Disappearance of Vicinty' should be taken into account. It means the connection with real world is lost and it is getting harder and harder to feel satisfied with life since phone has always been used.
Lime Sculpture is as assistant to raise people's awareness of the problem. Aiming to rebuild the connection with real people, a solution that discovering the extrodinary in ordinary life is brought out.
Inspired by Macau road signs, which is made of blue and white Portuguese Azulejo tiles, I was considering if I have ever noticed the road sign in my city. I guess most people might also ignore it in a city or a community. So, I set up a self-touchstone tour experience in an urban community – Dongshankou to explore, which has a long history but is going to be demolished by government.
I walked not as hurried as before and became more curious about the movements and dialogues of the people I met on the street, even though it happens every day. Without gluing my eyes on my phone, I have more time to feel this community. Unlike unified official street sign, for some reasons, residents made, drew, and customized some unique street signs by themselves, or keep using the very old ones as memories. These unofficial street signs can be regarded as a sign or decoration in semi-public area.
If the design intervention that is applied on some public utilities like street sign can influence people step by step in a system?
Three steps design intervention in a system
Community location: Wufeng community ( urban village community with mixed culture)
Main street of Wufeng Community
(Filmed in Wufeng Community, Guangzhou, China)
Traveller flowrate analysis
Brainstorming interventions in different sites
Site 1 Signage
Won't make some big changes here, which is built on volcanic rockemple. But put some notes on the highest site - Star Observatory, where the earliest observatory lay on and can also be seen a nearby area. The note is like guiding people appreciate Lime Sculpture on roof top that they never pay attention to before, and tips to other spots. The note is with traditional style, to fit in the style of this temple. Because the Star Observatory is empty. Modern style will ruin the feeling of the temple.
Site 3 Signage
Also won't make big change. Just set Lime Sculpture note in front of the gate to guide people look up to the roof top and appreciate the story, because normal people are a bit awkward to step in the ancestral hall.
Site 5 Signage
Guidance in the main crossroad. Where also shows some local culture reconstruction.
Site 2 Paper reading tool
Passed some shops and a market, there is a short bridge across the river. One side of the river is to the back of the temple. It is quiet here. Some migrant workers rode their electronic-bikes here for a rest. They often sit on the bike and scroll their phones (as what it shows on the picture).
What if it could be a place for short reading and rest here?
What if lime sculpture can be designed as paper reading tool here?
In this way, if they are attracted by the look of Lime Sculpture, they might be interested to excavate the information of this craft and what's in it. As a way to remind them it is not bad to move their eyes off the phone and be back to the real life.
Site 4 Event venue
To provide an opportunity for holding activities and gathering people to try out lime sculpture crafting and other new things, like busking, sharing session.
Site 8 Plague
Change to the sign made of lime sculpture (with hand-writing characters), which is more stable and sustainable when compared to plastic.
Site 6 Lime sculpture signboard
There is a river where people always rowed dragon boats, and two more-than-100-year-old banyan trees here. But when the whole area was transferred into the fabric market. The river is getting narrower and smelly. Trees are placed with cleaning utensils by the street cleaners. People are travelling fast in this crossroad, no matter when they are walking or riding e-bikes. Some of them even calling or gluing their eyes on their phones when they are crossing. I almost got hit more than once by the one who watched his phone when riding his e-bike so fast.
However, there is still a traffic jam all the time. One reason is that the street is narrow and uneven, while another reason is that most people who cross here are impatient and don't care about the environment here. They easily feel angry when there is a traffic jam, so that they will keep honking the horn. They throw garbage into the river. So the problem solution of 'disappearance of vicinity' here is how to make them be patient and notice the valuable environment here through lime sculpture. As it is a crossroad with traffic jams here, I plan to make some visual and slight touchable design intervention through lime sculpture, instead of those intervention with strong body movement.
Site 7 Lime sculpture painting board
How to make students find the joy after school through Lime Sculpture? There is a board made by Lime Sculpture at the school's outer wall. Children can paint whatever they want on the lime board by water. Unlike wood, once Lime Sculpture is dry, it can absorb water without mould. So it is like a creative tool for interation and bring people back to real life for entertainment, but also introduces the craft attributes of Lime Sculpture to the public. There is also a guidance to other spots for appreciation.
Different levels of communication within this system
Design intervention in Site 6: Lime Sculpture Signboard
Modeling
