Date/Time
Date(s) - January 18, 2025
10:00 am - 6:45 pm

Categories

• GBA
• GBA
• HSW
• LU
• Tour

Dear Members and Friends

Please join us to explore the Nantou Ancient City Revitalization project.

Shenzhen has often been mythologized as a “small fishing village” that was transformed into a vibrant metropolis in less than 40 years. However, this characterization overlooks the fact that Shenzhen was never merely a fishing village. Located in the heart of the city, Nantou Old Town was established during the Jin Dynasty and served as the political, military, and economic hub of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong region for more than 1,700 years. Over the last century, however, the ancient town has gradually diminished, while the surrounding village has expanded. This rapid urbanization has created a complex landscape where a historical town exists within an urban village, all enveloped inside a modern city.

During this tour led by Meng Yan, we will first visit the Urbanus office to learn how the firm has helped revitalize Nantou via their involvement in the Nantou Preservation and Regeneration Project. After lunch, we will explore other projects within the district, including the NT33 & NT34 Renovation Project by Dr. Doreen Liu, and the Nantou Neighborhood Center by Prof. Yung Ho Chang.

Dr. Liu will present the Diverse Homology – Cultural Harmony Pavilion, designed by her firm, NODE, as part of the museum building cluster in Nantou Old Town. The exhibit, located in two adjacent (former) urban village houses, NT33 and NT34, showcases the enduring and distinctive culture of the Pearl River Estuary region surrounding Nantou.

Prof. Chang will guide us through the Nantou Neighborhood Center to showcase how he helped transform the Community Health Service Center, which, after renovation, will include a community hospital as well as office, exhibition, classroom and meeting spaces to provide convenient medical and health services for Nantou residents.

We will conclude the tour with Willkie Deng from Vanke Urban Research who will discuss the management aspects and project development of the Nantou Ancient City design at the Vanke office, followed by a Q&A session with the speakers.

Details

Tour Rundown

To join us, please sign up HERE before January 15, 2024, at 6:00 PM.

About the Speakers

Mr. MENG Yan, AIA, RIBA
Co-Founder and Principal Architect of URBANUS

Meng Yan is a licensed architect in New York State and an RIBA Chartered Architect. He has focused on architectural design, urban design and research in the context of contemporary Chinese cities for more than two decades. Many of his built works have become new landmarks of urban life, won prestigious awards, and been published worldwide. Several of Meng’s works are in the permanent collection of MoMA in New York and M+ in Hong Kong.

Meng also leads research projects on high-density urban building typologies, Shenzhen Urban Village regenerations, and the preservation of Beijing historical areas. He was the chief curator for the Shenzhen Case Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo, one of the chief curators for the 2017 Shenzhen-Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, and served as a visiting professor at both the Syracuse University School of Architecture and at the University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Doreen LIU, Assoc. AIA
Founder and Principal of NODE Architecture & Urbanism
Professor and Director, GBA Innovation Design Lab, Shenzhen University
Doreen Liu received her M.Arch from UC Berkeley and her Doctorate of Design at the Harvard GSD. Based in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, NODE has carried out a diversified range of architectural and urban design projects in the Pearl River Delta and wider region for years. Doreen’s focus is on urban regeneration, infrastructure, and public spaces, and the NODE studio emphasizes the investigation of site specific conditions and community issues.

Prof. Yung Ho CHANG, FAIA
Founding Partner and Principal Architect, Atelier Feichang Jianzhu (FCJZ)
Chair Professor of Architecture, HKU, and Emeritus Professor, MIT
Yung Ho Chang co-founded Atelier FCJZ with Lijia Lu in 1993 and has served as principal architect ever since. He is a Fellow of the AIA and has won many awards, including the 2000 UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts, and the Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, in 2006.

From 2005 to 2010, Chang was head of the Architecture Department at MIT and is now a Chair Professor in the Architecture Department at HKU. He was also a Pritzker Prize Jury member from 2011 to 2017.
Mr. Willkie DENG
Project Design Manager, Vanke Urban Research
Willkie was the Project Design Manager in charge of the Nantou Ancient City Revitalization project. He participated in the entire reconstruction of the Nantou Ancient City and was substantially responsible for the preliminary planning, programming and design management.