In 2014, Xu Tiantian, founder of
Beijing-based studio Design and Architecture (DnA) began to work in
Songyang County, in China's Zhejiang Province. Her exemplary holistic
planning concept of Architectural Acupuncture, which has gained the
support of local administrative and political leadership, aims at
revitalising rural areas and comprises the renovation of production
plants and of tourist and technical infrastructure as well as the
creation of venues for culture and education and of social housing. Each
of Xu's small-scale interventions at local level is unique, only the
small budget is common to all of them. Moreover, they are all
inter-related with each other and in their entirety serve the broader
goal of mutual enhancement.


This book introduces Xu's concept of
Architectural Acupuncture and discusses the influence of architecture on
cultural self-understanding and economic renewal in 21st-century rural
China. It features some 20 new buildings and conversions of existing
structures with diverse functions. Published alongside are essays by
international economists, sociologists, and curators as well as by the
secretary of the Songyang County Party Committee, examining the social,
political, and economic implications of sustainable planning and
collective action in the Chinese province.

Contributions by: Eduard Kögel, Saskia Sassen, Remy Sietchiping, Martino Stierli, Wang Jun, Xu Tiantian