Sharing & Regeneration

The exhibition consists of three units, "Urban
Regeneration", "Rural Regeneration", and "On
the Frontline (Again)".For urban and rural
regeneration, no matter whether it is a completed
project or still under planning or construction,
every work presents a progressive and exploratory
state. But every bit of the exploration is about the
main users, about their simple wishes, their true
claims, and their deeply buried dreams that never
before have been awaken. Through a series of
spatial practices in renovation and regeneration,
the essence of the problem can be recovered,
thereby thorough reflection and positive responses
can be made about the relationship between
buildings as well as comprehensive practices
(social practices) caused by building with the civil
society. Projects displayed in the unit "On the
Frontline (Again)" can be also regarded as the
start point for new researches. Stock buildings
inspire re-perception of the urban and rural
spaces, and new possibilities could be discovered
to influence the future. These projects are not only
displayed as initiating ones, but also regarded
as the branch exhibition of Venice Architecture
Biennale collateral exhibition "Sharing and
Regeneration", a dynamic platform with new
contents being continuously injected, where the
leading-edge reform of Chinese urban and rural
areas is displayed. It is one of the most dynamic,
experimental and complicated places, and as part
of the constantly global development, it brings us
ideas, enlightenment, and coordinated innovation.
Back to the content of the exhibition. Projects
showed in "Sharing and Regeneration" present
from various aspects the cultural renaissance
and the reestablishment of the communityneighborhood
relationship (recovery of the
sentiment, the rejuvenation of human beings as
the subject of the city). Communities (off-line) and
social groups (on-line) could become public spaces
for social orientation and people's livelihood
via continuous endeavor to improve community
residents' life and uphold the public values.
The lost sentiment could be recovered, and the
scattered memory could be linked together, thereby
waking up the true desires of the community
residents, the deeply buried dreams, and their
willingness of engagement. In addition to that, the
in-flow of new comers (immigrants), including the
spatial changes brought about by the immigration,
new power of creativity will be made available,
bringing cultural and information exchanges to
the current space. As an incubator for creativity, it
could bridge the difference between the old spatial
texture and the contemporary social relation and
life style by inspiring an collaborative share (coexistence)
schema, so that a broad connection,
a sharing of knowledge, and a fair mutualism
could be established via the public attributes
and distribution methods of the social network
platforms.
This process also represents the process from the
reconstruction of community relationship to the
reshaping of city images, in which architects /
designers play an important role. By highlighting
the importance of building as a part of the urban
research, and combing it with other scientific
methods, the special features of design could
be adopted along the whole process, including
the underlying logic, system, mechanism, space,
organization, operation, economic planning and so
on. Meanwhile, the transition from a blueprint-led
planning / design process to an action-led, detaildriven,
communication oriented, and culturebased
planning / design process is much more
needed, in order to provide a collaborative action
capability that is helpful for the renewal of social
development modes. Via sharing and regeneration,
the overall quality of the planning, the quality of
follow-up transition included, can be established,
in order to realize the comprehensive improvement
of economic, social and humanistic values.