The PINCH, SWEEP and WARP is a series of projects that embody a unique intersection of contemporary design tools and rural construction in a vernacular context. By bringing together two parallel developments that are often thought of as independent and unrelated, the work emphasizes the validity of digital design in remote corners of the developing world.

 

Over the past 3 years, three earthquake reconstruction projects in Yunnan Province, China were built by students at The University of Hong Kong. Located in a remote mountainous landscape of peaks and valleys, each project was designed with a strategy of maximizing the use and experience of the landscape via structural wooden trusses and decked, ruled surfaces. The results are 3 small scale social programs: a library, a play area and marketplace. These projects engage the reconstruction processes led by the government, filling in the gap between infrastructure and house reconstruction. They instead focus on community needs.

 

The projects are the result of on-going collaboration with a local timber workshop, developing techniques for adapting complex geometries to simple traditional techniques.

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PINCH, SWEEP and WARP are widely published and internationally awarded projects. As a proposal, the book goes beyond a building monograph, referencing historical precedents, showcasing geometric and digital modelling techniques alongside the story of a 3 year construction process.

 

This book will unfold the story of these earthquake reconstruction projects in China, celebrating the intersection of teaching and research, experimentation and onsite construction, complex geometry and local craftsmanship. Bringing together two of the most important architectural trajectories of today.