Background  

  2013.4.20 Ya'an Earthquake 

The Ya'an Earthquake occurred at 08:02 Beijing Time (00:02 UTC) on April 20, 2013. The epicenter was located in Lushan County, Ya'an, Sichuan, about 116 km (72 mi) from Chengdu along theLongmenshan Fault in the same province heavily impacted by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[12]The magnitude of the earthquake was placed at Ms 7.0 by China Earthquake Data Center. 1,815aftershocks have been recorded as of 00:00 (UTC+8h) April 22.

The earthquake has resulted in 196 people dead, 24 missing, at least 11,826 injured with more than 968 seriously injured as of 5:00 PM (UTC+8h, April 20). Several townships suffered major damage, many old buildings in Lushan were collapsed. The electricity service was interrupted, and the electricity grids in the counties of Baoxing, Lushan, and Tianquan were also disintegrated. Telecommunication was interrupted in part of Ya'an. The Chengdu–Ya'an and Ya'an–Xichang sections of the G5 Beijing–Kunming Expressway were shut down and reserved for rescue vehicles. The Xiaojin section (???) of Sichuan Provincial Highway 210 between Baoshan (??) and Lushan was also interrupted. A debris dam appeared in Jinjixia (???) of the Yuxi River (???) in Lushan. 2 volunteers were seriously injured in a traffic accident on the way to Lushan. However, around 60 giant pandas in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Ya'an, were left unharmed during the devastating earthquake.

 Panda’s Hometown 

Bifengxia base was opened in 2003 as the part of the world's largest Giant Panda Migration. It was the biggest artificial migration of captive-bred giant pandas ever seen. The new accomplished reserve base is located at the altitude of 1100m to 1800m. In the base, there are over 20 spots, such as breeding, research centre, special kindergarten and hotel for pandas where 6 kinds of their favorite bamboo food are supplied.

Before 2008, 28 pandas were moved to the Bifengxia base. After the earthquake on May 12th 2008, 53 pandas were sent from Wolong to Bifengxia, and between 12-05-2008-18-03-2009, 13 panda babies were born in Bifengxia. Now in Bifengxia Panda Base 67 pandas share their life in luxurious villas with accommodations such as air-conditioners, toilets, independent water supply system and sport areas. 

Bifengxia Panda Base is arguably the best place to see pandas in the natural scenery they inhabit. Extending to about 60 square kilometres, Bifengxia has been long famous for its forest coverage, waterfalls, river and breathtaking landscapes. Now that it has been selected as China's latest giant panda protection base, Bifengxia has a new role to play in altering the destiny of the endangered species. Pandas are returned to nature after they are given relevant training in simulated wild environments. At up to 1,200 metres above sea level, Bifengxia is under the jurisdiction of Ya'an City. In the dense broadleaf forest with singing birds and murmuring streams stands a big gate with the image of a lovely giant panda carved on it, marking the entrance to Bifengxia Giant Panda Base. Walking through the gate and along the meandering mountain slope for a while, visitors can see several European-style cabins made of bricks and tiles. These are the pandas’ homes. Camphor trees and oaks add mystery to the unusual environment. More than 20 spots have been set aside for panda-related activities and scientific experiments. There are dedicated grazing grounds, \"kindergartens\" for young pandas and even a panda hospital and research institute. Several different varieties of bamboo have been planted in the base either by the water or on the slopes. The new home for giant pandas appears like a park with a natural environment.

The 68 giant pandas in the base will be raised through an outdoor method so as to encourage them to develop abilities better fitted to the natural environment. The base will lead the world in raising pandas this way. Upon completion of the whole project, the base will have four functional areas for grazing, offices and living quarters. This new base is a branch of the China Giant Panda Research and Conservation Centre in Wolong. With vegetation coverage of 80 per cent, it is the world's largest giant panda eco-park. It is planned that in five to seven years, the base will have 40 giant pandas in total.

 The Village

200 years ago, Snow Mountain village was belonged to the Tibet region; until now there are still many Tibetan customs that are observed in the village. At the same time, local people also think that this is the area where people discovered the giant panda for the first time. Even nowadays, from time to time, villagers still get to visit the pandas to feed them or help them on medical conditions.

The lower half of Snow Mountain village is located around 1300 meters above the sea level while the upper half is located around 1700 meter and above. After the earth quake, the upper half became unsafe to inhabit, all upper villages had to move down to the lower half. They are currently waiting for a new village to be built.

The village covers 28.2 sq. km. of land space. 526 acres are agriculture fields (an average of 1 acre per person) 9000 acres are forest and 6800 acres unused land. Before the earthquake, the average income per person was about 800 USD a year.

The whole village lived on agriculture, which base on corn, wheat, potato, etc. Some also made a living on planting and selling lumbers and Chinese medicine. Currently there are 528 pigs, 400 goats total in the village. During the agricultural season, the villagers go into the city to get temporary jobs and get some extra cash.

After the earthquake, all the buildings in the village were seriously damaged or fallen apart. More than 10 people got injured with 2 people were seriously injured. The road connecting the village to the nearby town was also broken, water system was disabled. 400 people have trouble getting potable water. There are 107 families without permanent shelter and 14 families whose houses are in need of repair. 

The architecture style of the village is mainly wood construction, a typical western Si Chuan building style. The problem with this traditional style is that there isn’t enough natural sun light penetration, and lack of sound proofing in such humid weather.

There’s a temple in the village called “God of Si Chuan Temple”, built to pay respect to Mr. Li Bing and his son, for their contribution to the Du Jiang Yan dam which made Si Chuan a prosperous place.

 The AIM Challenge 

In the past 30 years, China has been marked by its rapid urbanization. Besides the great achievements in economy, as a side effect, there is also a phenomenon of losing the original character of the cities in different region, mainly due to the tendency of copying the Beijing or Shanghai’s urban style. But in rural areas, because of the lack of transportation infrastructure and slower pace of economic growth, many traditional cultural elements and historic building types were able to survive until today. However, with the growing pace of the economy, rising income of rural areas and further urbanization, more and more villages with long history have been wiped out. How to enhance the quality of village life to match current living standards, but at the same time, setup an effective programming plan and building upgrade strategy to save the traditional culture (both physical and intangible), is the challenge of this year’s AIM Competition.

We will use the Snow Mountain village as this year’s competition base model, and ask participants to pay close attention to the master planning of the village, and at the same time to develop new business models for local villagers for economic growth.

We are proposing 25 Out of the 100 families in Snow Village will be programmed into a family style hotel, which will be first managed by hotel professional, sales experts, then later run by the villages themselves. Each villa consists of two parts: house and hotel with separate entrance for privacy and a common space for interaction. Unlike traditional hotel, each family has their own unique story to share and visitors can have a chance to experience local culture and rural family tradition. The other 50 families will be programmed into food production model, which is responsible for agriculture and farming in order to support local food chain. In this model, visitor can experience local farming method and get to know the life of farmers. The rest of 25 families will be the support line for the service chain, such as laundry, maintenance, repair and light construction. Participants are also encouraged to propose new business models for villages but the proportion should remain as above: 25:50:25.

You may also find an empty lot next to the old village. This is intended to be left out for participants to give it a new function. It could be visitor center, club house…etc. Our AIM this year is to create a brand new programming concept to utilize the traditional format of the Snow Mountain Village and to design a new village that belongs to the local culture. We also encourage participants to contribute different ideas on programming and village layout to enhance the discussion of how to preserve and innovate at the same time!

CAD, 3D model and site photos are available in download.

 About the “Rainbow Village” Project

Established in March 1989, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) is a public institution aiming to alleviate poverty in China. Promoting village development is an important development aim that CFPA concentrates on, and for the 10 consecutive years CFPA has been exploring and achieving such an aim. In 2013, CFPA officially started its “Beautiful Village Project”, basing the project on foundations that were built on past experiences in village development, including an “Integrated Community Development Model” and an “Integrated Agricultural Economic Model”. By amalgamating aims such as overall village planning, economic co-operation and industrial development, CFPA will explore a new solution model for village development.

The JiaDuoBao group is an innovative company that has a high degree of corporate social responsibility, and has donated 100,000,000RMB to CFPA after the Lushan earthquake to help with post-disaster redevelopment efforts. JiaDuoBao is also endorsing the ideals and innovative thinking of the “Beautiful Village Project”, and has donated 10,000,000RMB to start the “Beautiful Village: JiaDuoBao Reconstruction Project for Rainbow Village - Xueshan Village, Ya’an” project. This supports the post-earthquake reconstruction of Xueshan Village.

The “Caihong Village Plan” will develop around the overall planning and development of the village, the construction of economic co-operatives and tourism development. Ultimately, Xueshan Village will serve as the demonstration model for the “Rainbow Village” project, and will provide models and experiences that are replicable and promotable for village development.

Submission Requirements

This is a digital competition and hard copy proposals will not be accepted. All entries are to be submitted via e-mail before 14th January, 2014 (hours 24:00 Beijing Time) to: [email protected]

 Your attachment will include:

1. 4 boards in A1 format, including floor plans, sections, elevations and images (300dpi) 
2. A maximum 500-words written report explaining your design intent in A4 format. (Chinese and English bilingual or English only.)
3. A4 sheet state your name, contact details, affiliation and recent photo.
4. The subject of email should be “AIM Competition / participant’s (or team's) name / category i.e.  AIM Competition / Ying Chang / Architecture Renovation Award & Sustainable Development Award
5. AIM appreciated if you can submit a 3-5 minute video which presents your design philosophy, contents need be included brief introduction of participants, project's summary description combining with boards. Video format: MPEG\AVI\MP4, etc.

Your submission should not exceed 20MB.

You will receive a confirmation letter after we download your submission.

Awards-[USD 16,000]

*Entrants are not limited to one category

Scenic Village Planning Award — USD 5,000

Architecture Renovation Award — USD 5,000
Innovative Production Award — USD 3,000
Sustainable Development Award — USD 3,000

> via aim-competition