Tsinghua Stanford Urban Sustainable Collaborative Workshop
On the morning of December 7, 2016, the results of the collaborative course "Urban Sustainability" between Tsinghua and Stanford University were successfully presented at Stanford Design School (d. School). Professor Fu Zhiyong from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts and Professor Li Nan from the Department of Construction Management led 16 student representatives from Tsinghua University to attend the discussion. Teachers Deland Chan and Kevin Hsu from the Urban Studies program at Stanford University presided over the meeting and gave an overall introduction to the course. Through a 10 week remote video collaboration, representatives from Tsinghua University went to the United States on December 5th to have a one-week face-to-face exchange with course partners. The students' ability to explore pain points and solve problems across cultures was praised by the attending experts.
At the Human Cities Expo, the interdisciplinary project team presented their research findings on environmental and social sustainability. Each group collaborates with local livelihood departments (including Tiancun Community, Qinglong Hutong, Kubitino, San Mateo, and Menlo Park) to enter the community through resident interviews, participatory design, and other methods, deeply explore pain points in daily life, design solutions with a people-centered approach, think and demonstrate how to better promote urban sustainable development, and ultimately complete design problem exploration and conceptual development Prototype and poster production work.
1、 Course Project Team Introduction
1. Green+Tiancun Community Design Team
Team members: Miao Yufei, Xu Chi, Zhao Zhexi, Zhang Song, Wang Zihan, Li Shizhuo, Luca, Michael
Tiancun Street is located between the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads in the southwest of Beijing, with an area of 7.7 square kilometers and a population of approximately 120000 people. Tiancun was once a representative of the "dirty, disorderly, and poor" urban-rural fringe, and also a typical representative of the negative impact of rapid urbanization on street appearance and living experience.
We aim to develop a planting device called Green+that breaks away from traditional greening methods. It is a way of utilizing idle community space, replacing flowers and plants with vegetables, using modular planting methods, breaking the limitations of green planning in public spaces through fragmented planting methods, filling aesthetics with science, and providing a different aesthetic appreciation perspective - vertical layout - to the unchanged greenery that can only be planted on the ground. It not only effectively saves space, but also provides fun for people of all ages through service design methods, Provide customized tracking services based on the daily usage habits of residents. We observe with empathy, generate creative sparks in communication, think user centered, return the community to residents, make public spaces a warm refuge, and make green and participation a new normal of life.
2. Design team of Fusi Xiaoyuan
Team members: Guo Li, Qiu Weilun, Zhang Jinyu, Wen Yuan, Xu Liang, Hu Diao, Yan Cong
Throughout the entire stage of the course, we conducted field research using a research manual and conducted participatory workshops using Design Thinking tools. We identified design opportunities in areas such as appointment mechanisms, volunteers, promotional channels, and course design, with the theme of "Saving the Four Courtyards of Fu". We aimed to address three pain points: first, to address the difficulty of course appointment and cross screen user tracking at the Four Courtyards of Fu; The second is to solve the problems of curriculum design and interactive experience; The third is to address the issue of the deliberation system for volunteers and staff. Prototype design and testing feedback were achieved for the final appointment machine, design model toolkit (with three layers: interactive TV model board, small technology equipment layer graphic card tool combination set), science popularization model (robot fish, anime projection film), and parent-child activity TV broadcast board model (prop design, microphone, play key and other sensors).
3. Qinglong Hutong Design Team
Team members: Wang Weili, Sun Bowen, Huang Ziye, Yao Dan, Shen Yihao, Zhu Jiahui, He Xue
Qinglong Hutong is located next to Yonghe Temple in Dongcheng District, and is the office location of many design and creative companies. It is also the home for generations of elderly residents. The complex and mobile population background has led to a lack of communication among local residents, and neighborhood relationships have become weak. However, art enthusiasts in the local community have come together through interest clubs and also support each other in daily life. We have planned a living lab for club activities, combined online and offline tools to enhance the connection between community members, and even between different communities, promoting communication among neighbors within the community. This has also made the relationship between citizens in the city more familiar, which is conducive to harmonious coexistence among community residents and conducive to the management and construction of the city.
2、 Experience Exchange in the Course of Sustainable Urbanization from an International Comparative Perspective
On the noon of December 5th, a unique symposium was held at the Haas Center at Stanford University. During lunch time, representatives of Chinese and American teachers and students shared their experiences in teaching international cooperation courses and summarized the problems encountered.
During the symposium, teaching teachers such as Fu Zhiyong, Li Nan, Deland Chan, Kevin Hsu, etc. first introduced the forms, advantages, and challenges of cooperation encountered in international courses one by one, and carefully listened to the gains and reflections of course selection students when participating in the course. They also exchanged opinions with multiple teachers from Stanford University from time to time to discuss better international cooperation teaching methods and solutions to problems, We have made sufficient preparations for the next international cooperation course.
3、 Course Introduction
The course "Urban Sustainability" is a practical interdisciplinary learning and cross-cultural communication course jointly offered by Tsinghua University and Stanford University, which conducts international cooperation through remote video conferencing. Since the autumn semester of 2015, classes have been held twice so far; This course takes Beijing and the Bay Area of California as cases to design challenges for several key issues faced by China and the United States in the process of urbanization; The course selection students come from multiple countries including China, the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, etc., covering multiple majors such as information art design, construction management, urban planning, computer science, political economy, etc. The teaching team includes Professor Fu Zhiyong from the Department of Information Art and Design at Tsinghua University School of Fine Arts, Professor Li Nan from the Department of Construction Management, and Professor Deland Chan and Kevin Hsu from the Department of Urban Studies at Stanford University in China.
Photo taken by Professor Fu Zhiyong from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, student representatives from the Department of Information Arts and Design, and Professor Deland Chan and Kevin Hsu from Stanford University's Urban Studies program.
