Yao-dong as a spiritual shelter for the young peasants
Sophia Wu
A yao-dong is a vernacular architecture in northern China. “Dong” means a cave. A cave is one of the earliest human shelters. In thousand years of Chinese history, caves evolved into yao-dongs. A yao-dong is the spiritual shelter for the elderly. They live in the yellow soil, eat what is planted from the soil, and call themselves sons and daughters of yellow. But for the people unfamiliar with them, yao-dongs may be just caves or even slums.
This thesis aims to demonstrate that the problem is much more complex than the association of the yao-dong with poverty. Every year 90 thousand natural villages disappear, including yao-dong villages. More importantly, culture disappears at a fast rate, as China urgently seeks to synchronize itself with the contemporary world and time.
Through the investigation of yao-dongs, the thesis posits that the contemporary crisis is related to the growing inability to ground experiences and memories. Through field research, I investigated yao-dongs’ geography, culture and construction to better understand what living inside a yao-dong may feel like. I conclude by suggesting a design that can provide a simple and poetic life for young peasants.
Supervisor:
Anne Bordeleau, University of Waterloo
Committee Members:
Adrian Blackwell, University of Waterloo
John Straube, University of Waterloo
External Reader:
Raymond Moriyama, Moriyama & Teshima Architects
The Defence Examination will take place:
Thursday April 28, 2016 | 2:00 pm | ARC 2026
A copy of the thesis is available for perusal in ARC 2106A.
Sneha Sumanth is a graduate student at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. Her role in BRIDGE involves overseeing the website and publications. Her thesis work looks at the relationship of energy and architecture in the offshore infrastructure of the Santa Barbara Channel in California.
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