In-situ Project
Overview
In-situ Project is a cross-disciplinary research by design platform based in the School of Design. Founded and established in 2015 by Peter Hasdell with Kuo Jze Yi, In-situ Project is a design social approach using direct community engagement in rural contexts. This involves research through and by design, action research, participatory design and co-design, community engagement, project realization, community planning, social enterprise creation, workshop facilitation, training and service learning. In-situ Project’s integrated hardware and software approach activates local conditions to increase sustainable development in rural communities. This has been successfully implemented in over 12 village locations in 8 provinces in China, in Hong Kong and in Iraq.
Insitu Project spans both creative research outcomes and conventional research outcomes, Miaoxia Community Projects RAE2020 Impact case-study was a 100% impact score achievement and contributor to SD’s 4* ranking. Insitu Project has received over HK$9.4 million in research project funding and donations to date. In 2021-22 their House of Dreams project won four international awards, including the 2021 Architecture MasterPrize, the 2021 Taipei International Design award, and the 2022 Human City Design Award.
Overview
In-situ Project is a cross-disciplinary research by design platform based in the School of Design. Founded and established in 2015 by Peter Hasdell with Kuo Jze Yi, In-situ Project is a design social approach using direct community engagement in rural contexts. This involves research through and by design, action research, participatory design and co-design, community engagement, project realization, community planning, social enterprise creation, workshop facilitation, training and service learning. In-situ Project’s integrated hardware and software approach activates local conditions to increase sustainable development in rural communities. This has been successfully implemented in over 12 village locations in 8 provinces in China, in Hong Kong and in Iraq.
Insitu Project spans both creative research outcomes and conventional research outcomes, Miaoxia Community Projects RAE2020 Impact case-study was a 100% impact score achievement and contributor to SD’s 4* ranking. Insitu Project has received over HK$9.4 million in research project funding and donations to date. In 2021-22 their House of Dreams project won four international awards, including the 2021 Architecture MasterPrize, the 2021 Taipei International Design award, and the 2022 Human City Design Award.
Contact Person: Peter Hasdell, Principal investigator
Email: info@insitu-project.com
Official website: http://insitu-project.com
MCCC01 Chun On Ecological Design Workshop 2020-21
The Integrated Eco Design and Building Experiments Workshop held from August to December 2020 was a research, education workshop and practical building project for the eco-design and collaborative construc- tion of a temporary multi-purpose building in the Chun On Monastery in Yuen Long. The workshop and project was conducted by Insitu Project for MCCC. It explored new possibilities for experimental building in Hong Kong by exploring recycled building and waste materials that are found in the city. The project also intended to foster and develop a holistic and integrated approach involving permaculture, eco design as well as passive and environmentally friendly design principles. The first stage was successfully completed in January 2021 involved 10 Hong Kong participants from very different backgrounds and experiences, working intensively together with a dedicated Insitu team, with like-minded collaborators and builders and a number of waste material donating individuals and companies. Future stages seek to expand on this solid foundation exploring ecological site planning and permaculture planning principles including the integration of water harvesting, composting toilets and other suitable ecological approaches for Chun On.
Besides the educational and physical outcomes which are presented in this documentation, this project has established a platform or starting point for this kind of project in Hong Kong. Therefore from our point of view, it has been successful in initiating the following:
1. Fostering an urban collectiveness (Building positive change and energy). 2. Learning by doing (Co-learning and Self-learning) 3. Urban upcycling (Fostering ecological awareness) 4. Low-tech ( Enabling skills with low-cost solutions) 5. Value Creation (Generating collective values)
ZS03 Zhou Shan House of Dreams Phase 3 2020
The House of Dreams is a rural development and training facility constructed in Zhou Shan village in Henan, stage one was completed in 2018 with stage 2 completion in August 2020. Zhou Shan village is a former cave village in the loess plateau area and has many derelict caves that remained after people relocated and rebuilt their houses on former farmlands above the caves during the last few decades. These changes to the village settlements diminished both socio-cultural abilities and damaged the patrimony of the area, so restoration and revitalization of these abandoned caves towards shared community benefit was determined through intensive community engagement to be a mutually beneficial endeavor.
YX01 Xinyi Natural School 2020
Xinyi Natural School was instigated by the Lao He Gou Nature Preservation Centre with In-situ Project in collaboration with the local community. This is an on-going community-based development project aiming at integrated social and natural sustainability. The school is located in Xinyi Valley, a natural preservation and former hunting area in Pingwu County, in north-east Sichuan. The primary construction consisted of meeting hall, kitchen and bathroom was completed in winter 2020. Since March 2019, the design team conducted five visits which included on-site asset-mapping workshops and story oral history gathering, presentation of design options and making 1:1 construction tests. The final frame up process involved over 20 villagers. Working towards low-impact construction has meant that over 50% of building materials are collected within 200 meters radius from the site, including 100% of structure and 30% of log wall (in surface area). A tilted roof allows more daylighting for indoor activities; the log wood wall provides better indoor thermal comfort compared with normal brick wall; Toilet waste will be diverted into septic tank for fertilization of nearby farmland. The new constructed space will be operated as a live in natural education base, it will promote and disseminate conservation and preservation knowledge, promote local culture, knowledge and stories and further generate revenue for community.