Jakub Pagacz from the Faculty of Architecture at the Cracow University of Technology has created a social project - a place where Chinese farmers migrating to big cities can learn how to use modern technologies and live in a metropolitan area. The work is an engineering diploma done under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Gyurkovich and Prof. Angelo Sampieri.
The project, called the Urban Agriculture Development Center, is part of a large urban development of the Tongzhou district, located in eastern Beijing. It is a place - a refuge for farmers migrating to the city, where they will be able to acquire new skills that will adapt them to life in a modern agglomeration, and learn how, with the help of modern technologies, efficient agriculture can be practiced.
The new facility creates a rectangular frame for green spaces
© Jakub Pagacz
dividing society
The concept is a response to China's existing hukou system, which creates a legal classification of people into those of urban and rural origin. This system prohibits migration. Despite this, since the 1980s, more than 200 million Chinese have lived outside their place of residence. Farmers who have left their lands are stuck on the margins of urban society. They suffer from much lower access to education and government services. They are accused of increasing crime and unemployment.
The project consists of a skyscraper and a smaller development
© Jakub Pagacz
a green oasis in the city
Jakub Pagacz has proposed new developments in the Tongzhou district. The designed urban form (worked in collaboration with Santiago Borda and Eleonora Curado) takes the shape of a horizontal skyscraper. It forms a rectangular frame, inside of which are salvaged remnants of green areas. In order to connect the project with the existing urban fabric, the horizontal skyscraper was raised to a height of 9 meters, allowing free pedestrian traffic underneath.
The premise is a green oasis in downtown Beijing
© Jakub Pagacz
archetype of a country house
In the vacant spaces, the author proposed buildings reminiscent of a country house. Contemporary barns, perform service and commercial functions. Markets, stores and restaurants have been planned there, where farmers and local craftsmen can sell their products. These places are also inclusive spaces. The seemingly chaotic spatial layout is reminiscent of rural Hutong developments, which in China are being destroyed without much thought. Walking between the narrow streets, we come to a small square, and in about 20 meters, farmland begins.
The main building consists of a glass facade and a visible wooden structure
© Jakub Pagacz
sustainable architecture
The author used a variety of building materials in the project. The main load-bearing elements of the horizontal skyscraper's structure consist of large-size glulam trusses routed along the facades, exterior and interior columns and beams. The trusses thus formed give the entire structure the necessary rigidity. The internal columns were designed on the plan of an isosceles cross. The building, which has the form of a contemporary office building, thanks to its glass facade along with the visible wooden structure, fits in with the style of high-tech and sustainable architecture. On the other hand, the smaller building - contemporary barns - was made using monolithic reinforced concrete.
compiled by Dobrawa Bies
illustrations courtesy of Jakub Pagacz
