a+u No. 650: DnA_Design and Architecture is a dedicated monographic issue surveying 25 works by Beijing-based architect Xu Tiantian, whose practice has spent two decades redefining what public architecture can do in rural China.
About This Book
This issue of the long-running Japanese architecture journal a+u turns its full attention to DnA_Design and Architecture, the practice Xu Tiantian founded in 2004 and has since become one of the most compelling voices in contemporary Chinese architecture. The 25 projects presented here — organised into four geographic and thematic clusters along China's southeastern coast — are not simply buildings but instruments of social and economic renewal. From public facilities embedded across Songyang County to interventions at Fujian Tulou and the Jinyun Quarries, DnA's work consistently negotiates between rural heritage and present-day need. For anyone tracking the evolving discourse around community-centred design and architectural identity in China, this issue is essential primary material.
Key Features
- 176 pages of project photography, drawings, and critical documentation across 25 works
- The Songyang Story (pp. 18–93): an extended survey of public commissions across Songyang County from 2014 to present
- Featured projects include Fujian Tulou (pp. 94–127), Jinyun Quarries (pp. 128–151), and Meizhou Island (pp. 152–159)
- Published by Shinkenchiku-sha, 2014
What You'll Discover
- How DnA structures public buildings as platforms for the specific livelihoods and cultural practices of individual villages, rather than imposing a generic civic typology
- The Songyang County commissions examined as a sustained, evolving body of work — a rare opportunity to study an architect's long-term engagement with a single region
- How carefully scaled interventions at heritage sites such as the Fujian Tulou preserve cultural meaning while introducing new programmatic purpose
- DnA's dispersed approach on Meizhou Island — distributing programme across a landscape rather than consolidating it — as a deliberate counter-model to centralised resort development
About the Author
Xu Tiantian is the founding architect of DnA_Design and Architecture, established in Beijing in 2004. Her practice focuses on public buildings in rural China, working at the intersection of cultural heritage, local industry, and community infrastructure.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 176
- Dimensions: 220 x 290 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 4910019731146
- Publisher: Shinkenchiku-sha
- Publication Date: 2014
Perfect For: Architects and researchers engaged with contemporary Chinese architecture, rural design practice, community infrastructure, and the social dimensions of public building.