Over the last ten years or so, Xu Tiantian’s name has been associated with numerous infrastructure revitalisation projects in rural China.
By approaching architecture as a lever for regional development, the architect draws on local traditions and know-how to trigger new dynamics and revitalise local economies. In this long-term undertaking, the transformation of a former stone quarry in Jinyun into a public space in 2019 has been a highlight. There are still 3,000 abandoned quarries in Jinyun county alone, a heritage with enormous potential for this Chinese hinterland, which has been deeply affected by the rural exodus and is now looking for a new vocation.
Following in the wake of this first restorative intervention, the Huangyan stone quarry conversion project in the city of Taizhou involves returning 20,000 m2 of disused space to the community and gradually reactivating it. Dedicated to this new project by the DnA agency, founded by Xu Tiantian in 2004, the Stone Voids exhibition presents the development of these rock galleries, the studies on the ecosystem that has formed there over the years, and the dialogue with the local community that the architect established throughout the works.
The presentation of this highly symbolic conversion is also an opportunity to question the future of this industrial heritage at local level, as no fewer than 1,400 quarries have been identified in Gironde in recent years.
