Ricerc@Sapienza

From the early 90s several Chinese cities engaged transformation embodying
in architecture, public space and urban texture, the physical evidence of the
expectations and contradictions originated and breed by the reforms initiated in
the late 1970s. The idea and the meaning of cultural heritage has been evolving
since then in Chinese architectural culture through central government reforms
and private initiatives managing the reconstruction of national identity within a
context of cultural modernity, through physical architectural and urban simulacra
replacing a glorious past recently destroyed. The academic studies deeply
rooted in the tradition settled by Liang Sicheng (19011972)
– considered the father
of modern historical studies in architecture – such as the one produced for
more than fi fty years by Wu Liangyong research group at Tsinghua University of
Beijing, have been running parallel trying to appropriately address the national
ambitions and to establish a specifi c Chinese discipline inspired to international
principles on the design theme of adaptive reuse within the more general framework
of cultural heritage. The most recent changes in the Chinese contemporary
countryside due to the urban-rural migrations and increasing national tourism
industry are also adding complexity and defi ning new possibilities.