Christine Fontaine, Joëlle Houdé & Jean-Louis Vanden Eynde
Youyang-lab
Research and design on Traditional Architecture and Cultural Heritage in Tujia & Miao minorities
ABSTRACT
This collaborative project focuses on the study, protection and enhancement of the wooden vernacular architectures of the autonomous Tujia and Miao minorities. This presentation shows on one hand the methodology used to collect useful knowledge on remote villages in the Youyang mountains and on the other hand the collected outcomes and how they can be useful to local communities. Four types of actors are involved in this project: professors, researchers, and students from both UCLouvain & Chongqing Jiaotong University, and a fourth type of actor who joined the project during the process, the local inhabitants. Four types of outcomes are currently produced: pedagogical processes, research through drawings and texts, research by design and, finally, under preparation, the worksites. We also decided not to only focus on the problem of the disappearance of the wooden diaojiaolou edifices and the family temples but also to capture and comprehend the environmental qualities and specific uses in these local communities, at three different scales, to preserve the holistic understanding and therefore the way of acting on these villages today.
BIOGRAPHY
Youyang-lab
Research and design on Traditional Architecture and Cultural Heritage in Tujia & Miao Territories
Christine Fontaine, Joëlle Houdé, Jean-Louis Vanden Eynde
Faculty of architecture, architectural engineering, urbanism (LOCI), University Catholic of Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium
Brussels – Rue Wafelaerts, 47/51 – B 1060 Bruxelles
Christine Fontaine
Is an architect and a professor at UCLouvain LOCI Brussels at the Master’s level. She holds a DEA (complementary diploma) with a trans-disciplinary approach to contemporary issues. She organizes multidisciplinary international workshops in Europe, Canada, China and Chile where she develops research and teaching networks on the cultural understanding of typo-morphology. Christine practices as an architect in Belgium and partner of ZED architects in Brussels & Flanders but has also worked in Canada. Presently, her practice with ZED Architects covers the construction of public institutions and social housing. She publishes on issues of contemporary architecture and development in Europe and abroad.
Joëlle Houdé
Is an architect and design and drawing professor at UCLouvain LOCI Brussels. She is coordinator of drawing courses and develops her teaching on in situ measured survey drawing from observation. She takes part in international workshops in Europe and China with Christine’s team where she does survey drawing that leads to seeing and thinking about the architectural context. Joëlle also practices as an architect in Belgium and partner of L’Atelier d’Architecture la Pierre d’Angle. Presently, her practice covers mainly the construction of social housing in the Walloon region in Belgium. She also publishes regularly on issues of drawing and design education.
Jean-Louis Vanden Eynde
Jean-Louis Vanden Eynde is an architect and a professor at UCLouvain LOCI Brussels and at the interuniversity Master in Specialization in Conservation-Restoration of the Built Cultural Heritage (Paix-Dieu). He holds a diploma in architecture, BA in Archaeology and History of Art (Catholic University of Louvain), followed the cursus at the Centre for Conservation of Historic Towns and Buildings College of Europe at Bruges and a PhD in History, Art and Archaeology (Catholic University of Louvain). Jean-Louis also runs his own firm in Enghien, Belgium, working on the restoration of buildings and historic gardens.